Virtue is its own punishment

Eeek! Haven't written in this thing for a while.

When I'm at school, I have too many people to talk to, so this blogging thing seems a moot point.

But I am home now, so I'll have more things to say. Can't promise they'll be interesting, but I'll try my best.

Upon spending a day this weekend with my dad's closest friends (more like his "family") and a day with my mother's side of the family, I've decided that I officially want to be a Luckett, and no one else.

Dad's "family"
Saturday was my godfather's daughter's graduation from law school. They had an open house for her. All of my father's friends from college and all of Al's (godfather) family was there.

Now, I knew what I was walking into before I got there and I hate this kind of thing. See, all of the people in that room are either 1) doctors 2) lawyers 3) nurses 4)government personnel and ALL of them are U of M graduates. So, here I come, a Michigan State girl - bleeding green - who majors in creative writing and will be spending her summer filming a movie in London. I have an asymmetrical haircut. I am avant garde to them and that's not good.

I told my mother before hand to NOT say anything about filming in London. I told her it would suffice to say that I was studying abroad in London on an English-oriented program. I was hoping they would assume I was studying ancient tomes of Homer or something like that - someting academic. But, no. The minute we walk into that house and someone asks a question, my mother decides it would be prudent to tell everyone that I'm majoring in film and I'll be spending an entire summer filming numerous films that will be entered into competitions.

*headdesk*

So, not only did she do what I told her not to, but she went above and beyond. She KNOWS I'm not a film major, but she wanted to make me look bigger and better than I actually am. Didn't work so much. I weathered questions about my future for the rest of the night from everyone. People I thought didn't know me were coming up and asking, "I thought your father told Al that you were planning to go into law school. What happened to that idea?" "Oh, film, huh? Very...interesting. What are you going to do after college? I hear the government is really hurting for people. Maybe you should apply to a government position."

I understand why my mother did what she did. She feels just as intimidated by these people as I do, but it just made it worse. You cannot make your MSU creative writing daughter look as academic as Al's Harvard undergrad, U of M law school, working as a litigation lawyer in the top firm in Chicago daughter. I'm badass, but I'm not her. Sorry.

Mom's family
These people love tractor pulls - they participate in them. When they do open houses, its not expensive italian lettuce or some shit, it's hotdogs, hamburgers, BBQ, and good 'ol potatoe salad. We talk about camping mishaps and riding cross-country on the back of a trailer. They work with people who own ranches, so the little kids get to ride on ponies at their own house during a birthday party.

They may not be the most hichish people in the world, but they were all raised by family who appreciate a good BBQ and a cigarette, and that makes them heaven to me.

I never once got the future question from them. They asked what I had been up to lately and then asked how many parties I had been to and I got scolded for having not gotten drunk more often. In any other situation, my mother would have rolled her eyes, but she was urging them on. Truth be told, I appreciate my mother more when she's with them. She's more herself, I feel.

Funny story from Battle Creek: My cousin got arrested. His baby's-mama-girlfriend of sorts got into a "tad bit of a scuffle" (that's how he described it) at a bar with a couple of girls. Chick fight at bar, right? Already quite hilarious. She calls my cousin, bleeding, because someone hit her in the head with a baseball bat, and tells him to come down to the bar and do something about it. So my cousin, in all of his infinite wisdom, got up out of his chair and left the house and, as he said, "forgot that my pistol was holstered to my hip."

O_o

First of all, you've got two little kids, so if your story holds up, your gun was on your hip when you were in the house. WHY in God's name are you carrying around a loaded gun in a house with two kids? Did you need it? But, if he lied and put the pistol there before he went out, again WHY? What are you gonna do with it, buddy? Wave it around a bit to frighten away the chicks from your girlfriend? That seems wise.

Anywho, he walks down the street to the fight. It's already been broken up by the cops and they're arresting ladies and charging them with assault with a weapon. My cousin has a pistol on his hip in the middle of a bar fight broken up by enough cops to fill four cop cars. You can guess what happened.

"Sir! Freeze and hold up your hands. You have got a gun on you!"

Again, my cousin's ultimate wisdom advised him to take his own gun off of himself. So, he reaches for the gun to get rid of it, and the cops freak out. They pull their guns on him and start screaming. My cousin has no choice but to get on the ground. They quite literally tackle him, get his pistol, cuff him, charge him with felonious assault, put him in the car, and take him downtown

*snicker*

Too cool. Wasn't even in the fight and he gets charged. Even more funny, though, is that his lovely girlfriend, who was fighting in the cat fight was not charged with a damn thing, because she did not use a weapon - just her hands. So, she gets off scott free. Good job, honey.

This post is way long, so I'll close it off here.

Everyone take it easy. Don't get raped. Don't die. ^_^