Julian was reading Harry Potter, though I had temporarily forgotten this when he began speaking. It is yet another example of his way of speaking literally yet poetically, a constant occurrence. I often feel like I’m hearing it on a deeper, more symbolic level and struggle to stay engaged while paralyzed by its impact.
JULIAN: Can I ask you a question? What do you think is the maximum weight of something you can summon?
JEN: Uhhhh
JULIAN: If you try summoning the moon, you’d potentially end the world by bringing it to you.
JEN: True. There must be some limits.
JULIAN, disapprovingly: Soft magic.
I shared this with Julian and he laughed and exclaimed that he can’t hear it. That he has to be me to understand and even then, he’s not quite there. To him, it was just a simple question. To me, those lines are a lyric.
_____
Sean started playing the cheesiest song EVER which is not unusual, particularly for a Sunday, yet still had me dying. I almost felt secondhand embarrassment. It was “"Tonight I Celebrate My Love for You” by Peabo Bryson. I know.
I need to make a list of his song choices because they are really something. Sean has a way of saying things that get funnier—almost a slow delay where it takes me a minute, and I hardly have a chance to relax in my initial laughter because there’s often more, often said with fervor:
JEN, laughing at song choice: What the. This song….
SEAN: I actually think I remember the name Peabo Bryson from back in the day because yes, I used to listen to it—because I knew if I wanted to hear “From a Distance,” I had to be on that particular radio station.
JEN: Omygosh, I loved “From a Distance!”
SEAN: Everyone loved “From a Distance!!!”
_____
SEAN: I wonder if the Irish associate mint with themselves. Or if that’s just everybody else. They’re like, “Well, you’re green, so…”
JEN: Yeah. What about pistachio?
SEAN: Coulda been pistachio. But pistachios are so Italian though.
JEN: And they seem to embrace that. Remember how we saw spumoni ice cream everywhere in Brooklyn? So.. maybe yes?
In case you’re unfamiliar, spumoni is a tri-flavored ice cream consisting of cherry + chocolate + pistachio. Being Italian, I could really go for some right now.
_____
I was looking for some time to write and made it happen.
SEAN: Was the time productive?
JEN: Yes. I mean, I don’t know if it’s any good…
SEAN: …but words are there that weren’t there before?
JEN: Definitely.
Listening to “From a Distance” as I type.