raining aaaall the tiiiime...

On our way home from our ballet school the other week, Daddy played a CD of really sad jazz tunes sung by some of the best torch singers around - Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald. I then started to notice that if I were heartbroken (which, by all accounts, I should be, but it's strangely not the case), I would be hating this CD. It was all sad songs, starting with "Cry Me A River" and peppered with "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," "La Vie En Rose," and that song that goes "Though I can't dismiss the memory of his kiss..." and the "Stormy weather... since my man and I are not together..." song. Even the version here of "Come Rain or Come Shine" is totally depressing. And then, strangely again, there was Etta James singing "At Last" right smack in the middle of it. A sliver of bright light in the midst of gloom.

I was sitting in the backseat and just listening, being grateful that I wasn't heartbroken and thinking how strange it would be to mix such a CD; the theme would be too sad to listen to. I mean, I would make a happy CD for when I feel happy, I would make myself a feel-good healing CD for when I feel sad (yeah, Razorback!!!). But I wouldn't make myself a CD of all the saddest songs in the world, what am I, suicidal?

Stranger then when I realized that Daddy got this CD from Twinkle, my brother's new ex-girlfriend. They had just broken up a couple of months ago; there was much ado about how this relationship ended and I don't plan to get into it here. Suffice to say that during the break up, he managed to give us a lot of stress and now he's happy with someone new. Should it have been that easy? we wonder.

Anyway, I wondered if Daddy was aware he was playing sad songs from the CD Twinkle gave him, and if he's doing this on purpose: playing sad songs for Twinkle. He didn't even like Twinkle that much, but I wouldn't put it past him to do anything to irk his own children - perhaps, someone should mourn Twinkle a bit.

The other day, again on our way home from ballet, he played a different CD, another one that Twinkle burned for him. It kept skipping, as some burnt CDs do. After a while, Daddy ejected it from the player and said, "Ever since Quincy broke up with Twinkle, her CDs don't work anymore."

My dad has a rule about not wanting to meet our chicks unless we're absolutely sure this is the one. He hates the idea of getting used to somebody only to have this person ejected out of his life because they were ejected out of ours. Or at least, that's his explanation to the boys. He had met Twinkle and had gotten used to her, now he wonders why he was so polite when he went to visit. And he had met Erica and is always making jibes about her and Lucas getting back together.

As far as I know, my dad has never wanted to meet my (ex-)boyfriends. There was never any idea of the possibility that he may get used to them one day. I'm not even his baby. I can't wait till Jacqui falls in love.