Is that the song from Deliverance I hear?

"Ok girls, what movie do you want to watch, how about we let the guest pick?"

"Oh, how about To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar?"

"I um...I don't think we have that one, um...what's it about?"

"Oh my God, it's so good, it's about these guys that dress like girls, but they don't like girls, they like guys, they are called drag queens. Oh, and it's so funny, this one drag queen stuffs her bra with-"

"OK! Well, seems we don't have that one, how about The Lion King?"

So...anyone else a total weirdo growing up?

No?

Just me?

Well then, you missed out. Luckily, my glowing personality and harrowing good looks (bwahahaha) saved me from being a total outcast, but things were touch and go for a while in junior high school.

I think once you become a parent, you really sit back and examine your own childhood. It really gives you insight on your own parents. I honestly had the best parents ever, young, totally laid back, former hippies (ok, my dad, total hippie...my mom, more of a irish hippie with a heap Catholic guilt...but hey, reefer is reefer people!) who filled our childhood with amazing music, food and experiences.

They tried to yuppie it out a bit in the 80's, did the whole drive a beamer, buy a laser disc player thing (laser discs are the future, man), but it just wasn't their bag, and we were back to our barefoot style life in no time.

My brother and I grew up loving Led Zepplin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jim Croce, on VINYL even! We were total country folk, I mean, we didn't spit in a patoon for Christ's sake, but we spent the majority of our time outside, playing in fields, almost always shoeless and dirty, with cuts on our knees.

My parents were liberal, and open, and really liked exposing us to things in the world that most kids my age didn't really know about. We never really had any rules. At all. You would think that would have made us complete hellians, but actually, I think my brother and I were the most mature and restrained of all our friends.

In high school, my house was the house everyone came to. Lots of weekend parties and bonfires. I am not going to lie and say nothing happened in the woods behind our house, as I am pretty sure my dad reads this blog, so I won't go into details.

My point, ahh yes, I actually have one.

In comparison to other parents growing up, mine may have seemed too lenient and maybe somewhat reckless, but they weren't. They were smart. My brother and I are all but bursting at the seams with creativity and artistic talent, and we cherish family and closeness. Which is why, unlike almost all of our friends, we never had the urge to escape the one horse town we grew up in.

So, in conclusion, I find myself now following in their barefoot footsteps. There I will be, in a sea of snooty, Talbots clad soccer moms, the only one with a tshirt on that says "Damn the Man"

Just kidding.

But I will totally be wearing flip flops and a low cut shirt, that's just how I roll.