JT Thomas

Nephew J slept over last night. This happens every couple weeks over the summer, less often during the school year. It would be more often than that, except he plays four-season sports. He broke his toe about a month ago and is already back in at least two teams for baseball, though it may be three if I heard the conversation correctly. I'm not kidding.

I don't see him as often due to being up at school. Nonetheless, accomplishments this time at helping the jock become a nerd (which has been a long-standing effort):

• got him playing violin! Well, holding the bow properly and figuring out how to hold the violin on his shoulder. Good enough for now. Also, chicken ninjas. 
• quietly, without him knowing what it is, teaching him filk music. Specifically, "Dawson's Christian", which I called a space pirate song (much to his chagrin).
• He likes the Granada Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett! We watched "The Dancing Men".
• He likes Star Trek TOS (although he was appalled at the dog-alien costume when I showed him a picture)! It helped that I gave him the context of "before-we-went-to-the-moon". We watched "Where No Man Has Gone Before," mostly to get it in his head what the show is as a concept without overwhelming him with tribbles. I was tempted, though, to skip to season two for just the one episode.
• He's rereading The Lightning Thief for school! He's planning on texting me his page number every night, and I'll read along with him at his pace. Also useful in case teachers are wondering his reading speed, because half an hour tends to mean ten pages for him and no one believes him.
• Does gardening count as nerdy? Or just as human? He picked tomatoes out of my mom's garden, a full basket of them. My mom was busy with picking about ten cucumbers, a few zucchini, a few summer squash, and literally five pounds of green beans. I was inside, making a valiant attempt not to overheat.

Simply put, woot.