ABOUT PEACHES & COCONUTS

What’s with the name Peaches & Coconuts?

My lady-friend, Gabriella, got a job in London in 1999, so we packed up and skipped town. The company moving us over there insisted we take a 2-day Cultural Awareness Class to prepare us for life abroad. It was two days out of the office which was just fine by us. One of the few lessons that stuck with us was the perception that Americans are like peaches and the British are like coconuts.

Americans, like peaches, are easy to penetrate (HEY! I resemble that remark), but that stone in the middle represents their true selves and is reserved for only those closest to them.

The British, on the other hand, have a hard exterior and are not easy to penetrate (unless you are a young lad in private school where buggery is commonplace). Once past the cold, reserved exterior of the coconut shell, you know Brits as well as they know themselves-which does not say that much considering their aversion to therapy.

Female, male, butch, femme, gay, straight, trans, queer (et al) - I reckon we’re all a bunch of fruits and nuts no matter where we live or how we live or which bits are attached.

I am most definitely a peach which is why I'm exposing myself to you all over this blog. My lovely lady-friend is my coconut who puts up with my peachitude. After all our years together, I'm still not entirely sure I've gotten past her shell. I try to penetrate her a little more each day.

Is this a Mommy Blog?

I have birthed a couple of kids, it’s true, but this isn’t the kind of blog where I kvell about my children and wonder what I did before kids. I remember what life was like BC (before children), and you know what? It didn’t suck.

My kids make appearances occasionally, and parenthood is one of many recurring themes. But, I’m also a bunch of other things besides a mom like Jewish and gay and respectfully outspoken. There’s a little bit about a lot of things which means you can avoid all posts regarding children and still find this blog incredibly entertaining.

Gay? I'm not gay-not that there's anything wrong with it. I'm thinking I shouldn't read this blog because I might turn gay. What do you think?

If I've done my job here, then yes, you will turn gay. If you are somewhat secure in your non-gay sexuality, I might have a tougher time of it. But really, some of my best friends are non-gay, and they seem to get a kick out of all the posts - gay or otherwise.

Is there anyone who would not like this blog?

My sister, Rachel, subscribes to the philosophy, “Love the sinner, hate the sin”. She reads every post because she loves me, but blogging confounds her at best. She doesn’t understand why anyone would put themselves out there for the world to see. Clearly a coconut! Rachel also believes that my friends are at fault for enabling my blogging habit. They are clearly just being kind by telling me that I write well and that I am funny.

Other than my sister Rachel, I don’t know of anyone who is a card-carrying Ps&Cs hater. It’s not entirely fair to imply that she hates the blog. She is a very good sport for allowing me to write about her in this way, after all.

What else?

You want more? Dive right in. I don’t bite...unless you like that sort of thing. I will tell you that we moved back to the U.S. in 2006. Writing this blog has helped me through the most difficult transition of my life to date - moving to the suburbs. I'm working it all out and taking you along for the ride in my mini-van.