It was amazing, CC. Thank you. I needed it. He needed it, too.
Now it's this Saturday (we alternate Friday-Monday with Saturday-Monday; half of summer; alternating major holidays) that I need to wait the week out for. Gonna keep myself busy, and my mind off the noise and dark thoughts till then.
We saw a beautiful movie together (Alpha) and had hotdogs across the street afterwards. I wanted cheesesteaks, but he said, "nope, ndaddy [--his pet name for me -- the "n" blends into the "d", it's hard to explain, being a non-linguist], we are gonna have Vicious Dogs." So it was a done deal at that point.
Outside of that, we watched a couple episodes of GoT, played video games together, did an Hon Eng assignment together -- which met his consternation several times as the questions in this introductory assignment often were redundant; I explained to him this was his teacher culling the class, seeing who is creative and who repeats the same answers previously stated on the prior questions, rather than using a redundant question and making it fun and creative. I thought of you during this exercise, as you are an amazing writer, but also balance critical analysis with wit. I, myself, am a pretty decent essayist, but I lean more critical than wit. I want to dissect your brain and PM you with how you developed your style, but later on in the year, if you're okay with that, CC? I can teach my son correct syntax, critical thought, grammar... MLA bull **** etc -- but wit, combined with the aforementioned, is what I want to hone in him. He's on an engineer track, but writing is a lost art. And he will need it. He wont be going to some Cal State garbage school.
His first assignment in his class is Golding's Lord of the Flies. I'm gonna read it in tandem with him so that I can help him with his essay. Every book he's going to read, I've probably read, but I am going to re-read so that I can properly guide him. He's a stud in math, history, science. He's in drama, and ROP, and I am pushing him hard to get some sort of officer position in the freshman clubs. He's also younger than most of his classmates.
Circling back, it's that wit, tho, that I want to cultivate in him. He's still young (barely a teenager), and I know if there's a spark of wit in the brain it can be cultivated. I was a very late bloomer, myself. I had no one as hard and as involved in my schooling as I am with my son. My dad is/was all business, no frills. I'm all love, but also a hardass when needed.
