#but idk. maybe it’s the old wallpaper and the jesus paintings. they just set my mind off

[orcelito]

I think one of the most fascinating things about my dreams is the fact that there are reoccurring locations in the dreams.

Not like places I know in real life, though there are a few of them that occur somewhat regularly. But places my mind just... fabricated, that it decides to go back to.

I have an abandoned house with long corridors that has been the source of several creepy dreams. I have a weird... tower of sorts, in a city, that has been the location of both a dinosaur attack and an anime convention (in different dreams). I have a pseudo-Boston, where I know it’s Boston (in the way that dreams are), but none of the buildings are actually ones in Boston... but I’ve been to these made up buildings several times, in a variety of dreams.

There are more, but these r just examples. It’s weird to experience a dream and realize upon waking that I had been there before. Especially when they are dramatically different dreams, but for some reason taking place in the same location.

[boudiscanon]

Northern versus Southern Family

So one half of my family is from Michigan and the other half of my family is from Arkansas. And since I've never met anyone who wasn't my cousin who also has a family this radically split between the Mason-Dixon line (bc mine is the ONLY SOUTHERN WHITE FAMILY IN TOWN) lemme show y'all the cultural whiplash that is family gatherings at the grandparents’ for me:

House Aesthetic

North: Immaculately clean, Great Grandma’s china untouched in a hutch, New carpet and/or couch and/or hardwood floors for the kitchen like every other goddamn year, plain crosses, family photo sitting on the mantle, place where large family portrait would normally go instead graced by painting of a wolverine signed by Bo Schembechler, lots of duck hunting motifs, also did I mention clean?,seriously one time my grandma randomly paid me like $20 to just clean the outside and inside of her kitchen cupboard doors for her???

South: Overrun with knick-knacks, tables specifically devoted to knick-knacks and setting up holiday cards from family and church people, photos of every single family member at every single stage of life, furniture all from 1960, textured wallpaper, cross stitchings about Jesus hanging up, “A house is made of bricks and stones but homes are made of love alone”, only cleaned when family is coming up to visit, and then more to make room for all 32549879 of them than to make it look nice, mattresses in every spare room for said 32549879 family members

Openness

North: NO ONE EVER TALKS ABOUT ANYTHING, I am 26 and this year I learned my grandpa has a sister??????, I thought he only had brothers, dirty laundry is not acknowledged in any way whatsoever, prying questions are limited to grandparents asking about what you’ve been up to and some light-hearted ragging over your love life

South: I know all of my Grandparent’s 1700 siblings by first and middle name, and the entire family history, going back to the legend of Great-Great Grandpa Panther Bill back in Bethel Springs, dirty laundry is spread out on the living room floor to sort through especially if it belongs to cousins who aren’t there, any random family member can and will come up to you and instead of saying hello start in with “so has your brother found a job yet? you got a man yet? when you gettin married already? so is your sister gay or what?” and there is no escape, hell you probably won’ even remember which cousin three times removed is accosting you

Food

North: all done by grandma, maybe with a salad brought by my mom, dishes shoved in the dishwasher after, everyone gets one (1) tupperware container to bring home, grandma constantly trying out new recipes and insisting they probably aren’t very good, meanwhile Gordan Ramsey himself would probably kiss her on the lips and hire her on the spot

South: Everyone conspires to stop grandma from doing any actually work much to her consternation, GFS does half the cooking bc you can pick up giant ass pans of scalloped potatoes there and just toss them in the oven, there are always at least two meat dishes two potato dishes three veggies some kind of fluff and some kind of salad brought by aunt lee, not to mention two-three pies and ice cream for dessert, everyone brings home at least one (1) paper grocery bag full of leftovers and fights over who has to bring home the most bc how did we end up with more leftovers than were actually on the table??????, dishes done by hand by moms while grandma tries to help and gets told to sit down and relax, and i cannot tell you how much i suffered growing up being the only kid who knew what hominy and okra were

Conversation

North: politics, current events, the Tigers, gossip about snooty neighbors or snooty church people

South: Jesus, the Lions, gossip about cousins, family stories you’ve heard 17 times but idk it’s tradition?

Thoughts on Death

North: no one mentions getting old or implies in anyway that they aren’t just as spry as they used to be because it give grandpa Anxiety

South: one time my grandma basically kidnapped me and one of my aunts to point out exactly who was to get what when she died, my aunt pointed to a mirror with a gold leaf forest scene on it and called dibs, grandparent constantly complained about joints but also refused to ever sit down ever, basically every conversation with them involved a I Went To The Doctor And He Said update

Religion

North: Reformed Church in America (Calvinist)

South: Assembly of God (Pentecostal)

Thoughts on technology

North: My grandma recently got a laptop and wifi, she answers emails by calling you back

South: Grandparents never figured out how to use their answering machine, had written instructions from us on how to operate their VCR (so they could watch Jackie Chan movies)

Biggest Drama To Date

North: we don’t have family reunions on that side anymore because at the last one (before I was born) two brothers got in a fist fight, got written out of great grandpa’s will and then when he died great grandma refused to write them back in

South: It’s a toss up between maybe one time my great grandpa trapped a man inside a house he then proceeded to burn to the ground, the time that same great grandpa sprayed my dad in the face with pesticide as a kid and almost killed him, and my dad currently being on non-speaking terms with literally the entire family bc he idolized said great grandpa and also grew up to be an abusive insufferable douchecanoe, oh and that one time the sheriff arrested a cousin and two other cousins dueled the sheriff and busted him out, (or, according to one aunt and uncle, the fact that I have not gotten married and pregnant yet)

Levels of Family Pride

North: you’re pretty much good so long as you hate the state of Ohio or disparage the Tigers

South: You are literally expected to fight to the death for even the cousins you haven’t met or Jesus himself will descend from the Heavens to Disown You and the lines between “family” and “cult” are kind of blurred sometimes tbh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(Also as a side note because of the difference in accents I have absolutely no fucking idea how to say “pecan.”)