please to put a penny in the old. man’s. hat.

Today is Christmas Eve, and that’s pretty cool.

I’m at my parents’ house.  Last night we decorated the Christmas tree.  Mom and I did some last minute shopping and went to go find some goodies for Christmas morning (we may be the only house that considers Doritos more of a treat than chocolate) and I saw Brittney and gave her a present.  We had our sort-of-traditional round of ‘What Games Are Everyone Else Playing, Oh, Let Me Try, No, You Can Have It Back When I Say’ and Dad had the Turner Classic Movie channel tuned to a Humphrey Bogart marathon.

Dad:  Do you know who that is?

Mom:  Yes.  It’s…oh.  Uh.  Hang on.

Dad:  It’s Clark Gable.

Me:  No, it’s not, it’s-

Mom:  No, no, I’ve got it.  it’s…oh.  Aah!  It’s…uh…river guy.  River Queen?  River Boat?

Me:  Casablanca.

Mom:  That too, but I mean the Katherine Hepburn one, the river one…

Dad:  It’s Cary Grant.

Mom:  No, no…it’s…it’s…it’s on the tip of my tongue…

Me:  Do you want me to tell you, Mom?

Mom:  No!  I’ve got it!  It’s…

Dad:  It’s Jerry Lewis.

Me:  DAD, IT IS NOT JERRY LEWIS.  Do you want me to tell you, Mom?

Mom:  NO.  I know who it is.  It’s right there…auugh…it’s…fine.  Tell me.

Dad:  It’s Philip Marlowe.

Me:  Mom, it rhymes with Pumphrey Hogart.

Mom:  OHHH!  Yes!  *glares at Dad*  Philip Marlowe.  I wouldn’t have known who Philip Marlowe was.

Dad:  *points to the screen*  That’s Philip Marlowe.

And to aaaaaaaall a good night.

So, you guys, while I’m talking about fambly, I really want you to go check out Dear Incomprehension.  It’s written by my big sister Sarah, who teaches literature classes to college students in Pennsylvania and is working on her dissertation.  She is much nicer and smarter than me, and it shows.  My favorite posts so far are this one, and also probably this one, the first being interesting and sweet and the second being an enthusiastic mental push-up.

Go show her some love and do some reading!