christmas this year turned out to be all about sharing those wonderful yet sometimes awkward moments that surface when you spend a bit too much time with relatives that you are really meant to see just a few times a year.

my cousin m. started up a discussion tonight about how he was against gay marriage, but all for giving more money to the army. let's just say it was my time to nod and smile. fred, on the other hand, got up and went to get a drink of water. smart boy.

my father, later on, apparently struck up a conversation with fred about the movie broke back moutain. "you know the one with the two effeminates?" he asked. lovely. just lovely.

driving back home with fred, i told him how lucky i felt i was for having him as a brother. how easy it was for me to be at peace with who i am because i felt like i could open up to him. and it is absolutely true. i don't believe i would be anywhere close to where i am right now had he not been so open, proactive even. gosh, he even gave me ani difranco cds way back! so i put the blame on him for introducing me to the world of folk music and cute girls with guitars.

hope you guys had a lovely time and left the politics and the questioning aside. not using your brain is good every now and then. merry whatever-you'd-like.