Sunday, May 25, 2008

Alter-"Alternadad"?

Years ago, I read a review of Neal Pollock's "Alternadad" and decided, if I ever were to become a father, this would be the first book I'd pick up, 'cause Pollock sounded like a kindred spirit after my own heart and lingering adolescent delusions of grandeur. The concept of reading a book on parenting is still a little hard for me to grasp--isn't that the stuff Bill Cosby cranks out?--until now, the only books I've read that could be vaguely defined as dealing with "fatherhood" are Nick Hornby's "Songbook" (music and an autistic son) and Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" (post-nuclear America and a hungry son). I have to confess, I shed tears during both...

So here I am...

Now, I'm only a few chapters in, and I can say that I'm nowhere near the unhinged, hedonistic hellraiser Pollack is/was...no SXSW punk bands, marathon consumptions of mary-jane-the-weed--with-the-roots-in-Hell, weekend drunkfests with strangers, or Jode-family sojourns to new homes in far away states for me, whose idea of rebellion is to watch Christopher Lee Hammer films out of order on the DVD. Still, we're both roughly the same age and haunted by the same question: can one remain pop culture savvy and still be a responsible dad (I don't see Tilly Endurables in my immediate future)? And just how do you raise cool kids (whatever the hell that means...)?

Guess I'll find out soon enough. But is it too early to start designing my own Marvel/DC flash cards...?

2 comments:

  1. i'm gonna love this blog. it'll be an awesome way to get to know you a bit better, robert. i love your writing.

    it's never to early to start prepping to raise cool kids. every day i thank god that my neice and nephew loved garbage more than the backstreet boys and even more that shopping at goodwill was way more fun then wearing nike airsoles (or whatever they're called).

    cool kids are not born, they are nurtured, carefully and with great consideration.

    and if you are lucky enough that they turn out cool then you are the coolest parent by association alone.

    congrats to you (and lidia). i can't wait.

    jackie

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  2. Thanks Jackie. But crikey, now that I know someone's reading this, I'm crippled with terror! I'm my own worst critic, which is why I haven't sold a movie script--let alone finished one!--in 20 years!

    My nephew digs The Ramones and my niece is aware of who Tim Burton is, so I guess my practice sessions on them over the last 12-14 years have proven a successful dry run....my updates here have been spotty what with recent activity, but I hope to keep up regular posts, soon. They'll keep me sane...just like Marquis De Sade!

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