Sinister: Have you and her been taking pictures of your obsessions?

[Sunny set]

It had been quite a while since my family have been together in one place 
and then suddenly we found ourselves seeing each other twice in three weeks. 
  After a long time apart it takes a while to remember what it is like to be 
a family. Sitting around the dining room table talking... about 4 different 
things.

It is so easy to forget the basic rules of being a family. Each  member of 
the family has his or her own obsession. The objective of the game is to try 
to convince every other member of the family that their obsession is the 
only one worth caring about.
It’s a comprise between engaging others in conversations about your own 
obsessions whilst blocking  attacks from other people.
Once this has been achieved the game is over and the original owner of the 
obsession is crowned victorious and respected by all. Of course this has 
never happened.

My dad is in the lead at the moment, having convinced my sister to support 
Carlisle United. They go to games together and make a very dangerous pair. 
Luckily it will take a while for them to convince either me or my mum that 
standing out in the cold drinking Bovril and watching a ball kicked around 
is a good idea, so the game is by no mean won.

My mum on the other hand is playing a tactical game. She obsesses over 
multiple things (runrig, Donnie Munroe, Gaelic, stone circles, making food 
using brown flour) one minute you are feeling smug having successfully 
blocked a conversation about Gaelic and just as you are congratulating 
yourself you realise she is talking about Donnie Munroe and you are 
encountering angry glares from the other members of the family.

My fight is going fairly well. My mum admits she likes Belle and Sebastian 
and even knows simple facts like: Isobel is the one who left the band 
recently,  and that there used to be two people called Stuart but now one of 
them is called Stevie (ok she gets a bit confused sometimes). My dad has 
been known to play The Boy With The Arab Strap without prompting, but my 
sister still puts her hands of her ears and says “I’m not listening” 
whenever I bring the subject up (crude but effective weapon in the game)

My first meeting with my family had gone abysmally. I was coming down with 
the flu and in no fit state to compete. My sister and dad on the other hand 
found many things to say about Carlisle, and even my mum had managed to slip 
runrig into a conversation.  However the next meeting was on home territory. 
I had the upper hand!

I stood my ground waiting for the perfect moment to attack... It came just 
at the end of the meal. I could see I was not the only one who had heard 
enough about the days match. My mum was looking decidedly bored. I launched 
my attack:
“shall I put some music on” I asked her sweetly…
“that’s a good idea” she replied. A fatal move on her part.

I knew that is was unlikely that any member of my family had heard 
storytelling. And decided the instrumentals could be just what I need to 
secure a fan base within my family.

I put the CD and then sat down, trying not to smirk. I let my dad and sister 
continue there discussion about the football and played with my remaining 
food. One and a half songs later my dad stopped talking and looked at me. I 
looked back innocently. Then he spoke:
“this is a bit sophisticated for you isn’t it? Music without lyrics, I’m 
proud of you, its almost classical”
I smiled and turned to my sister:
“Do you like it?”
“It ok”
She was wary, she knew this could be a trick and didn’t want to commit 
herself one way or another. She moved uncomfortably in her seats trying to 
work out whether I had gone over to the other side and perhaps this was 
runrig, or whether the CD was something in the charts that she should 
probably know about.

My dad cracked first:
“So who is it?”
I wondered whether to lie… but I was excited by the almost acceptance of my 
obsession that I could wait any longer to reveal their true identity. And as 
soon as I did the game was over… they put downs began, “this is a mavericks 
song, this is just like  the beach boys, this is just like that other one 
they did”

But I didn’t care. I had managed to get my family to listen to half a B&S CD 
without tying them down. I know they won’t be able to hold out much longer… 
one day we will sit down as a family and listen to a whole B&S CD without 
someone turning it off.


Take Care
Rachel




*************
With the current crop of disposable jaw lines and manufactured inanity, it 
seems that we need our heroes now more than ever before. 
http://www.friendsoftheheroes.co.uk
                        *****************





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