O Brother(s) Where Art Thou?

I miss my brothers. That's all I really have to say. For whatever reason, I miss them at this time of year than any other time of year. Yeah, Christmas and Thanksgiving and other times are spent with your family, though they usually are more concentrated on other areas (like the reason we celebrate that holiday). But for whatever reason, the summer months is when I really miss my brothers. For the first time since I've been alive, I won't be watching the NBA Draft with my older brother's. We have just always had some sort of unspoken tradition. I brought the pizza, he provided drinks and a big screen TV and surround sound (which came in handy when my Rockets selected Yao Ming with the #1 overall pick a few years ago). We would sit there and just soak up the basketball, the conversation, and the ability to make fun of our younger brother Josh. The past two years Sarge (that's his new nickname we gave him) has been off at boot camp and various such things. We just make fun of him because he doesn't like sports and would rather watch anomie. But the conversation could quickly turn into why I'm the black sheep of the family:

Josh: Your a pansy.

Me: I am not.

Jay: I think he's got a point.

Me: Why because you 2 and dad have motorcycles and I refuse to even get on one?

Josh: You are scared of bikes. So yeah, your a pansy.

Me: I am not scared of them.....Well maybe Dad's because you know how he is about his Harley. But I'm not scared of motorcycles.

Jay: You want to go for a ride?

Me: No. You know better. Stop asking.

Jay: Fry (that's my nickname at home), the bike weighs at least 3-4 times more than you do. You won't fall off.

I miss that. I miss the being made fun of in a way that only brothers can get away with. Josh and Jay were both ridiculously smart. Josh was actually my "tutor" in chemistry, Physics, and Algebra.......Even though he was 2 years younger and hadn't taken the classes yet. This is the same kid, whom when he took his Army apptitdue test, missed one question. Not bad. But he went into the recruiter's office, told the recruiter which question he missed, told the recruiter the right answer and that he had pressed the wrong button. Josh is an evil genius. He has so much talent and itelligence, yet, all he wants to do is be a grunt in the army. Don't take that the wrong way. Its not you are an idiot if you are a grunt. But traditionally, they but the less intelligent guys out on the front line. Josh just wants to "blow stuff up "(he has said that about a million times). The army has decided that Josh will become an engineer.

Jay could have done whatever he wanted. He was just naturally smart. He never really gave much effort, but he always did well enough. He could have went to college, but had no desire to do more schooling (nor does Josh). Yet Jayson remains one of the most influential, intellectual people I talk too. I'm almost certain that my love for political books and sports books (you know, that "non-fiction" genre thing) comes from him. I don't think I've ever seen him read or have a fiction book in his library (and if you saw his book collection, you'd know it rivals the local library). Jay really is one of, if not the brightest person I know.

I miss the cookouts with our extended family on which all our cousins would join in on the "Josh Bash." I miss Jay calling me up and saying, "want to go see a movie?" and then paying for it (I miss that a lot). I miss Josh coming home from work and saying "I want Chinese food. You want to go? I'll buy." I miss going over to Jay's house with Josh to play Halo, only to realize how terrible at video games I am. "Fry, you might be the worst Halo dude ever. You just lost to my 5 year old. Did you stop trying or what?" And so, I was forced to order and go get (but not buy) pizza from our favorite restaurant: A&M. But, that's just one of those dumb things we would kind of randomly do.

Sorry for the babble. I'm not sure what else (or what I'm actually trying) to say. I just miss my brothers.