Birthday Beats
Well, I’m going to make an exception to my rule of ten (not that I’ve been totally following it or anything). I’m going to break it today, because today is a very special day.
Today’s blog is dedicated to my little brother Mathew. You see, it is a special day for him today and I don’t think I’ve ever written about him much on Xanga. My close friends know about him, but many of you out there don’t know little Mat. See, today is Mathew’s 22nd birthday. Now Sush, don’t worry, I’ll be dedicating an entry to you sometime in the future (he’s all sensitive and shit because I didn’t give him a shout out on his birthday) but not today, it’s little Mat’s day today.
So let me tell you about my little brother, and I hope he’s reading this because he should be reading my Xanga entries since we don’t really talk on the phone and that other pansy ass shit, so he should be finding out what his brother is up to.
Well Mat, you’re a really nice kid. We fight and shit, but I guess all siblings do. And as we’ve grown older it’s become less and less. It might also be because I’m around less often, I haven’t seen him for over a fucking year! But seriously, I can’t say I was a super good brother. You had it tough, I know, being compared to a straight A student and growing up with a brother that liked being in the spotlight. I mean, I let you play with my GI Joes and shit, but usually they were the crappy ones. And whenever we’d have war with the toys, I’d somehow always win. I know, I was bossy, and still can be at times, but hey, my justification is and always will be that you know older siblings usually get things their way anyways.
I mean, I was always Mario and he was always Luigi because I had to be first. I know, how selfish of me.
As we’ve grown older, I’ve learned to be a better brother. I’ve learned to share more of my toys, and through much torture, learned to share the car. I think my first year at university really changed things for us. Checking in to find out about mom and seeing how he was doing was something that I enjoyed, and never realized I was enjoying it. And him coming down to Queen’s every year was always a big thing for me, especially taking him out to the bars and introducing him to my new found friends rum and Coke (actually I think it was Cranberry and Vodka at the time). I never did return the favour of going out to McMaster… that was a big deal for me too. But I guess it’s cooler if a younger brother goes out and hangs out with his older brother and his older friends than if an older brother goes out and hangs out with his younger brother and his younger friends right?? (Gee, I hope Joe isn’t reading this)
But you’re all grown up now aren’t you Mat? You kicking my ass in Starcraft was a point in my life where I realized that you were really growing up. I remember it so clearly because I always wanted to play Starcraft with him. I love that military strategy shit, and the benefit of having a brother is that you can play video games together and kick the crap out of him. I have probably beat him in every game that we’ve ever played up until that day he beat me in Starcraft. He did it in under 10 minutes, and I was so shamed when in denial, thinking it was a fluke, he did it again when we rematched. I’ve never been able to beat him since.
Now we’re miles and miles away, and the occasional email and updates from mom are pretty much all I get. But I’m fucking proud of you dude. Look at where you are now, you’re almost there, take a peek down the ladder and look how far you’ve climbed? I hope somewhere along the way, I did a couple things right in helping you develop as a person, and helped you get you to where you are. Just like I miss my friends, I miss my little brother. I mean aside from bossing him around every once in a while, we had so many similar tastes. We grew up with the Transformers, He-Man, GI Joe and all the wonderful after school cartoons (I controlled the remote of course). And then there was Picard… ah Jean-Luc. Those were the days weren’t they Mat? And now we’re getting old. We’ve got careers to worry about, own sets of friends and soon, maybe in a couple years our own kids to raise. He was a good little brother, and I know he’ll be a good uncle. But we’ve got a great mom, and our blood that binds us, the memories that we’ve shared will always keep us close, no matter where on this planet we decide to settle.
Mat, happy 22nd!!!
