Growls and Grunts
(Stubborn little guy still won’t come out.)
Kristen and I are four years apart, and while we are certainly of the same generation, there are a lot of things that I am aware of — in the areas of pop culture — that she has no clue about, and vice versa. Things started to move much more quickly in the 80s, I think, with too many TV shows, too many movies, too many books, that even with people that close in age, things didn’t register with everyone.
For example, this morning I told Kristen that her snoring sounded something reminiscent of Ookla the Mok. She was a little confused (she didn’t know who Ookla was), but also annoyed (because even if she didn’t know about Ookla the Mok, she’s smart enough to know that it wasn’t a particularly glowing comparison).
For all those of my age, Ookla was the trusty sidekick of Thundarr the Barbarian, who starred in an eponymous Saturday-morning cartoon. They lived in a post-apocalyptic Earth where they traveled across the country fighting mutated bad guys. (Of note: There was a third member of the trusty group, a princess named Ariel. My sister, also a fan of the show, announced that she was planning on naming her daughter Ariel; my mother, however, argued that it sounded like the name of a car.)
Now Ookla, being a Mok, didn’t speak English. He communicated by way of an odd growling noise, not unlike Chewbacca. And not unlike Star Wars’ Han Solo, Thundarr had no problem understanding him. And even though my own Mok vocabulary was limited, I was pretty much able to comprehend what he was saying. “Aaargh” meant “look out”; “woooorgh” meant… well, that meant “look out”, too.
Anyway, back to Kristen. Although she’s been sleeping fitfully of late (you would, too, if you had a monkey crawling around inside of your innards), she usually falls asleep right away. And as soon as she does, her strange breathing begings. It’s sort of a growl, but also a bit of a groan. There are even strange clicking noises. It never lasts very long, because within a few minutes, Barnabas has shifted, causing Kristen to have to go to the bathroom.
But when she’s back in bed and asleep, the Mok-isms resume. And I can dream of fighting mutants in 22nd century America.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:51 am
I do not have any children – so Ariel is still available if you have another one.
Or maybe the next cat?