She's The Shit!

Yesterday I got to kick it with the cutest little thing ever! She stands about 4'10", wears the funkiest clothes and when she laughs, her body rocks backwards and her eyes squint in the most adorable way.

She also speaks four languages fluently -- Tagalog, Visayan, English and Spanish -- and yesterday she chose to speak to me in Spanish. It was quite entertaining. Who woulda thunk that I would be able to converse in Spanish, especially since the last time I employed those skills was in high school. The more amazing part? Spanish class is where I got my best sleep, so I suppose I am a walking billboard for learning through osmosis.

So this cutie-patootie that I speak of is my lola, or grandmother for those of you not familiar with Filipino culture. She is not Lola of Lola's fame, the bar just south of Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood that plays really bad music and has only one pool table. She is also not the Lola of Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" fame. That Lola is your lola -- "She was your lola, she was a showgirl…" Excellent karaoke tune. I recommend it to anyone who wants to irritate the hell out of everyone in the room during public karaoke.

Anyways, I only had time to kick it with her for about 30 minutes, but it was a fascinating conversation. She's getting up there in years (95 years old) and she isn't quite coherent at times (give her a break, she's old), but that led to extremely entertaining topical nonsense. Call me a weirdo, but I actually enjoy as she rattles off all the names of her grandchildren and great grandchildren until she remembers the name of the one about whom she is speaking. She actually was one of the primary caretakers of almost all her grandchildren, including myself. While I miss seeing her in her full glory -- you know, yelling at me because I was a bad kid, etc. -- I have never seen her smile and talk as much as I did yesterday. Good shit.