Happy New Year!

First post of 2012! I just got back from a week-long car trip with my parents. It was a great time. We visited family all over California. We started here in So Cal with Christmas.  I got to spend time with both sisters and all my nephews and nieces.  I'm becoming a lot closer to my nieces, who are at the fun age (10-12).  My nephews are in their teenage years, and the one I've always been closest to has become waaaay too angsty (sample dialogue exchange between my sister and him:
Sister: (yells his name to come down and see us after he's been holed up in his room with his girlfriend)
Nephew: (yells) WHAT DO YOU WANT???
The other nephew seems much better, he even expressed interest in majoring in something like physics when he gets to college (yay, science!!!)

Next stop was Central CA to visit my dad's younger brother and his wife.  I've always really liked the two of them, especially as I've gotten older.  They have really fun personalities.  My aunt reminds me of Kelly Ripa for some reason, and my uncle sort of brings to mind Steve Martin. Maybe it's his dry sense of humor. He's my favorite of the three brothers (including my dad) to talk politics with, because he actually uses a little thing called LOGIC in his discussions and doesn't get overly emotional. He's good at selling his positions on the issues (he used to work in business), though we did reach an impasse or two. He tried to argue that conservatives are more logical thinkers, while liberals are more emotional and less good at thinking of the financial ramifications of the programs they want to implement. That may be true in some cases, but I think that's a huge over-simplification and could just as easily be argued the other way.  In fact, I looked up a scientific study that suggested the exact opposite of what he said. He wasn't interested in reading it of course, haha.

Final stop was Northern CA to visit my dad's older brother, his wife, and my three cousins/best friends in the world (BFW's?) I did a little more discussing politics with my two cousins that enjoy that kind of thing (oldest and youngest, both so much more open-minded and reasonable in debate than either of our fathers or our uncle) as well as their father (probably falls between my dad and my other uncle on the emotional to logical spectrum).  One interesting thing: my uncle was unaware of Rick Santorum's anti-gay views (not that he necessarily disagrees with them), as well as Michelle Bachmann's numerous mistakes and inaccurate statements that she has become notorious for. What's the sole source of information from the outside world playing in his house all day long? Fox News. Just . . . interesting, that's all.

Then I talked politics with my dad (with my mom listening in) for part of the ride home.  We agree about religion (we're critical of it) but differ on politics (as I've made clear numerous times before). Still, I kept the conversation fairly civil. I just want to keep his mind going about these things, as I get the impression that the only time he really thinks about his beliefs is when I force it on him.

So, to summarize, you know when they say that the two topics you shouldn't discuss at family gatherings are politics and religion?  Umm . . . screw that.  :-)  What should I talk about instead, the weather?  (Oooh, global warming, good one! I'll save that for next year).