A Brief Conversation and Other Things

(Apologies for the lack of blog consistency as of late.  Between illnesses and time being strangely elusive for the past two weeks, I've felt horrible for the legion of readers who might have been wondering if the author was trapped under something heavy or perhaps frozen dead in the wilderness after failing to recreate scenes from an episode of Man vs. Wild.  So, for the two of you reading this, the consistency will return.)

The little boy with the blond-white hair, big eyes, small chin, enormous smile, and who is oddly-reminiscent of Bullseye the horse from Toy Story 2, was drawing.  Well.  "DrawLing," as he sharply corrects me.  I sat down next to him and watched him scribble and add sharp things to what looked like an angry Christmas tree.  Or a sharp tornado.

Me:  "Hey.  What's this?  What's going on there?"
Him:  No reply.
Me:  "Hey.  You.  Boy.  Whatcha makin'?"
Him:  "Huh?  Oh!  This?  Just makin' some Army guys."
Me:  "Ah.  So, this big dark thing in the middle.  What's this?  A hairy ninja?"
Him:  Rolls his eyes.  "No...he's THE Army guy!"
Me:  "Why is he so sharp?  What's all of the pointy things everywhere on his clothes?"
Him:  "Those are the sharp things to protect him from the killer whales."
Me:  I nod, approvingly.  Because, you know.  If you're in the Army, you never know when you'll get dropped into a sea teeming with ravenous killer whales, so being sharp is always a damn good idea.  I continue, "So, what are these round things growing out of his shoulders?  Golf clubs?  Weapons to use against the killer whales?"
Him:  "No.  Those are mirrors, so he can see stuth behind him."
Me:  "Stuth?  What are you talking about?"
Him:  "StuTH.  You know...like, things.  Stuth."
Me:  "Ahhh.  StuFF.  I get it.  Mirrors to see stuff behind him.  Like the mirrors in a car, right?"
Him:  "Yup."
Me:  "What kind of stuff?"
Him:  Stops drawing and looks at me.  "Killer whales."
Me:  "Oh.  Sorry.  Dumb question.  And what's that thing growing out of his head?  A poisonous tree to keep the whales away?"
Him:  "Nooo!  Jeez!  It's his kniiiife!!!"
Me:  "Ohhh nice.  To attack the whales if they get too close."
Him:  "Ugh, no.  This is a fire knife to use against the robots."

I was completely lost now.  I pity the poor bastard who has to plan to fight killer whales AND robots in the same day.  I laughed and said thanks for the chat, patted him on the head and walked away.  Later, when it was colored and complete, he brought it over to me to show it off.  He's a good 'drawler.'

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Currently reading The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer and I'm loving every sentence.  During college, I had a terrible habit of asking for or buying books to read before I finished the current one, which resulted in a massive backlog of unread things choking out all of the space on my bookshelves and desks.  Over the past few years, though, I've read quite a few of them, donated the ones I'd read to friends or libraries, and remarkably, the backlog is shrinking!  The next three on the menu:
-Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy.  I've tried this one twice before, but lost the momentum needed to get through it.
-The River of Doubt, Candace Millard.  Teddy Roosevelt in South America.
-A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole.  This one is a maybe.  I'm nervous that it's overrated.

Lastly, it's February 18th.  Pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training in Arizona today!  Woohoo!