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Saturday, September 10, 2016

Filial respect Part XI

My son is teaching our dog, a Cairn Terrier, to howl. My son howls and the dog, though not a natural howler, joins in with a sort of high-pitched mewl.

This afternoon, when I howled, the dog just looked at me and barked a couple times. 

My son explained, "PJ howls for me because I sound like a wolf. You.....you howl like Allen Ginsberg." 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I’m impressed your son knows what Allen Ginsberg’s voice sounds like… I didn’t

John Craig said...

Anon --
I have no idea what Allen Ginsberg's voice sounded like, and to tell the truth, I'm sure my son doesn't, either. His comment was more just a reference to the fact that the beat poet's most famous work was "Howl," and that it basically revealed his homosexuality. Plus Ginsberg was an ugly, wimpy guy, so that was sort of part of the insult as well.

The Ambivalent Misanthrope said...

I'm falling over myself here with laughter... I, too, am impressed by your son's knowing about Ginsberg's Howl --- as well as his phenomenally quick wit.

Ginsberg --- yeah. Not such a fan after learning he was a member and supporter of NAMBLA.

John Craig said...

Ambivalent Misanthrope --
Thank you.

It's interesting that early on, the gay rights movement accepted the NAMBLA types as fellow soldiers in arms, but later "divorced" them. You rarely hear about that early alliance, but the way it evolved was quite telling. And for some inexplicable reason, it's a part of history that the media doesn't like to dwell on.

Steven said...

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.

Steven said...

btw that's a clever way of basically calling you gay. Its like a battle rap insult.

Steven said...

Ambivalent Misanthrope,

are you ambivalent about your misanthropy or a misanthrope who happens to be ambivalent. I feel we need clarification. thanks.

John Craig said...

Steven --
Ha, that's a pretty good way of characterizing our relationship: battle rap.

ArthurinCali said...

Mine is the opposite. The dog howls for me but not the kids. Lol

John Craig said...

Arthur --
Your dog recognizes the alpha male in the family. The BIG dog, as I recall. (6' 4", 250, right?)

My son is a lot bigger than me.