it looks just like any other misty monkey valley.

so, here i am in boston, and thoroughly reassured that some things never change. in particular, mes parents. the redux?

zero to anguish in forty seven seconds.

i love my parents, but if i never have to drive anywhere with them ever again, it will be just fine with me. ever. it's absolutely amazing: take two rational (relatively) normal human beings, put them in a car. make one drive, one navigate, and don't forget that no one knows the local terrain nor has a map, and let the hilarity ensue. forty five minutes of driving back and forth on the goddamn 93 (or whatever it was)is enough to try anyone's patience, particularly when it's the same mistake getting made over

and over

and over again...

well, it's enough to try anyone's patience.

but whatever. patience is not the point of a family vacation. the point of a family vacation is to make you realize how calm and relaxing the rest of your life is by comparison.

oh, and for those of you who are wondering what boy did to disgrace himself? well, he made the cardinal blunder that people make when they interact with me. the dialogue went a little something like this:

boy: yeah, i have this mysterious bruise on my elbow. i'm getting so fragile in my old age! note: he's 29

me: come now. don't be so dramatic--you're really not that old.

boy: i'm older than you.

once he says this, i'm so dumbfounded i don't know what to say. what, am i too young? that doesn't seem to bother you when we...well. i'm sure you can imagine. and i'm fairly certain i've already discussed the fact that people commenting on my age (22) is just about the most offensive thing that can be done to me.

anyway. after that, raski jumped to the rescue with "everybody in this bar is older than she is. everybody in the world is older than she is!" that made me giggle.

anyway. after that, boy basically dropped out of our conversation to chat with some people at the next table.

disgraced, i tell you. disgraced.

it's funny--this particular development has pulled me out of boy-obsess mode just enough that i am currently regarding this all as a choose-your-own-adventure kind of novel.

what will happen next?

will he redeem himself?

will he disappear from the scene?

tune in later for the answers to these and other questions.