Let the Decluttering Commence

A few weeks ago, we got a new Internet and TV provider. I had to move some furniture, and in the process, I moved things on top of the furniture, such as photos, paintings, vases. Sometimes I use that kind of opportunity to re-arrange where I place things. This time, I started to think about things I could declutter--get rid of.

We've accumulated many things in 36 years here. We started by looking through things we have on display and things in a few drawers. I was really proud of Jeff for getting rid of some books. Getting rid of things goes against his every instinct. 

This is the beginning. Keeping things that hold memories for us, letting go of the meaningless.

34 Years

Jeff and I have been married for 34 years. 

I don't know what I was doing at this time 34 years ago. Maybe I was at the hair salon. My stylist Arthur was late, but another stylist did my hair and did a great job. So all was well. This little snag was overshadowed by the limo from hell.

We don't have elaborate plans this year. We planned to go out to dinner, but Jace suffers from separation anxiety and barks. So we're going to get takeout and eat at home until we work through his issues. It's not glamorous, but we don't need glamour. The important thing is that we're together.

Another (Fictional) Music Memory

One of the things I like about shopping at Shop Rite is the music it plays--many songs of the sixties and seventies. Yesterday I heard "We've Gotta Get You a Woman" by Todd Rundgren. Okay, I hate the line, "they may be stupid but they sure are fun" but otherwise I like the song.

As I was walking out the door, I heard the beginning of "Boogie, Oogie, Oogie" and immediately thought of this scene from the soap One Life to Live. I forgot some of the bad dancing (Rex in the gold hat) but remembered Antonio and Jessica dancing while Nash glared--after all he was in love with Jess's alternate personality Tess. I woke up thinking about the scene.

It's bad enough to have a music memory about iconic fictional characters, it's another to have such strong memories of a random scene. My memory needs to rethink its priorities.

More Music Memories

At Taylor Farm the other day, Lola bounded up a trail of mud, leaves, snow and ice. I kept telling her to slow down.

That reminded me of this song. Then I remembered a business trip to Portland. Oregon. Jeff and I went early to explore the city. Our friend, Patti, was living there then. One night we met her at a club. As the band played Slow Down, Patti and I started singing the song through. I don't know about Patti, but I hadn't heard the song in years. I love when I can just bring up lyrics, seemingly out of the blue. (Wish I could monetize this skill.)

Further back in my memory: I was a high school freshman, rushing from my last class to my locker. My friend Karen told me to slow down. We looked at each other and started singing.

I'm lucky that I had friends who wanted to sing with me and knew the lyrics.

Today in History

On this day in 1974, Richard Nixon announced his resignation as President of the United States effective the following day.

I don't have a distinct memory of that day, but I remember the Saturday Night Massacre pretty well. I had just gotten back to my dorm room at University of Delaware and saw the news. I wasn't sure what it all meant but I knew it was critical to the presidency.

As to the actual resignation, I saw clips of Nixon's farewell speech and of the Fords escorting the Nixons to the helicopter.  But, after seeing the movie, Dick, I'll never think of Watergate in the same way again.

On a lighter note, today is the 25th anniversary of the first night game under the lights at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies. That game was rained out after three innings. The first official night game took place the next night; the Cubs beat the New York Mets.

To Lisa from Rodney E

As we were watching the World Baseball Classic, we saw the Budweiser Clydesdale pony commercial from the Super Bowl. It featured the Fleetwood Mac song, Landslide.

I played a version from youtube. Then I selected another Fleetwood Mac tune, Blue Letter.

Music memory: standing in the bathroom of the second floor of Rodney E dorm at University of Delaware: Lisa and I turned to each other and sang the chorus, "I ain't waiting, I ain't waiting..."

Wonder how she's doing now?

Another YouTube Evening

After watching True Grit last night, I went on YouTube to listen to Glen Campbell's recording of the theme. This led to a few more Campbell recordings: Wichita Lineman, By the Time I Get to Phoenix (which I decided would be a great cover for a woman to sing as a narrator dealing with domestic violence) and Gentle on my Mind. I followed with other songs by the Beatles, TLC, the Grateful Dead, The B-52's and even James Darren and Avery Brooks from Deep Space Nine.

 I love YouTube. It's great to find old songs. One night I found Midnight Mary. I didn't even know the singer's name, but remembered the chorus. The song was a top ten hit from 1964 by Joey Powers. It wouldn't have been a great loss if I had never heard the song again, but it's fun to rediscover songs and see how many of the lyrics I remember.
(The answer is usually a lot.)

Jersey Shore: Revisited

Earlier tonight, I watched the latest Jersey Shore episode. This is the final season--I think it's the fifth. I don't know why I continue to watch; I guess it's just habit. I haven't really enjoyed the show since the second season.

Like cast members of many reality shows, the people featured on Jersey Shore are not nice nor intelligent. It'd be hell to be friends with any of them. But obviously, something or someone was appealing--the show became a big hit.

Reality TV fame made the cast members more obnoxious, but the show never addressed their fame. It tried to ignore the crowds of people following the cast around. It tried to pretend that the management of The Shore Store would tolerate such bad employees.

Another strange thing about this season is that the cast now includes fresh-out-of-rehab and pregnant cast members. This is a challenge in a show that celebrates crazy, drunken behavior.

One reason I continue to watch is Superstorm Sandy. I look at the shots of the boardwalk and know it is no more. The roller coaster landed in the ocean. Who knows how much sand remains on the beaches. I wonder if the topography of the shoreline has changed--will Seaside still attract surfers? 

I may be bored by cast antics, but I enjoy glimpses of what used to be.

More Lost Photographs

After I wrote my post yesterday, I read another New York Times article about  photographs lost in Superstorm Sandy that have been transformed. Some remind me of Jackson Pollock's work; they are all strangely beautiful

Photographic Flotsam and Memorabilia

I read an interesting article in yesterday's New York Times. After Superstorm Sandy, some people set up a Facebook page and posted photos that had been lost in the storm, including a drawer with over one thousand family photos.

Helping people reconnect with lost photos is a thoughtful way to help people make their lives whole again after a tragedy. I started to think about where recovering photos would rank in after storm activities.

I love photographs. I have several displayed in almost every room. They remind me of vacations, special occasions and loved ones. What would I save if I had to leave home in the midst of a disaster and only had a few minutes? Jeff and I would focus on getting Spike out safely. But what next? I suppose I could grab my great grandmother's wedding ring--that would be (relatively) financially and sentimentally valuable. If I grabbed a photo on the way out, which one would it be?

I don't know.

I've been watching the show Revolution; it depicts life after all electricity has been turned off. One plot thread involves mother who carries around a smart phone because it contains her only pictures of her children. For a brief moment, power is restored and the first thing she does is turn on her phone to see her kids.

One appeal of digital photos is that you can easily delete the bad photos and save the good without filling up drawers.  But are digital photos more easily lost and forgotten?

These thoughts are running through my head as I think about organizing my own photos. I need to take another look through the photos my father left to me. My mother recently gave me an envelope full of photos. Plus I have several photos of my own. I previously have culled through them, but need to do more. I'll take some of the better photos and frame, display and appreciate them. The rest, well, I'll see.

Music Memory

Generally, smell is the sense most connected with memory.

But music, a part of the sense of hearing, triggers many memories.

The other day while riding to Ridgefield, I was listening to the True Oldies Channel on the radio when I heard the Herb Alpert song, "Rise." Immediately I was back to the summer of 1980 of General Hospital when Luke raped Laura.

The weird thing was that I wasn't even watching General Hospital at the time. But my roommate Pam was watching and we started watching each other's soaps.

Another weird thing was that my favorite character on GH was Luke, the rapist. Maybe because I didn't actually see the rape scene. Probably, it was because Anthony Geary as Luke was compelling.

We didn't realize at the time that we were witnessing the dawn of a cultural phenomenon that culminated in Luke and Laura's wedding in November 1981. Although many discussions of Luke and Laura focus on that event, it would have just been another soap wedding had it not been for the 1980 summer storyline. Love on the run: trying to decipher the little black book, uncovering the mystery of the left-handed boy, evading Hutch the hit man (who later grew a heart of gold), dancing in the fantasy department store sequence, posing as newlyweds Lloyd and Lucy, erecting their own version of the walls of Jericho each night.

Yes, the falling in love with your rapist storyline was grossly offensive. Yes, some of Luke and Laura's adventures were outlandish. But they were intensely watchable; Geary and Francis had chemistry.

That summer Pam and I were studying for the New York bar exam, staying on in our dorm room at NYU. I took the morning bar review course; Pam took the evening course. In between classes, we found it relaxing to spend our afternoons watching the ABC soaps: All My Children, One Life to Live,  General Hospital and The Edge of Night. The  stress of studying for the bar paled next to being on the run from the mob, amnesia and the like. We must have done something right because we both passed and I can remember that summer fondly.