Cynical Dad
Oh Chag, I like you just the way you are.
And I am aghast at the behavior of your neighbor: you handled him well. Just to mess with him more, you might have told him that "my partner thinks it's cute when we dress alike..."
Seriously? I can't believe that he had such a problem with Zed riding Zoey old pink car. Does he not realize that even if it had started out red (which might be considered a "boy" colour, at least more than pink), it would probably be pink by now because of sun and heat and stuff?
I love your writing - I don't comment often, but I always read!
Hi Chag,
I read your site all the time... And I think you are very funny.
I like your blog a lot.
Mostly I LOVE the stories about Zoey. It makes me think about the crazy stuff that's going to come out of my little girl someday.
I still tell people the "crazy the lord" story.
You have a wonderful family.
You remind me of a boyfriend I had in high school. He used to tell me "You're so great and I'm not. I don't know why you are with me." And after I heard that for the thousandth time, I told "You are right. I am great. I don't know why I'm with you either." He never could figure out why exactly I broke up with him.
Your writing is funny and interesting (barring all the baseball talk, I'm not a fan of that sport) so stop downing on yourself. Stop or one of these days people will collectively start saying "He's right. Why am I wasting my time?"
Oh for the love of God. People are nuts. And the South more progressive? Are you feeling okay? :)
You know that we'll cheerfully read a freakin' post about a remote control simply because a post like THIS ONE will come along and crack us the fuck up!
You are funny. And interesting.
NOW STOP FISHING FOR COMPLEMENTS. ;)
1) You get to shower in the morning? Every day? I haven't bathed since Wednesday.
2) I let the boy go to playgroup wearing a barrette the other day. Nobody even said anything until one Dad mentioned that his son also liked hair accessories. (You should playgroup in liberal Maryland... they wouldn't care about the pink car. It's quite a drive, but it's worth it).
3) I bet you two looked adorable.
Removed? I wanted to see it! It's your blog - you can post (or remove, I suppose...) whatever you feel like, even if it's "whiny and self-indulgent" - all blogs ARE, in some sense, right? :-) (But for what it's worth, I don't think you'd have as many readers as you do if you weren't somehow entertaining and engaging.)
As for Burt...what. the. hell. I know there ARE people like this in the world, but when they flaunt their neanderthalism (new word? maybe!) in your face so blatantly, it really is discouraging, and a little creepy.
Strange that people can believe dopey stuff like that. How do they account for the gay men who drink Bud, love sports, drive he-man trucks, and have lots of body hair?
thriftiness trumps gay everyday! love it...
although, I probably would have said that that was exactly what I was going for... it is just so HIP these days to have an alternative lifestyle child.
you didn't say - "My wife is hoping he will be so she has someone to shop with when he's older." ? Yeah, that stuff makes me nuts too.
I know what it's like to have your parents tell you you're worthless. (((hug))) Keep on blogging. :)
If someone without issues were ever to blog, I wouldn't read it.
For myself, I almost always have at least a little nagging negativity somewhere in the back of my mind, if not full-blown existential nausea. So I guess you're speaking my language. Maybe we should start a support group...unless, wait a minute...is this a support group, Chag?
Anyway, I think your site's title clued me in; really, how can a body be effectively cynical without at least a little depression?
Dash has a pink bunny and we've dealt with all kinds of weird and sort of out of line comments from strangers as well. Or we did back in the days when he took Bunny everywhere.
And dude, you're super funny and smart and a great read all the time, you have as many readers as you do for a reason. A damn good reason. Enjoy it! Be flattered! Let your ego inflate, it feels good sometimes.
By the way, your neighbor is such a throw-back idiot, it makes me chuckle.
Does this guy live in a bubble? I mean, have you seen Boys Don't Cry, The Birdcage, Too Wong Fu, The Wiggles, the pictures on the internet of my son wearing lipstick and a flowing pink gown, etc.? If a kid's going to 'get gay' based solely on environmental factors, which is of course a subject of debate, and one of which I certainly am not convinced, they don't need a little pink car; gayness is all around you.
Dude, I'm sure from all the comments you get you do get a sense of self therapy from your writing, as we all do as well. Isn't it nice to know that we're all out there, basically doing the same thing. Everyone has a story!
You're a bloody great writer, and I love the style. You're one of my inspirations to write in the same manner!
Cheers, Whiz. (aka Angry Dad)
You write about what you need to write. I think you are awesome, no matter what you think.
Also, Burt sounds like a Tool.
And a vacation? Like Disney World? I hope the therapist was paying!
No sympathy, just understanding. There's similarities in our backgrounds, so I can relate. Rock on.
Chag, I love your blog. Your sence os cynism gets me everytime. You are able to look at people and react to them in a very healthy *for you - not them lol* way.
I too suffer from depression and refuse to take medication. Blogging works for me - never again cut your own words my friend. For they are the lifeblood of our creative soul and the font should never be stemmed.
Ok - nuff of that. Back to work! *grin*
Um...you're in the South?
Don't be downing yourself...remember, you're the wife-snatching cyber-stud of the blogosphere! Well, okay, only in the mind of one particular delusional sociopath, but it's SOMEthing :-)
I forget who said "show me a writer and I'll show you a fucked up childhood," but YOU MADE IT, you're officially in the club now! Put on your tinfoil helmet and go lurk in the bushes by your mailbox--the decoder ring and DVD of the intricate steps to the secret handshake should arrive any day now.
And yeah, don't cut stuff out again, because then people like me who look forward to your words (ALL of them) will be pissed when they click too late to see what you took out, and our sick, lurid imaginations will run wild, and by the time you DO tell us what you said, we're all "WHERE ARE THE LIVESTOCK AND THE DANCING GIRLS???"
Yours is quite honestly the funniest blog I've ever read. I get all excited when a "new!" button pops up by your name in Izzy's blogroll. Cuz I'm too lazy to make my own. But damn, that shit that our parents tell us, that's a bitch, no? I get ya.
And your neighbor. Man, I wish I had a fast verbal processing brain like you do to come up with such comebacks.
Wow. Thanks for putting that out there. It kind of ties into your name though, Cynical Dad, and that's part of why we love you. I think far more of us feel like you do than would ever admit it.
I understand the depression thing and I think realizing the Red Sox are a better team will help. No seriously: I had the alcoholic dad too and it really undermines our own self-worth when they kill themselves and we watch, even if they tell us we are great (which my dad did, but I wasn't great enough for him to save himself)as they slide down that slow burning suicide.
hey, you write what you need to write. And the people for whom it resonates will be really greateful - it's good to know you're not alone in your troubles.
But what I really wanted to tell you and forgot to above was - how much aI adored the title of this post. Brilliant shit, my man.
I really admire your decision to put that out there. It can be hard to resist the temptation to make your blog self free of all real problems. But it is much better reading when you include that stuff. Sort of freeing too. I wish you well in negotiating how to fit depression into your life without it taking over your life. Can be difficult.
I find that my 100 mg. of Zoloft does sort of work to take the edge off the shitty parenting I got. But, you're right, it's nearly impossible to get the messages out of your head. And by the way, I dress my little girl in blue all the time and I love the comments I get. But I live in LA thank God so no one really gives a rat's ass what you're doing.
I'll tell you why I read you.
1) You're funny and you make me laugh.
2) Because my husband is a work-from-home dad, I enjoy hearing what another SAHD has to say.
3) You're funny...oh wait, I already mentioned that.
My husband and I both had parents like your dad. It's not easy to overcome the crap, it just keeps resurfacing in different ways. All we can do is deal with it as it erupts. I find myself using my blog to process the crap. I don't mind if you do the same.
Late to the comment party here, but just wanted to say: not only do we share similarly named blogs, but apparently some brain chemical imbalances too, although wellbutrin was always my drug of choice. And I enjoy your writing as well, otherwise I wouldn't be subscribed.
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