2000-05-17 - 10:30:35

Don't worry, brothers

I remembered to call the Chooch yesterday to wish him a happy birthday. (And I remembered to call home for Mother's Day Sunday . . . I'm on a roll.) It was good to talk to Jason again; it had been a while since I'd called him. He's just not one for gabbing on the phone. On the other hand, I've been talking to John a lot more often these days. He got connected and does the e-mail thing now, too. Ah well: the plan is to make one trip east and one west this year, so I should get to see each brother.

It seems like the three of us are doing fine these days. John is the same as ever: he's not one to get too stressed by anything and he always seems content with life. Jason has had the shop keeping him busy for a while now. It sounds like feast or famine with him: either he's up to his eyeballs in work or things are slow and he's taking a week off to hike around Newfoundland. He is certainly capable of some amazing work, as can be seen in the Market.

The two of them were definitely a strong influence on me. With the age difference (John is 8 years older than me and Jason is 6), I naturally ended up looking up to them. In particular, I always thought that Jason was the coolest person around. I used to think that I had turned out more like John in terms of interests and personality. Then again, I once told him that I couldn't understand the statement "it's only a game," and he told me that I sounded exactly like Jason. (As a side note, despite what some people claim, I don't consider myself overly competitive; but that's a topic for another day.)

Oh, one final thought: my parents insist that the "J" thing (John, Jason, Jeremy) was coincidental. Actually, they apparently took my name from a tombstone near the hospital where I was born. (In my mind, that origin is just a notch below that of my friend Damien, who was, of course, named after the Antichrist.)

J.