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Whaler
By Sophie B. Hawkins

~*~
"i wonder why i feel so high
though i am not above the sorrow
heavy-hearted
till you call my name
and it sounds like church bells
or the whistle of a train
on a summer evening
i'll run to meet you
barefoot, barely breathing..."

- Sophie B. Hawkins [As I Lay Me Down]
~*~

Kids say the funniest things.

At a recent family get-together dinner, my adorable, very cheeky, seven-year old cousin, Nina, exclaimed rather audibly when she heard the adults talking about the whole Paradorn & Tata ordeal, "Paradorn has such big lips! Isn't Tata scared he might eat her up when they kiss?".  She followed this up with wet, smacking, kissing noises that were so loud, I swear the farang couple at the table next to us heard it (I believe I heard tittering coming from their table).  A few minutes later, obviously after much speculation and thought, she suddenly cried out, "But Tata has a big mouth too because she's a singer and looks like a puffer fish, so maybe she'll eat him up." This time I was certain the farang couple heard that because they were practically howling with laughter.

Today, I saw my ten-year old cousin (he's actually my cousin's son, so I guess that makes us second cousins?). The last time I saw him was about a year ago and he's grown up so much since then. Not physically, though… poor kid got all the short genes in the family and so while his brother and sister are giants, he's still, well, short. Anyway, he's already passed his cutie-patootie phase and so I can't squeeze his chubby cheeks anymore in risk of being swatted at.  He's starting to near puberty and from what my cousin (his mom) says, the mood swings are now in full force.

I still remember when he was six and the cutest thing on earth:

Mann: I farted in class today while the teacher was reading to us.
Me: Uhhhh. Really?
Mann: Yeah, it was really loud. Boom, boom, BOOM!
Me: (trying desperately to keep a straight face)
Mann: We were all sitting in a circle.  I was going to say my friend did it, but then I got an idea.
Me: Oh yeah?  What was your idea?
Mann: (rolling his eyes like the answer is so plainly obvious)  You got to hurry and breathe it all in before other people smell it (starts inhaling like mad…I'm so worried he's going to start hyperventilating).  See?  Like this (Heave, heave. Inhale. Pant.).
Me: Ehh…are you sure that works?
Mann: (gives me an exasperated look and rolls his eyes)  You don't believe me, right?  OK, here, I'll show you.

I reminded him of his expertly adivce today and he gave me the most baffled look, "Arai wa?.  Dude, I'd never do anything stupid like that." Then he started to look a little uncertain. "Or maybe I did… but don't tell Ben (his older brother)... he'd blackmail me if he knew that."

Ah, sibling love, ain't it grand?

I've recently rediscovered Sophie B. Hawkins' Whaler album, thanks to the background music Naeglerian recently put up on his site.  I remember listening to Whaler nonstop throughout eighth and ninth grade, but then soon forgot about it after Hanson came MMMBopping into the music scene during the summer of '97.   As I Lay Me Down is definitely one of the best ballads of all time.



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