"Queen of the Bees"

In Today's Email  ✍🏻 "Queen"  | ▶️ TikTok  | 🎥 James Caan

My Daughter is a Queen

I'm terrified of my two-year old daughter. I'm terrified of how much I need her. Of the power she possesses to derail my day and my night. Of how helpless she makes me. I'm terrified of how flimsy my own desires have been exposed to be; subject to being overwhelmed by her's at any moment. Of how her needs are more precious than my own.

I'm terrified of her dominion over the bees.

Of the way she looks to the sky for her loyal servants and hums a tune she was never taught. On a whim, she could summon a thousand of them to wreak havoc on my body for any perceived slight or withholding. Even a single small bee has proven devastating. I'm terrified how they appear inside of our home when she screams.

The other evening, my mother was visiting and insisted that it was too late for ice cream; that bedtime was approaching and that my daughter could have as much as she wanted tomorrow. No son should have to see the woman who birthed him sprint down the street, shrieking, trailed by a swarm of bees intent on her knowing the pain of being denied iced cream. I'm terrified by the delight it brings my daughter.

Like all burdens, being a father is joyous. And as I sit here now, with a yellowjacket stationed beside me, threatening to attack at an unflattering word, I am compelled to say that fathering the Queen of the Bees has been my greatest privilege.

▶️  This guy tickles me. TikTok is just so good at what it does. If you spend any time on it, you're familiar with the kinds of videos this guy is doing a spin on. 

🎥 Thief (1981) starring James Caan (Prime). During an interview with the creators of Industry (HBO), one of the dudes mentioned that both them and Safdies were inspired by this Michael Mann movie, which happened to be streaming on Prime. So I had to watch it. Like Michael Clayton from last week's newsletter, this film knows exactly what it is and which world it inhabits. The movements aren't necessarily in the plot, they're in the characters. And it has one of the most insane date-scenes ever filmed. 

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Michael Weber is a writer who has found it easier to just grow a beard than to develop a personality. This is his weekly newsletter with 2-minutes or less of original short-stories and content recommendations. If you'd like to unsubscribe, you must first find somebody else to replace you. Share a link to subscribe!