Me: What’s today?
11 year old: My birthday. August 23, 2014.
Me: How do you know it’s your birthday?
11 year old: Well I know that yesterday was August 22 and tomorrow is August 24, and according to my parents I was born on August 23, and because we are in between August 22 and August 24, it must be my birthday.
Me: How does it feel to be an eleven year old?
11 year old: Exactly as it was to be 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
Me: How did you spend your birthday?
11 year old: I went to this museum thingy [Sony Wonder Technology Lab] and I watched Guardians of the Galaxy. 
Me: Did you like the movie?
11 year old: It was like a modern Star Wars.
Me: Is that good?
11 year old: Yeah!
Me: Do you think Star Wars aficionados might take offense at that?
11 year old: Why? It’s a great movie!
Me: Was it a good birthday?
11 year old: Yeah! I got a phone!
Me: What do you like to do these days?
11 year old: Computer programming. Learn Japanese.
Me: Can you be more specific on the computer programming?
11 year old: I like to program games in Unity3d. [Note: 11 year old fixed the spelling of Unity3d. Silly me, following the rules of punctuation.]
Me: What are your favorite books?
11 year old: Probably Lord of the Rings, Sparkers, Bakuman [manga].
Me: What are you listening to?
11 year old: Some K-Pop, bit of Hip Hop, bit of electro and dubstep. Martin Garrix, BIGBANG, Skrillex, Macklemore.
Me: What are your favorite things to watch?
11 year old: Big Bang Theory, Silicon Valley, Mad Magazine, Simpsons. 
Me: Isn’t Silicon Valley inappropriate for your age?
11 year old: Yeah. Very.
Me: So why do you watch it?
11 year old: Because it’s funny.
Me: What kind of irresponsible person lets you watch it?
11 year old: My mom.
Me: Sounds like an irresponsible kind of mother.
11 year old: That’s you. You’re talking about yourself.
Me: Hmmm. What do you want to be when you grow up?
11 year old: Computer programer. Game programer.
Me: What are you looking forward to in 6th grade?
11 year old: No freakin’ idea.
Me: What do you think is going to be different this year?
11 year old: I’m going to a new school. I’m going to have to walk longer. That’s pretty much it.
Me: You’re going to middle school and the only difference is you’ll walk longer?
11 year old: I’ll walk longer. I’ll have my own locker with a lock. I’ll have a homeroom and separate classes.
Me: What are your goals as an 11 year old?
11 year old: To get to 12 year old.
Me: Any grand pronouncements?
11 year old: I’m awesome.
Me: What does “pronouncement” mean?
11 year old: Isn’t it like something like saying a big message. Right? Right?
Close enough. Happy birthday eleventh, Doodles!
[This blog post has been approved by Doodles.]
Doodles is indeed awesome, but I don’t know about that irresponsible mom. Hey, send him over here to watch “Rocky Horror” with my kids, and we can swap irresponsible mom stories, perhaps.