Look, I get it, I’m biased, but my nieces and nephews are the cutest kids on THIS PLANET.
Love
Great
This child wearing all of the seat belts and singing God-knows-what is everything.
“At some point in your life, be the house on the block who gives out full candy bars. I swear to God, the expressions on those kids will be killer.”
Layla's 10th Birthday
I think it's fair to say that I talk about my niece Layla a lot. Why's that, you ask? Umm, I don't know, maybe 'cause SHE'S CLEARLY AMAZING?
I could get into some specific stories and post certain photos here as proof of her uniqueness, but she's previously said that she "refuses to give consent" on everything that gets posted of her online - so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Happy 10th Birthday, my love! You continue to wow everyone around you and I hope your day's treating you right.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood On Netflix
It's fairly clear how much I love this man. I find it odd that more people aren't as vocal about their love for him, to be frank. There are twenty episodes from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood now streaming on Netflix and if you have any children in your life, you'd be doing them a great disservice by not showing them a few episodes.
Soaring
Full Disclosure: I am responsible for ninety thousand of these views. Can't even express how much this makes me laugh.
As Real As You And Me - Rihanna
HAVE YOU HEARD THIS SONG?
My niece Layla was watching Home on DVD in my parent's living room and I heard this song from the other room, came in to watch the scene with this song playing, watched for a few minutes, cried, then left to go lay down for a minute. Does that make me seem like a maniac? 'Cause it happened just that way.
This song is real as fuck. Gotta remember to watch that whole movie in full.
“I prefer being frank with children. I’m more likely to say, ‘You must be exhausted,’ or ‘I know a lot of people who would kill for that little waistline of yours.”
Jasmine
Twenty years ago today (December 29th, 1994), I met my dog Jasmine. I was nine years old and she was a Christmas gift from my parents. (Quick tip: If your kid wants a dog, wait until he/she is at least eight or nine. The younger they are, the weirder they treat dogs.) I named her Jasmine because I wanted her to be named after royalty (the princess in Aladdin) since my parents named me after the Queen of England.
She was with our family for almost ten years before she passed away in 2004 and this lady was the love of my life. Everyone who knew anything about me knew that I'd lose it for awhile when she died, and I did. I dropped out of college for a bit, sat in the dark a lot and just felt awful all the time. If that sounds dramatic to you - I'm sorry, but I was upset. Even now, if I'm in a certain kind of mood and I start thinking about her - watch out.
I don't really even have a point to this post. I just realized what today was and wanted to mention it. If you come to this site to read any of my stuff, you often get a pretty good idea of the things I'm passionate about - so it seemed weirder for me not to mention this day. And if we're friends in real life and you didn't know about Jasmine - well, we definitely aren't as close as you might think 'cause EVERYONE knows about me and Jasmine. Or they should, anyway.
I know that it's probably not emotionally healthy to not completely move on ten years after a pet dies, but I don't know what to tell you. Maybe it's dumb, but sometimes I'll just say her name out loud so I can hear it and think for a split second that she never left. Fuck, I miss her.
Moral of this post? Don't love anyone 'cause they'll leave? Haha. No, but seriously don't.
I know I'm living a pretty lucky life, but I was lucky as hell to have a dog like her. After Jasmine died, my Ma said to me something along the lines of, "Yeah, this is awful. But at least now you don't have to be afraid of death since she'll be right there waiting for you when you pass away." And maybe it's abnormal to hear your grandmother discuss your own demise with you, but it helped me so much to have that thought in the back of my head for all these years.
Thanks for reading, guys.