My first plane ride!

I had a whirlwind trip this past weekend. My parents took me on my first plane flight to a place I've been begging them to take me since birth. You guessed it - Ohio. Ohio? Ohio. Ohio?

Here we are boarding one of the many soon-to-be-bankrupt airlines out of San Francisco, just for proof that we went there for all of you disbelieving, jealous types:


You'll note that the flight board says we were going to Cleveland. That wasn't our ultimate destination - we were headed for a little town known as Hiram, Ohio (population: irrelevant).

The occasion? My mom's younger sister Sam graduated from college! I'm so proud of Sam, but I have to admit she should be a bit embarrassed that after only 2 days on campus, they offered me an honorary degree. The cap didn't fit, but the gown looked marvelous.


We also had a rocking family picture taken - apparently we haven't had a picture of my mom and dad and me since my bris, which is an event I'd prefer to forget anyway. So I'm excited that this picture finally wipes the previous one out. Here it is. I am so damn cute. And so happy!


Being in Ohio was a major culture shock. I can't imagine another place more different from my home in San Francisco. For starters, I didn't see a single Prius during my entire trip. Not one Prius. In SF, you can't spit Peet's Coffee without hitting a Prius. But in Ohio they prefer Ford F-150s ... and then they soup them up to get even worse gas mileage. And where were all the other foreign-made cars? Are the Japanese and Germans boycotting Ohio? Maybe they think that Ohio was responsible for the allies winning WWII.

Another thing - why was everyone so nice? What did they want from me? Did they want me to vote Republican? Join their church? I'm now convinced that every Ohioan is a salesperson...who is, of course, bitter and clings to guns and religion. Sorry Barack, it had to be said.

I'd also like to give a shout out to my mom for mother's day. I love my mom. She's great, but could use a little help with nursery rhymes. Here's her version of a classic that she sang to me on the plane today - and I am NOT making this up:
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder where you are
Up above the sky and clouds
Like a .... [quizzical look from my dad stops her]

Same day - I'm still not making this up - she sings me the ABC song (which I just realized is to the same tune as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and goes straight from "QRS TUV" to "Now I know my ABCs," leaving out some pretty important letters. God help me when I start school.

But even though she's verse-challenged and quite tone deaf (fodder for another blog later on, no doubt - just wait for the .wav file), she's the best mom I could ever ask for. Happy Mother's Day mom!


Love,
Spencer