Sunday, May 6, 2012

Dream Offal


My brother and I have always been pretty close. I suppose that's what happens when you move interstate a couple of times, moving schools many times, and spend about a year (on and off) being home-schooled (for one reason or another). Even if we had a few childish disagreements from time to time, it was always never going to be convenient for anyone involved to stay on bad terms. Thus, we're fairly tight. 

While we were growing up I felt a certain sense of duty to protect Ev, which I guess is something any older sibling would feel for their younger brother or sister. We're both introverts, but Ev's definitely more on the reserved side than I am. I suppose while we were getting our high school on I feared for Ev and his very quiet ways. Perhaps "fear" is the wrong word to use when describing my concerns. I guess I just worried that my lil' bro would get lost in a world of less interesting, yet louder people. Our report cards were always the same, year after year. I would always be described as  "smart, but needs to focus to live up to her potential. Easily distracted." Ev though, was ever praised as "the quiet achiever". A nice, kind, yet slightly dorky quiet kid. I'd go to parties, he'd go LANs. That was my little brother. 

With that in mind then, I've recently had my mind blown a little bit. My little bro grew up. Of course, it was a given that Ev was going to get taller, hairier, less gangly. That's generally what happens to teenage boys. So it was no great surprise that he morphed from gangly kid to bearded guy. What has blown my mind over the past six months or so however, is wandering into his room to borrow some scissors and seeing films by the Coen brothers or Paul Thomas Anderson strewn on his desk. To look through the things he's created at uni (he's studying industrial design) and thinking, Holy shit! Ev's got some talent!

What I'm saying is that I'm really getting to know my lil' bro, and it's been really, really great. Perhaps it's because I now realise I won't be seeing him every day that I feel compelled to write a little declaration of affection for dear Ev. Perhaps it's because we've been hanging out more recently. Maybe it's because I've added his blog to my nightly internet routine checks.
Whatever the reason, this I know for sure:

Ev likes David Lynch. He's got excellent taste in music. He's thoughtful. I'm fairly sure he's better at being a good person than I am. He's the buffer between our mother and I. She'll be highly strung and despairing about something I've done, and he'll be placid and perfectly calm ship sailing through her stormy screeching. He's also got not tolerance for bullshit. Same as Mitch, I know that if I've tried his patience enough to make him crack a frown, I need to take a look at myself. 

He's got a sense of humour that alternates between dry, absurd and dark. He has a fascination for the morbid and off-beat. I found out the extent of this when I stumbled on that blog of his that I mentioned earlier. His tumblr, called Dream Offal, proved to be the most amazing look into what my little brother was all about. I mean, he's hardly the type of guy to declare what's going on with him at any given minute of the day. His default state is kind of just hanging out in his room on the computer, so there's really no easy way of knowing where he's at in his life on any moment over another. Scrolling through the images and gifs he's identified as inspiring or amusing or interesting - it's been fascinating. I feel like I know him a little better, like I'm scrolling through his brain from my laptop. 


We've got the same dark side, the propensity for garnering joy from a certain amount of trolling. The one that makes me compelled to write smart-ass quips on the Facebook status of someone who's humble-bragging, or whose cat just died. Ev knows how to time a sly "U MAD?". We recite that scene from The Simpsons, the one where McGarnagle's told that "BILLY'S DEAD" and are in stitches for minutes. We love David Lynch, quiet terror, darkly funny sinister spurts of violence. Axes driven into skulls with a gleeful grin. American Psycho. Dogs. Tim and Eric, and Nicolas Cage. I like walking through suburbia at night, he likes exploring abandoned buildings. As much as I love my ladyfriends, I often feel like the absurd/dark/morbid things that run through my mind don't exactly have a place at the table laid out with organic wine and beautiful teacups. It's heartening then, to be able to share exclamations of, "Yeah, it was a great film! It was fucking terrifying!" with Ev. Or to discuss the many and varied ways in which The Dude is a boss. Some time ago I wandered into his room and asked if he'd seen Antichrist. Without looking up from his laptop he responded with, "Yeah man. I've got the DVD. You can borrow it if you want." Ditto Enter the Void. Same goes for Inland Empire. He's got a knowledge of David Lynch that far outguns my own. His ability to not give a shit what other people think is astounding. If he doesn't feel like going to something, he won't go. If he thinks somewhere is shit, he'll leave. He can be brutally honest. He's quietly stubborn, has convictions that he sticks by. He's also kind and giving. And he can grow a mighty, mighty beard.  

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that Ev is one of the most genuinely interesting people I know, and I'm immensely proud of him. He's one of the few people I'd walk to the ends of the earth for. He's one of the very few people I actually missed while overseas. And his tumblr is really, really rad. You should really have a look

Here's looking at you, kid! 






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