As I mentioned in my very first blog post- half the time (ok, more than half), I don’t understand what cosplay daughter and her best friend are talking about.

They are wont to burst out with seemingly random interjections like “Cranberries!!!!” and then laugh, leaving me, and the room, perplexed.  They break out into song and do small memorized skits: – “Hey, want some pie?”                                                                                                                        – “What flavor is it?”

– “PIE flavored!”

That I totally don’t get.

And most of the time, I just let it go. They are happy to try and explain, but generally the explanation doesn’t really help.I’m left like I often am at a convention, watching the cosplay go by and wondering “Huh. Wonder what THAT is?”

But there are other times when I can’t stand it, and I ask, and get to discover the amazing, crazy and ridiculously creative world of fandom and art that they have discovered.   This weekend, I finally asked about a song that they often spontaneously chant, which seemed to have something to do with Transformers actor Shia LaBeouf. They happily sang it for me again, but deciared that I REALLY needed to see the video. (“Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf”)

and man, did I (need to see it).  How. Freaking. Hilarious.

Amazing. Wonderfully sideways and creative.

Not for everyone, surely, but terribly appealing to my Monty Pythonesque sense of humor and scholarly appreciation of bathos.

Like Welcome to Nightvale.

After the fourteenth time that I heard the girls declare dramatically that “The FUTURE…..is 100 feet above the Arby’s sign” I had to know what was up with that. Turns out this is from a ridiculously bizarre and super-fun podcast from “Nightvale community radio” about a small desert community founded by “peace-loving imperialist conquerors and religious leaders who wore soft meats crowns made of inverted organs strung around the head.”  It’s also the place where you receive a mandatory orange poncho upon entering, and where you should never, ever, look at the dog park. Also, please note: Wednesday has been cancelled, due to a scheduling error.

It’s like A Praire Home Companion. On Pluto. In another universe. Managed by Hunter S Thompson.

Wow.

I took them to a live broadcast, and it was even BETTER.

These girls really are my tour guides to undiscovered territory. Would I have any idea about surreal radio hours without them? surely not. And my life would be both poorer intellectually and in fun quotient.

So, I’m very grateful for the tour guides, and for all that amazing creativity that they appreciate and introduce me to.

I realize that I am a middle-aged college professor who left “cool and hip” behind about 20 years ago. But I love and am grateful for the opportunity to share cosplay daughter’s interests-  getting to still (sometimes) be the “cool Mom.”

The Mom who can sing along to “Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf.” The Mom who wears brainwave ears to the LARP:

Cosplay Mom.