Objection One...My Favorite Object?

Initially, as I sat down to write this blog about my favorite object, I thought of about a billion things that might be my favorite.

The jacket from my favorite drum corps, the marble and paper-clip necklace from when I aged out of Pacific Crest drum and bugle corps, the DVDs of my favorite movies (Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Casablanca), the star necklace I bought when visiting New York City with my best friend, my phone that keeps me connected to all the information and people I want, my laptop that connects me to the interwebz and has my extensive music collection, the Red Sox jacket with “The Rocket” embroidered on the front that I stole from my brother, the collection of concert tickets, wristbands, and House of Blues VIP passes, the nametag from when I worked at Disneyland, the glowing bracelet from the OK Go music video….but something happens when you suddenly find yourself in unfamiliar territory 3,500 miles away from home.  When one is forced to cram all of their personal belongings into two suitcases, weighing less than fifty pounds each, and one carry-on with no liquids or sharp objects, the dependence upon objects becomes diminished.  Likewise, when one is forced to say goodbye to family, friends, and a lifestyle to which one has been familiar for over a quarter of a decade objects seem much less important.  On those nights when Philly starts to feel like less like a new home and more like Hoth, I don’t think to myself, “Golly gee damn, I miss that empty bottle of Sky Dog wine from the Oliver Winery” or “I’d be much happier if I just had that Zenyatta bobble-head from Santa Anita.” What I really want are the people and experiences I’ve left behind.  The nights arguing with the bartenders about cheeseburgers with The Vegan, The Band Director, and The Old Guy (those are my friends, by the way), the shopping trips with Mom where I’d always convince her to buy me some dress that I didn’t need, and the awkward nights at The Yardhouse with my Pie Hell people.  It is for this reason that this blog is not necessarily about an object.  It’s about someone.  Someone I miss, possibly, the most.  This person is my niece, Allysaurus. 

Allysaurus was born November 11, 2009.  November 12^th is when I actually learned she existed.  Mom called me, said she had important news and asked me to meet her for breakfast at Farmer Boys. (I was hoping she’d buy me food but a niece is good, too)  It had been years since I had seen my brother; he only crossed my mind when I took his Red Sox jacket out of the closet.  He hadn’t told anyone about his daughter until the day after she was born.  It was a few months before Mom and I actually met Allysaurus and Holy Geez was that baby adorable.

It’s hard to put a person on display but I’ve done a fairly good job at doing so.  Currently, pictures of her adorn the mirror in my room in Philly as well as my facebook page.  I keep her pictures out in places where I know I will see them every day.  She is a reminder to stay motivated. I would like her to grow up and think “Wow! My auntie Yay-yuh (She can’t exactly say my name yet) is the coolest auntie ever!”  I like to think that I can influence her to grow up into a remarkably intelligent human.  As it is, she has an interest in dinosaurs (one of her favorite movies to watch with me was The Land Before Time and I even took her to a museum in Los Angeles and bought her a stuffed blue dinosaur that she named Bluh-bluh), her favorite stuffed animal at my house was an Okapi (seriously, what kid, other than one partially related to me, knows and likes Okapi?!), and she has a strange fondness for rocks that I also had as a child.  I’d say I’m doing pretty well in the Influential Auntie role….though, that’s becoming difficult from the other side of the country.

If one considers the pictures on my mirror a form of display, then nearby “displays” would include other pictures of friends and loved ones.  These people are also important individuals that have helped shape me into the person I am today and that I enjoy thinking about and seeing every time I walk into my room.  

It’s difficult to say what field of study might enrich my understanding or exploration of this “object.”  I suppose a more thorough knowledge of developmental psychology may help me understand how her tiny brain is working and forming…allowing me to influence her in the best way at the most opportune times.

I can’t imagine anyone NOT being interested in this adorable object.  I mean, I don’t even like babies or non-adults (to be fair, there are quite a few adults I don’t like, either) and I freaking LOVE this kid...ever since the first time we picked her up and she gave us that weird pouty-lipped smile and looked up at us with her eyes that I swear are the darkest brown to ever exist.  I suppose others might say she’s just another little kid that cries at everything with hardly any civilized human qualities.  To those critics I say, “Yeah! But she’s so cute!” I mean, really. Adorable.  How can you not love a kid that, for a while, couldn’t quite produce that “v” sound so that “I love you” became “I lom you!”  The last time we had a party at our house that she came to, she conned almost everyone there into giving her a dinosaur cookie just by batting her eyes at them!  Seriously cute.

Favorite Object Honorable Mentions:

New Nephew (left); Riley, my dog (right)

The Vegan. Not pictured: The Band Director, The Old Guy