As many women are, my wife was physiologically altered after childbirth. Let’s just say she was physically less able to hold certain things in. I think fathers are altered in a similar way and experience the kind of emotional incontinence that you describe. That was certainly my experience. My kids always talk about their disney years and joke about how I’d start crying during trailers before the main feature even started.
…love how you get to jump all over in these…as a man who is a made up word i fully endorse sondrance…i also smorga lyffees and jerner herguznits…it is a deeply comfibbly prodess…nerp if you have ever ferffed the same way…
Hahahahaha MAN I shit you not this was a section I cut from the draft literally moments before I sent it out:
Here are some new words I am workshopping.
I wanted to end this issue by trying something inspired by the dictionary of obscure sorrows. Below, I come up with three unique new words then share three anecdotes from my week that inspired them.
SPRINZY - v., Authentic as possible without taking on airs of self-awareness.
1. Early in the week, my cousin visited with her boyfriend from Boston. They were just in town for a few days before driving to a wedding and wanted to try some Tex-Mex and Barbecue. I felt a lot of pressure because it fell to me to pick the barbecue restaurant, and there are five or ten barbecue restaurants in Houston that could be considered "the best." I remembered when I visited NYC and the best Italian food I had was at a place just outside of Little Italy, that didn't try to sell itself as the "best Italian" place. I figured their mind would be blown by a similarly sprinzy barbecue joint here, that was just good but didn't have "world's best Texas bbq joint" plastered all over the walls with merch and bottles of sauce for sale everywhere. And so we went to the most popular place in the neighborhood, and I was totally vindicated!
BLAUGHING - v., Laughing as a result of other people laughing, whether intentionally or unintentionally; (n) blaughter.
1. On Thursday night, one of my best friends was in town and he took us to see Fred Armisen's show, comedy for musicians. Neither my wife or I are musicians, and so didn't get 60% of Fred Armisen's jokes, but the rest of the crowd was musicians and some of the jokes hit so hard apparently that we ended up blaughing anyway.
XYXXYX- adj., The state of having strong feelings about something for which their is a distinct zeitgeist, in the same direction as the zeitgeist, but not as strongly as everybody else.
1. My wife and I don't really watch the same movies or shows. But since we are on parental leave together, we decided to pick and show and watch it together. We decided on Severance and started binging it when they were in the middle of releasing Season 2. We were just like everyone else, hanging on every episode. We started binging in the middle of Season 2 but got a bit delayed. Everyone finished earlier than me and complained about how disappointed they were about the end of Season 2. I even had one friend insist the script was written by AI and that Severance was "slop." When we finished, I was just XYXXYX: disappointed but not as disappoiinted as the rest.
2. In a similar vein, after the Fred Armisen show, my friend took us to a burger joint next door. Lots of people say it's their favorite burger in Houston, and he said it was his favorite. I got one of their specials and liked it. When he asked how it was, I was told him I loved it, but the truth is I was XYXXYX.
^couldn’t quite settle on a word for the last one, but hovered around SMEFFED and NONTEMPT.
Charlie, I love this format and got something out of every vignette. I hope you keep writing these!
Regarding the first one – about the tonality and vigor of emotionality that comes with being a parent – I can share that it has only become stronger as I (and my child) get older.
Funny anecdote: Recently, I watched a few seniors do their (mandatory) senior speeches at my daughter’s high school. One of them was a close friend of my daughter’s. After they were done and we took pictures, I asked her if all of them were so well-presented and beautiful. And my other question was, reflecting on my own emotional reaction, if any of the seniors ever get teary-eyed or even break out into tears. She looked at me completely surprised…like, no that never happens. Haha,
As many women are, my wife was physiologically altered after childbirth. Let’s just say she was physically less able to hold certain things in. I think fathers are altered in a similar way and experience the kind of emotional incontinence that you describe. That was certainly my experience. My kids always talk about their disney years and joke about how I’d start crying during trailers before the main feature even started.
Haha yes we had similar experiences on both counts. It was a pretty radical change for both of us.
…love how you get to jump all over in these…as a man who is a made up word i fully endorse sondrance…i also smorga lyffees and jerner herguznits…it is a deeply comfibbly prodess…nerp if you have ever ferffed the same way…
Hahahahaha MAN I shit you not this was a section I cut from the draft literally moments before I sent it out:
Here are some new words I am workshopping.
I wanted to end this issue by trying something inspired by the dictionary of obscure sorrows. Below, I come up with three unique new words then share three anecdotes from my week that inspired them.
SPRINZY - v., Authentic as possible without taking on airs of self-awareness.
1. Early in the week, my cousin visited with her boyfriend from Boston. They were just in town for a few days before driving to a wedding and wanted to try some Tex-Mex and Barbecue. I felt a lot of pressure because it fell to me to pick the barbecue restaurant, and there are five or ten barbecue restaurants in Houston that could be considered "the best." I remembered when I visited NYC and the best Italian food I had was at a place just outside of Little Italy, that didn't try to sell itself as the "best Italian" place. I figured their mind would be blown by a similarly sprinzy barbecue joint here, that was just good but didn't have "world's best Texas bbq joint" plastered all over the walls with merch and bottles of sauce for sale everywhere. And so we went to the most popular place in the neighborhood, and I was totally vindicated!
BLAUGHING - v., Laughing as a result of other people laughing, whether intentionally or unintentionally; (n) blaughter.
1. On Thursday night, one of my best friends was in town and he took us to see Fred Armisen's show, comedy for musicians. Neither my wife or I are musicians, and so didn't get 60% of Fred Armisen's jokes, but the rest of the crowd was musicians and some of the jokes hit so hard apparently that we ended up blaughing anyway.
XYXXYX- adj., The state of having strong feelings about something for which their is a distinct zeitgeist, in the same direction as the zeitgeist, but not as strongly as everybody else.
1. My wife and I don't really watch the same movies or shows. But since we are on parental leave together, we decided to pick and show and watch it together. We decided on Severance and started binging it when they were in the middle of releasing Season 2. We were just like everyone else, hanging on every episode. We started binging in the middle of Season 2 but got a bit delayed. Everyone finished earlier than me and complained about how disappointed they were about the end of Season 2. I even had one friend insist the script was written by AI and that Severance was "slop." When we finished, I was just XYXXYX: disappointed but not as disappoiinted as the rest.
2. In a similar vein, after the Fred Armisen show, my friend took us to a burger joint next door. Lots of people say it's their favorite burger in Houston, and he said it was his favorite. I got one of their specials and liked it. When he asked how it was, I was told him I loved it, but the truth is I was XYXXYX.
^couldn’t quite settle on a word for the last one, but hovered around SMEFFED and NONTEMPT.
Charlie, I love this format and got something out of every vignette. I hope you keep writing these!
Regarding the first one – about the tonality and vigor of emotionality that comes with being a parent – I can share that it has only become stronger as I (and my child) get older.
Funny anecdote: Recently, I watched a few seniors do their (mandatory) senior speeches at my daughter’s high school. One of them was a close friend of my daughter’s. After they were done and we took pictures, I asked her if all of them were so well-presented and beautiful. And my other question was, reflecting on my own emotional reaction, if any of the seniors ever get teary-eyed or even break out into tears. She looked at me completely surprised…like, no that never happens. Haha,
Currently reading "Shakespear, the Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench...
How is it?
If you are a fan of Shakespear, Judi Dench and/or theater, it is a great read! Wish I had read it BEFORE I read the works of Shakespear.