Last Time In The Loo - Day 2

Our second day started off slowly, with Sister and I rather sluggishly getting ready while Brother ran some last-minute day-of-show errands.

We eventually met up with The Parents for lunch. We ate at a small coffee shop in Edwardsville, where my Father, like the last time we were all together, threw a minor fit about the menu. He refused to understand why he couldn't have a breakfast sandwich for lunch, and basically bullied our waitress into making one for him.

I don't even want to think about how much spit my father has ingested while eating out.

Our waitress was friendly and adorable. I couldn't quite place her accent. I was semi-certain, though, that she was Amish, based on my extensive experience with the Amish reality show last year. I finally asked her, and turns out that she's Swedish, and that her accent is basically midwestern Swedish, which is why it was hard to place. Brother asked her what she thinks of Edwardsville, and she said "I never knew racism until I moved here."

Yes.

Father was itching to get out of there - his patience for the chatty waitress growing obviously thin. I was embarrassed. At what age do you cease being embarrassed by your parents? At what age do you stop feeling 5 years old? At what age do their judgmental statements such as "You're new apartment couldn't possibly be 350 square feet. That's impossible. No, it just can't be" stop making you feel like a failure?

We left shortly after eating freshly baked wads of chocolate chip cookie and quickly learned why Father was so eager to dismiss actual conversation with an actual friendly person. He wanted to show us 1000 photos from The Parents' recent trip to France.

There were literally ONE THOUSAND PHOTOS.

I'm not kidding.

There were 1000 photos.

I believe this is when the stir craziness began.

The Parents soon left and Brother, Sister and I chilled for a while. Sister helped me with my unmanageable and ridiculous hair in preparation for Brother's big show. We were soon picked up by The Parents, and departed for the airport, where we would be picking up Brother's Girlfriend, AM.

AM's flight had been delayed, so we were uncertain as to when she'd be arriving. Regardless, Father, thinking he was above the law, said "I am just going to park in passenger pickup. Nobody can stop me." I said "Dad, but there are people whose passengers are actually here, and AM's flight is, at the earliest, getting here in half an hour." "I don't care." "Dad, you can't just stay here because you want to."

But he did. For a while. Until this vicious security person asked him to move. He became very cross with her, drove around, and parked again. This time she allowed him to stay for about 5 minutes, then asked him to move. On the third attempt, she said "Sir, drive around until your passenger gets here" and then rolled her eyes. I was proud of her, but Father was cross.

Heh.

We finally picked up AM and decided to grab something to eat prior to Brother's show. Brother had said "There's nowhere to eat around the show - you should probably just grab something at the airport." Refusing to believe that there would be nowhere to eat in a city, we opted to drive around looking for a place to eat.

Right. A place to eat in St. Louis. SILLY US! We literally drove around for an hour and there was nothing. I'm lying. There was one restaurant and it had, like, a three hour wait because it was the only restaurant in a 5-mile radius. Sister and I, at one point, decided to scope out a sketchy bar outside of which stood three flannel-wearing middle-aged men who literally spat a few times before saying to us "Hey ladies." Ewwww. The third place we found had nothing less than $30 a plate. We ended up at a sports bar sort of place with a confused waitress whose cleavage was, well, yeah. There was lots of it. And meat in the ravioli. Ewwwww. Worse meal of all time, but the "cook" was so enthusiastic that we kept lying and saying "Oh, uh, yes, its fine."

Weird city. It's like a city without the benefits of a city. More on this topic on Last Time In the Loo - Day 3. I know you can't wait!!!



When we finally arrived at the show it was packed. Yay Brother! The gallery was in a renovated police station, so it had a lot of character and a jail cell in which Sister and I did an extensive photo shoot. I was thrilled because my friend G, who lives in St. Louis and who I haven't seen in ages, came to the show with his wife K.



Brother's show was amazing. I couldn't believe how much work he'd generated. His prints focus on themes of racism and masculinity, two themes he will also deal with in his soon-to-be-published graphic novel! He sold three prints at the show. People were very impressed. I am so proud of him. And so thrilled that his time in Edwardsville is almost over. He has much to look forward to, but also much to say farewell to.



We stayed for about three hours, and by the end were exhausted. We made a brief appearance at a party in the city given by one of the ceramics students. We felt old and left about ten minutes after we arrived and had eaten all of the breadsticks they were serving.

Sister and I stayed in the hotel with The Parents that night so that Brother and AM could have some time alone and so that we could avoid the evil air mattress.

And so concluded Day 2 in the midwest.