BILLABONG LONG SLEEVE T SHIRT

My dad, my brother and me out on Oceanview Avenue after my elementary school graduation. I actually like this picture, but it still holds some grief/stress due to the backstory behind it.

You see that little badge/pin on my shirt? That’s for me “winning” the science fair in 5th grade; somehow that warrants me getting special recognition over a year later. Anyway, believe it or not I’m no scientist. Outside of the bare basics, nothing else sticks as far as science and me goes. I basically “won” because my brother decided he’d “help” me with my science fair project because he is a scientist and felt it was his “duty” to “help” me.

Ugggh.

So what that entailed was dragging me down to Canal Street, going to some of the electronic and surplus stores that used to exist there, buy some small solar cells and wire, and before you knew it my brother made “my” science project without me really doing much of anything. My entire input into the process was pretty much 100% of nothing. I already learned the reality of dealing with my brother: Saying “no” to him would result in shouting, manipulation and him being a general pain in the ass.

My brother was 32 years old in this picture and I had just turned was 12 years old.

I’ll admit I was proud of winning at the time... But it felt odd. But then again I was 11/12 years old when this happened and barely understood the dysfunction of an adult hijacking & interfering a childhood event to help them cope with their own issues. I mean, frankly just look at the way my brother is grabbing me here. It’s like I’m literally a puppet in his fantasy of what a “good” childhood is.

So nice picture. But if I never won the science fair it might be better because it would have been the reflection on a happy, unmarred graduation day.

FWIW, in 6th grade (the year this photo was taken) I made my own science fair project for the first time. It was basically an intricate model of the eye made from a Spalding (Spaldeen) ball and I was personally proud of it because it was something I made. Didn’t win the fair, but it was something I did and represented something I chose to make.

And my graduation gift from my dad was a Rubik’s cube. The very first one released by Ideal in 1980. Made in Hungary! Best gift I ever received!

My brother and his then wife’s gift that nobody asked for? To drag me to Sheepshead Bay to have seafood because according to his wife “Why doesn’t anyone in your family eat seafood?” Who forces a kid to a restaurant they wanted to go to and then present it as a gift to the child? Would have going to one of the many places in Brighton Beach have been so wrong? Maybe just pizza? Or a burger? Needless to say, the second I got home after this “gift” of a meal, I vomited harder than I had ever vomited in my life. Thanks for the memories you two!

Still proudly have the Rubik’s cube. Thank you dad!

Urgent Detergent

It's Science Fair time again. This year Rachel tested different brands of detergent and how well each of them removed stains from t-shirts. The winner? Arm and Hammer with OxiClean by a nose.

By the way...she colored in the R's green because it stands for "Rachel Rocks!".