Ballyhoo: This One is for The Girls
Do you know what I respect? People who do physical comedy. But it’s fine line for me, and could get stupid if not executed well. Jim Carrey straddles that line. Ace Ventura? Ok, there are some funny things in there. But I’m one of the few people on the planet who didn’t like Dumb & Dumber.
John Belushi? Chris Farley? Maybe it’s the “fat guy” thing, which of course I feel a certain kinship to – but these guys went all-in to get the laughs. Just watch Farley’s SNL skit as a Chippendales dancer with Patrick Swayze. Ok, chemicals were probably involved for both John and Chris, but those roles took commitment!
I may not walk around with my shirt off (hold your applause), but I’m 100% in for comedy theatrics. The top hat thing, which is starting to take a life of its own, grew out of nothing. When 88 Design Group came up with our initial logos, they included a top hat. I couldn’t get to Amazon fast enough to buy a high-quality one to match. It’s not like I wore it everywhere, but when I texted my older daughter a selfie with the hat on, she showed a friend. Her response? “That the most ‘your Dad” photo I’ve ever seen”. Cool. I have a Dad brand.
The top hat is goofy. It usually makes a scene and I like that. There’s a new standing order in the taproom… if anyone needs to “speak to a manager”, they are to remind me to don the hat before I come to resolve the issue. It’s beer. Relax.
Meanwhile, my kids are unfazed with all of this.
Lu and Ki, now in their teens, have gotten used to our “making a scene”. So we must put time into it now for the shock. Ki, our older daughter, visited New York City and we picked her up at the airport. Lu and I made a homemade fathead (a 4-foot diameter poster of just Ki’s head) and brought it to the airport to greet her. The fun part? We created its own Instagram page and filled it with a tour of places in town. Ki’s elementary school, middle school, Starbucks, dance studio, etc. Hey, go big or go home. Eventually the head wound up in an ex-boyfriend’s house, so we don’t speak of it anymore. (And I’ve deleted the Instagram account, so you won’t be able to find it. 😊)
The kids have been exposed to brewery culture since infants. We were the parents shoving an iPad in front of them to entertain, while we tried to enjoy ourselves. True story… we watched Ki, as a baby, eat a coaster at Rock Bottom. Don’t judge, she was happy and quiet. Why were we going to disturb that? A quiet dinner? Heck yes! Ok, we paid the price later but, that was an hour or two of bliss. Not to be outdone, in that very same Rock Bottom, Lu had a cut on her finger, and I took a picture when she showed me where. Timehop just reminded me a week ago, of my 3-year-old giving me the finger in Rock Bottom. Staged, but mission accomplished! Life goes on, the girls grew up, and now they would rather chew off a foot then go to a brewery with us. Or help homebrewing. In a few short months, the kids went from “cool my parents own a brewery” to… “meh”. It’s difficult to get them interested in coming by, unless I’m letting them take snacks or soda.
I quit my day job in May of 2018. Although stressed about starting a brewery, it was a great reset in my relationship with the girls. I went from always being disconnected by work, to unwittingly living their culture 24/7. ASMR videos, Jeffree Star, and James Charles. I learned teenage girl slang and phrases I thought was hilarious (“sksksk”) and proudly used it correctly in conversations. Lu and Ki thought it was funny, I’m sure in a cringy way. I never expected how important this time would become to me. Two years later, I found myself 100% at the brewery. This piece of my life quickly ended without realizing it. And… I really miss it.
But things constantly change. Cammy and I are driven to “get things in order”, so we can have at least some family and social time again. Like many things in life, you must find those pockets of time and develop a new routine. One of those pockets was this past weekend, pulling something together as a throwback to the summer of 2019, a genius idea from our newest partner Chea Franz at Indie Creative Co. Lu and Ki were engaged again, but only because I appealed to their Instagram/VSCO trendy nature… and the potential of embarrassing their father.
But it won’t work, because I don’t mind looking foolish. I covered that.
Our October 1st post is about National Pumpkin Pie Spice Day. It’s also an inside joke of a “basic” teenage girl that will be lost on almost everyone who sees it. I don’t care. This post is more of a lasting love note to my girls and those two years. Miss you.
And I Oop,
-Jeff
September 30, 2020
Written while Spilling The Boba Tea.