here and back again

the cool thing about my dad is that he's up for anything.

on monday night when i said i wanted to go to a freestyle rap 10th anniversary open mic thing after work, he didn't bat an eye and just said, maybe i'll take a nap while you're gone. instead he walked me to work. fresh out the door, he leaped over a pile of pizza boxes. i mean, it was a big leap. it didn't surprise me. my dad just does stuff like this so i'm used to it. still, in the way of bratty kids around the world everywhere, i said, dad. that's the kind of thing you can't do tonight. you need to be cool.

self-loathing set in seconds later. my dad took my comment in stride.

so we went to the rap thing.

dad didn't leap. or dance. or pretend to rap. we bought each other beers. we hung out. we had fun.

at one point a guy came up to me and said: you look like you know where the party's at. i shouted: excuse me? he shouted: I SAID: you look like you know where the party's at! and i shouted back: I'm here with my dad, so i very much doubt that!

in truth, i do know where the party's at (what does that even mean?!). it's anywhere that new experiences take place. it's with anyone who's willing to embark on those experiences with you.

last night for dinner, my red-haired sis, dad and i went to Queens. ever since i moved to nyc i've been hearing that Sripraphai has the best Thai food around. thai food has great vegan options and i imagined a feast of deliciousness that my dad could partake in.

but then sis and i got swayed by the non-vegan fair on the menu -- hello whole fried red snapper, and spicy crunchy pork belly -- but we still all shared dessert. which was this thing:

dad ordered it. my sis and i took one bite, made comments about nutty mucus, giggled our heads off and let dad have all the rest. he ate them. all six. happily.

while he was here, my dad installed a huge flat screen in my house. fixed the light above my sink. put a new water filter on my tap. i watched him take a joke. make good small talk with my friend. walk for miles. i watched him not only eat at a thai food restaurant, but order the strangest thing on the menu and enjoy it.

i want to amend my opening statements. one of the cool things about my dad is that he's up for anything. in my eyes, you don't get much cooler than that.