I miss my Washington State cousins. It's rather unfortunate that we're not going to be able to see each other this Christmas, due to late planning and uber expensive plane tickets. They're such wonderful family, very different and (in my opinion), more hospitable than, say, my Connecticut cousins. See, Matt and Dan and Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary Lou are much easier to be around, very down-to-earth, and definitely more on the same wavelength than others. It's really quite freaky when we compare siblings as in, Uncle Steve and Daddy, Matt and myself, and Dan and Paloma. We've noticed that the oldest siblings tend to have the "Pearson genes": loooooong torso, short legs, and less athletic inclination, but lotsa intellectual inclination. The second set of siblings tend to have the "other" genes: loooong legs, shorter torso, much more athletic inclination, and yes, they're still very smart, just that they tend to blend their athleticism with intellectualism, whereas we oldest siblings tend to be intellectuals first and foremost.I call them "other" genes because I don't really know what else to call them. My grandfather has the "Pearson" genes, whenceforth we derive the name, but I don't know if they're quite "Livingston" genes (grandma's maiden name) or what. So Uncle Steve, Matt, and myself have the Pearson genes, Daddy, Dan, and Paloma have the "other" genes, and there you go. Pretty much needless to say, I get along phenomenally with my cousin Matt, and pretty well with Dan, it's just I don't talk to him apart from Christmas visits. Matt is a computer GENIUS I tell you, with all sorts of wonderful mathematical/scientific talents that I can only tip my hat to and marvel at. He is fantastically funny with probably the kindest and most generous heart I've ever known. Basically, if you ask him to do something for you, out of the goodness of his heart he'll put forth a bajillion percent effort every time, despite its consequences on his health/alertness/time. He's always incredibly well-informed about sweet and really cool information, especially that which concerns nifty little websites and such. Plus, he has "whiskers" on his chin that are really fun to tug at random intervals, much to his chagrin. His blog is chock full of his wondrous internet discoveries and interesting internet musings. I really miss my cousins.