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Very long phone conversations with both kids yesterday, which was a real treat.
They're both doing extraordinarily well – Max preparing to take the LSAT and gearing up with his last practice runs before the San Francisco marathon, both in early June; Robin under serious consideration for the job of Outdoor Science Coordinator at Hidden Valley and professing himself "bored" with Ithaca. And I'm thinking, Thank God for that since not being bored in Ithaca would involve putting in serious amounts of time with Kyle, who just earned his first DUI a few months back, and Coop, recently discharged from rehab. If Robin doesn't get the Coordinator job, he'll be a counselor so his summer is set – lots of outdoor exercise in a wholesome environment.
It was a real conversation with Robin. He opened up quite a bit about hopes and plans and what he had been up to all year, and I felt as though we really connected, and that made me happy, happy, happy! I've felt really sad that we were so disconnected all year.
But throughout that year with practically no other communication, he always kept texting me photographs of his tests and assignments – 93%, 94%, You show great understanding of complicated subject matter, etc etc. Like he had something to prove. And frankly, given the history, I suppose he did.
"So I heard you joined a secret society!" I said. "What's that about?"
"A secret society? Wait! Dad told you I joined a secret society?"
"Yeah –"
Robin snorted. "I joined a fraternity. Dad told me not to tell you."
"Why?"
"Because you hate fraternities."
"So what? I'm not joining a fraternity."
"Right. Well, that's what I said, and I was gonna tell you when I talked to you. It's the science fraternity, engineers and math geeks, and I joined because I was having such a hard time with calculus, and this way I could get a lot of free tutoring. Also, ESF is pretty isolated from the Syracuse University community at large, and I needed a way into the Syracuse social scene, and this was it. I'm not gonna live there –"
"That's really smart of you," I said. "Yeah. If I'd been able to figure out a way to crash the Ithaca social scene, I wouldn't have been as miserable as I was there for three years. You're a tremendously savvy kid, Robin. You problem solve well."
Ben and his tremendous need to prevaricate for no apparent reason is just funny to me at this point. I mean, you should have heard Ben talking about Robin's Secret Society! Running down the list of illustrious past members. Calvin Coolidge! E. B. White! In case RTT ever wanted a reference letter by Ouija Board. Ben spun it into a 15-minute monologue.
No, I'm not going to call Ben on it. What would be the point? This is the kind of shit I lived with for 17 years, or shall I say a rather harmless example of the type of shit I lived with for 17 years.
Robin wants to come down again for a week before he starts working, which would be totally terrific. There's really no place to stash him except here in the Rutger-torium with me so I suppose I need to get one of those blowup mattresses. In any event, he would only be spending some of the time with me and much of the time with NYC-based buds. We do these huge movie-watching marathons when we're together, holed up under the covers, surrounded by animals and treats, a level of familiarity, comfort and contentment that's really precious to me.
Max is coming east in late June for a wedding in New Haven. He and Liza a/k/a The Mother of My Unborn Grandchildren will be coming to visit me as well, and then I think the three of us will try to do a two-day trip to Watkins Glen to see RTT who will be ensconced at Hidden Valley by then.
In other news, work has slowed down which is Not a Good Thing, this month in particular when I need the extra $$$.
I'm also worried about two pals who are going through extremely tough times. There isn't a fucking thing I can do for them though. Wish there was.
I'm trying to write here first thing every morning as a warm-up exercise to blow the cobwebs out of my brain. I'm inching forward ver-r-r-ry slowly on the Steinbeck manuscript, which is still nameless – very odd for me since I usually have titles in mind long before I start a fiction projects. Also starting on this year's short stories for the Stegner application. The Mark story. Writing fiction at night, which is a very different rhythm for me than what I'm used to.
They're both doing extraordinarily well – Max preparing to take the LSAT and gearing up with his last practice runs before the San Francisco marathon, both in early June; Robin under serious consideration for the job of Outdoor Science Coordinator at Hidden Valley and professing himself "bored" with Ithaca. And I'm thinking, Thank God for that since not being bored in Ithaca would involve putting in serious amounts of time with Kyle, who just earned his first DUI a few months back, and Coop, recently discharged from rehab. If Robin doesn't get the Coordinator job, he'll be a counselor so his summer is set – lots of outdoor exercise in a wholesome environment.
It was a real conversation with Robin. He opened up quite a bit about hopes and plans and what he had been up to all year, and I felt as though we really connected, and that made me happy, happy, happy! I've felt really sad that we were so disconnected all year.
But throughout that year with practically no other communication, he always kept texting me photographs of his tests and assignments – 93%, 94%, You show great understanding of complicated subject matter, etc etc. Like he had something to prove. And frankly, given the history, I suppose he did.
"So I heard you joined a secret society!" I said. "What's that about?"
"A secret society? Wait! Dad told you I joined a secret society?"
"Yeah –"
Robin snorted. "I joined a fraternity. Dad told me not to tell you."
"Why?"
"Because you hate fraternities."
"So what? I'm not joining a fraternity."
"Right. Well, that's what I said, and I was gonna tell you when I talked to you. It's the science fraternity, engineers and math geeks, and I joined because I was having such a hard time with calculus, and this way I could get a lot of free tutoring. Also, ESF is pretty isolated from the Syracuse University community at large, and I needed a way into the Syracuse social scene, and this was it. I'm not gonna live there –"
"That's really smart of you," I said. "Yeah. If I'd been able to figure out a way to crash the Ithaca social scene, I wouldn't have been as miserable as I was there for three years. You're a tremendously savvy kid, Robin. You problem solve well."
Ben and his tremendous need to prevaricate for no apparent reason is just funny to me at this point. I mean, you should have heard Ben talking about Robin's Secret Society! Running down the list of illustrious past members. Calvin Coolidge! E. B. White! In case RTT ever wanted a reference letter by Ouija Board. Ben spun it into a 15-minute monologue.
No, I'm not going to call Ben on it. What would be the point? This is the kind of shit I lived with for 17 years, or shall I say a rather harmless example of the type of shit I lived with for 17 years.
Robin wants to come down again for a week before he starts working, which would be totally terrific. There's really no place to stash him except here in the Rutger-torium with me so I suppose I need to get one of those blowup mattresses. In any event, he would only be spending some of the time with me and much of the time with NYC-based buds. We do these huge movie-watching marathons when we're together, holed up under the covers, surrounded by animals and treats, a level of familiarity, comfort and contentment that's really precious to me.
Max is coming east in late June for a wedding in New Haven. He and Liza a/k/a The Mother of My Unborn Grandchildren will be coming to visit me as well, and then I think the three of us will try to do a two-day trip to Watkins Glen to see RTT who will be ensconced at Hidden Valley by then.
In other news, work has slowed down which is Not a Good Thing, this month in particular when I need the extra $$$.
I'm also worried about two pals who are going through extremely tough times. There isn't a fucking thing I can do for them though. Wish there was.
I'm trying to write here first thing every morning as a warm-up exercise to blow the cobwebs out of my brain. I'm inching forward ver-r-r-ry slowly on the Steinbeck manuscript, which is still nameless – very odd for me since I usually have titles in mind long before I start a fiction projects. Also starting on this year's short stories for the Stegner application. The Mark story. Writing fiction at night, which is a very different rhythm for me than what I'm used to.
