All American

The following entries have been updated:
9/17/15 - Long quote re: handling of the Clock Kid situation.
11/19/15 - Quote from Lindsey Graham on ISIL and commentary.

          My first morning at home was a quiet, easy one. Jennifer and I walked Bitsy (who still refuses to pee when I'm behind the leash) and I gave her the tour around our property. My father recently ripped out our entire bathroom -- the only bathroom in the house -- so we all roughed it and remained unwashed until we got to my grandma's. While people took turns showering, I explored the cluttered suburban basement; along with the usual piles of old newspapers and broken vacuums, I found a lovely glass paperweight with a tropical fish in the center.
          We spent Thanksgiving evening at my aunt and uncle's home, a few streets away. I handily defeated Ryan in a corn muffin eating contest, discussed Ronda Rousey at some length with my uncle Allen, and watched football with Jennifer and several cousins. (Alex was on the TV crew for at least one of these games in the past, and is probably the biggest football fan in the family.) The Panthers were beating up the Cowboys, which was fine, and my cousin Jill named well-defined butts as the primary motivation to watch. The halftime show featured country artist Luke Bryan and inspired only disgust for me, but having nowhere better to go, I just sat through it. The end of the gathering was slow in coming, but it was great to talk to everyone and eat as much home cooking as possible.
          Jennifer and I were eager to build a campfire. Much of the "dry" kindling turned out a bit soggy, but we made it work with liberal application of the family "burn bucket" of worthless paper. My mother had some kind of freakout over this, telling my father she was saving those materials so he could pass on the heat to me (though the bucket is and always was full of trash, most of it quite old.) I shared the Lovecraft Reanimator tallboys that I picked up in Cambridge with my father and Jennifer. (In her usual beer-reviewing fashion, she said it tasted like beer from the deeps of a lake with mud and leaves on the bottom.) Logan came along too, and we caught up on everything from his liver condition to my ambiguous co-op to his new, very committed girlfriend.
          Also. It's so good to have my swing set back, if only for a few days. I missed my thinking spot. I probably feel more at home there than anywhere else.
          Quote of the day:
"It's like Hagrid without camera tricks!" - Iris, re: Zdeno Chara