Alter ego

Samson's attention has turned back to superheroes, and so once again we are having lots of conversations about secret identities.

For some reason the topic comes up a lot at dinner, and we'll go through the litany of guys [it's only guys] and their respective alter egos: Clark Kent, Barry Allen, Peter Parker, the Bruces: Wayne and Banner, and John Stewart [this one, not that one].

So I guess it shouldn't be surprising that Samson has now assumed his own alter ego. He's been doing a lot of role-playing lately, as in: "I'm Daddy and you're Samson. Come on, Samson, let's go play baseball" or "I'm not Samson; I'm Daddy. Hey Vick? Do you want coffee?"

But he's also apparently married the love of role play with his rock star ambitions. We were in the kids' section at Barnes & Noble over the weekend, where they have a little stage. Samson got up on the stage and announced, not too loudly and to no one in particular, that he was ready for the show.

Two children actually came and sat down and waited patiently. What they expected he was going to do, I don't know. But in less than a minute, the kid had mustered an audience. Forget the Little Einstein books and videos, we need to get to work on a Little P.T. Barnum series.

When one of their mothers asked him what he was going to do, he said he had a band: Oregon Ridge Manhole. Now Oregon Ridge is a nature center near our house. Where the manhole comes from, I just don't know, but it made me laugh out loud.

He then told her his name was Brian Mexico.

I like to think I have a good imagination. And I'm pretty certain that some of Samson's talents for straight-faced fibbing comes from me (although Vicki did tell her third-grade class that she had lunch with Queen Elizabeth), but I think he's rapidly approaching the end of his Grasshopper phase...