With A Purposeful Grimace And A Terrible Sound

This morning Rare OKC Native told me the Lyric Theater is doing Fiddler on the Roof. The Self loves the work of one the actors in the Lyric company so Rare felt compelled to pass on the info. "Can't do it," I told her. "Can't go there. Fathers and daughters. I can't watch the play or the movie." I saw the movie when it came out in 1973 or so with my family and the only thing I really remember about that was constantly asking my dad: When was this taking place? Where was this taking place? I was fascinated by the setting. Unfortunately, my dad was of limited assistance in answering my queries, but I will say that I soon became obsessesed with the Russian Revolution. I didn't see it again until about ten years ago, pre-kids, and I could barely watch it. It's such a perfect depiction of family life beyond it's cultural and historical settings - and that's where it got me. I'd just gone through the dissolution and eradication of my own nascent family and this wonderful movie was beautifully depicting for me what I would never have. How foolishly short-sighted of me, looking at life from the bottom of a well! Then, about two years ago I saw it again. It was too much. I couldn't make it past the first marriage. I knew that within an hour Tevye was going to take Hodel to the train station. "Papa, God alone knows when we shall see each other again."

When Super Giant Killer had her last birthday I told her she simply would not be allowed to have another one. She will have to stay this age forever. Having said that, though, she passed two major milestones this week. Tuesday night she saw her first Godzilla movie. King Kong vs. Godzilla. We had a great time watching it. We kept trying to replicate the sound of his roar with our own voices. Afterwards she replayed the whole movie in the bathtub with a plastic dinosaur and gorilla. I checked in on her and Godzilla appeared to have three nude Barbies and a Polly Pocket on the ropes, clinging to the soapdish. Kong appeared to be drowned face down in a soapy Tokyo Bay. I said, "Which one is Godzilla going to eat first?" She rolled her eyes, "Daaaaad! He doesn't EAT people!" She went on to explain that Godzilla was secretly nice and he was saving the girls from falling off a cliff and then he was going to save Kong. She'll make a compassionate queen. We might all want to make plans for relocating to Kashmir. I hear property is going for nothing these days if you don't mind a fissure or two.

The other big thing is that yesterday she got her new glasses. Very cute. The funny thing is that it had an almost immediate impact on her wardrobe. Unless we fight with her, she will choose a miasmic blend of garish pastels, no socks and inappropriate shoes. But her first with-glasses outfit was black pants, black shirt, and black boots with a black headband. Very Beat looking. She looks like Jean Seberg or rather Lisa Loeb. This was her first visit to the eye doc and YHWH said that the doc said she was 'very near-sighted' and the glasses would make a big difference. "She's probably never really seen the world," she said. "You'll probably find that she'll be more observant and her performance in school should pick up quite a bit." Holy S**t, Doc! Do you realize what you just said? We can already barely contain her!