Girly Man

I have to admit that growing up with only brothers and no sisters made me an odd amalgamation of feminine and masculine. For instance, I still loved Barbie, but since my brothers obviously would never play dolls with me I learned to appreciate and love things like comic books, Legos, Dungeons & Dragons and computers much more than my girlfriends (and worked hard to hide my affection for such “non-cool” things during my adolescence).

I spent hours entering code into a DOS IBM computer in order to be able to play a game for twenty minutes.

I spent hours learning how to play D&D before actually falling asleep at the table (in my defense, I was nine and it was midnight).

I watched (and LOVED) endless hours of Star Trek, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. As well as read tons of the accompanying “extended universe” books of all three.

I spent days during the summer reading a two-foot tall pile of comic books. And like other kids, my mother ripped apart more than a few trying to get me off the couch to do something.

But on the other hand, having two brothers pretty much ensured I never had to do a lot of masculine chores. I never mowed a lawn until I was 23. I barely know how to use a screwdriver and I’m not sure I know the difference between a wrench and a pair of pliers. Tape measures make me feel like I'm about to lose a finger. I’ve never painted a room (though as a kid I sure wanted to), and I’ve never ever ever operated power tools (though I can wield a mean sledge hammer).

But this week I am doing some major redecorating at home, and I am SO PROUD!! I’m moving the kids’ bedrooms around and it has been a major project, mostly owing the amount of CRAP they have collected over the years. Which sucks, but on the other hand its good that this is getting done because obviously a good thorough cleaning was necessary.

Today I moved Poo’s entire room, furniture and all, into the empty bedroom. I couldn’t move her bed through the doorway so I had to take it apart. I think the thing I used is a socket wrench. That sounds right, though I have no way of knowing if that’s what it is really called. But we’ll just go along with that for now.

My point is that I put the correct attachment on it, figured out how to use it (never mind got lucky that it was a tool that would actually work on what I needed it for) and not only loosened the bolts but also put them back where I found them after the move. I’m MANLY!

MACHO!

MASCULINE!

Today I’m oddly attracted to myself.