Aunt Crappy

I love getting to know my brothers' kids personalities.

I was texting with my niece this morning about an art project I'm doing where I scaled up a photo, and she said, "Cool I love math and art good combo."

And I was FaceTiming with her brother who was teaching me about Minecraft, telling me that his favorite part is getting to play with other people on the server.  There's one friend he has, he told me, who gets bullied at school but has friends on Minecraft.

I bought a book for the little one the other night that is right in tune with his kind of twisted sense of humor.

Come at me, bro.

I just sent Nola this book:

When I got her a feminist coloring book for Christmas, she asked me to explain what feminism is.  Eoin was sitting there, too.  I told them that, basically, it's believing that girls are just as good as boys even though some people act like they're not.  

Nola said, "Oh, then I'm a feminist."

And Eoin said, "I'M NOT!"

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Occasionally, I'll post something on Facebook that somehow invites attacks from White folks -- almost always dudes.  Usually it's a post that has to do with race.  Today it's one about race and gender, this clip of Michelle Obama's speech at Tuskeegee.

This men get so fucking worked up.

And it occurred to me, because I was texting with Johnny about that book:

This is the "grown-up" version of "Girls go to Jupiter to get more stupider." It was funny and endearing when Eoin resisted feminism.  But these grown ass men...

so glad my niece is bossy

Bossy women are my favorite.  They make me feel like shit's handled, and not to worry.

Nola made me this diagram for the scarf she told me to "start knitting right away."

I just wish she had written "motherfucker" at the end of the directions since that would better convey the tone of her body language as I watched her draw this.

"send nana the yarn when done, motherfucker."

She gave my mom a diagram of a hat, and she's making damn sure we don't inadvertently use two different reds.

lovely views

Since I'd borrowed Mom and Dad's car for a couple of days this week, I used it to take Eoin and Finola up to Chicago for a visit yesterday.


And took the train back to C-U this morning.

whoopsie-doozie

Johnny called me this morning, and when I picked up said, "I need you to find something funny so that I don't end up killing Eoin." Luckily for my nephew, I think the fact that he tried to give his sister "a haircut just like mine" is hilarious.

According to the photo Johnny sent me, it's sort of a faux-mullet, but Nola thinks she looks "so pretty." Maybe I should preemptively nominate her for What Not to Wear, so that when she get to the buying-her-own-clothes stage, we don't have any problems. This young woman needs some Stacy and Clinton up in her life.


UPDATE: Now she and I have the same haircut!

Eoin and Finola play DDR.

Aren't children just precious angels?

Johnny just called me to tell me he heard his daughter, my darling niece Finola, playfully reciting the names of the people in her family:

"There's Nana (my Mom), and Coach (my Dad), and Michael (my brother), and Crappy Girl (me)..."Because her older brother Eoin has consistently disliked me since he's been old enough to say, "I hate you," Johnny taught him to call me Aunt Crappy.

Whatever. This "Crappy Girl" thing's just a phase; I know it. She'll be back to puking on me in no time.

My favorite brother

turns 25 today! And to celebrate, since I can't be at home, I've uploaded some vintage shots of The Guck-meister.

Here's Condor sitting on the kitchen counter at our house in Burbank (Mom, check out this link! I can't believe how cool Google Maps has gotten!) with a bunch of dirt in all of his orifices. He used to eat the houseplant in the fronch room. It was there, so he ate it. It happens:

Ha. I can't look at that picture without laughing. Look at how it's all matted into his shirt, and he's like, "What."

Here's Con and I showing some love in his old room. (It looks like I have no less than 4 bows in my hair. Thanks, Mom.):


Here he is circa 2007, sharing his shit with our niece Finola:


A rare (because no one cares) Dahlke kid photo that's pre-Ellen and Neil:

Here's a t-chart of my weekend:

Is it achy or achey?

really really ridiculously good-looking

Dad, Conor, Finola, Eoin, Johnny, Neil, Mom, Michael, and me

My whole family was home this weekend for the first time that I can remember in a loooong time, not including the odd Christmas here and there. Pretty big deal. All day Saturday we mutted around in the yard and in the pool blasting Wilco albums. Is this heaven? No, it's Evergreen Park.