My aunt is in town, this excites me greatly. She is here for a psychologist conference at the convention centre for the rest of the week. I asked her what she is working on now and she said a chapter in a book on psychology and gender. She is also working on a paper on smiles and how women reaction to sexual harassment. Yeah! This aunt is a prof. at Yale doing work in the psychology and women studies department and she is queer! Yes you could say that she is a role model for me. When ever she is in town ever since we were little kids we all fight for her attention, she was the fun aunt, the aunt that wasn’t all parent like and domestic. She traveled the world and did great things. I’m not sure if we just wanted to be near her or if we wanted to be her.

The way we relate to her hasn’t changed all that much, we still gravitate to sit next to her at family dinners. We still want to hear about what she is up too. And we still want to share with her what we have been doing. The one thing that has changed is that the things that me, my bro and my cousins do and think about are now very in line with what she does and thinks about so we can have real conversations instead of just screaming look at me look at me!!! We have travel to the same places (oh course our trips are much more budget then hers).

I think the money thing is one thing that separates us, and may always separate us. She made a joke about the field I’m going into that I will be poor and unhappy. We will have different ideas of happiness. Even though she is self proclaimed lefty and does good work. Much of her life was about making it, becoming established, making money, having the best of everything, buying the second home etc. Well that’s just not the route that I’m taking. I would like to be able to take vacations and travel the world and I would like to not have to worry where my next rent check is coming from. But in terms of making money those are my only aspirations. I don’t need a huge house, or the best kitchen appliances, or expensive clothes etc. I want to stay a lefty but a different kind of lefty.

But this difference wont’ stop me from sitting next to her at my b-day lunch laughing with her and picking her brain.