April 9, 2007
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MONDAY BIO (cont.)
(Previous chapters here)We
moved almost across the street from my parents for the last part of our
Corvallis stay. We opened our eyes in the mornings to a house that
struggled to hold us together. Jane constructed shelves and shower
stalls and studied hard for school, while Josh racked up more sports
team photos and brought home two kittens from a neighborhood litter
that were orange and black, the OSU basketball team’s colors. Ferd and
Panther stayed with us (and finally just me) for the next almost 20
years and are now buried in my back yard, having shared my home longer
than any human ever has.It was the year Jimmy Carter was elected
President and granted amnesty to Vietnam draft dodgers. The Son of Sam
killer was arrested in New York City. Elvis Presley died at 42 in his
bathroom and Bing Crosby died on the golf course at 73. The U.S. and
Panama signed the Canal Zone Treaty. But what I remember was a morning
before going to work when I drank my usual large tumbler of red wine,
felt my stomach revolt, tossed it back up into the bathroom sink, and
immediately poured a second glass and drank it. I was daily shocked,
embarrassed, and grateful to remain on my feet to feed my children, go
to work, and pay the rent. My mother came one day to my house to give
me a gift of vitamins “especially for people who drink” and I reacted
with anger. (to be continued next post)
Deep Thought:
“One way I think you can tell if you have a curse on you is if you open
a box of toothpicks and they all fly up and stick in your face.”
Today I am grateful for: Postage stamps
Guess the Movie: “I don’t believe in hell. I believe in UNEMPLOYMENT, but not hell.” Answer: Tootsie, 1982. Winner: buddhacat.
Pelosi, Clinton, Obama Favor More Nuclear Plants
by Richard Simon
WASHINGTON
- The renewed push for legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions
could falter over an old debate: whether nuclear power should play a
role in any federal attack on climate change.Congress, with added
impetus from a Supreme Court ruling last week, appears more likely to
pass comprehensive energy legislation. But nuclear power sharply
divides lawmakers who agree on mandatory caps on carbon dioxide
emissions. And it has pitted some on Capitol Hill against their usual
allies, environmentalists, who largely oppose any expansion of nuclear
power. (Rest of article here.)
Comments (14)
There are those “bottom” moments, especially when you know young lives sleep in the house and depend on you. There are also those battles against recognition, a vicious skin of false self-protection. Gripping writing.
Your deep thought of the day….. yep, that would probably happen to me right about now.
Isn’t it amazing how we remember the things going on around us in our lives and kind of bookmark different events in our minds by them?
*sparkle
That movie quote sounds like something that could have been in the Big Lebowski, but I don’t think it is :
Hehe…about to show my age…or youth as it is…
these are things that happened within my lifetime!
Movie clue: Think Dustin Hoffman.
Thank you for visiting my site today. It seems like we enjoy many of the same things in life including Jerjonji’s blog site.I will sneak a peek at your photo’s now.
i remember playing ping pong in the family den and hearing the news on tv about elvis dying – and i remember totally being afraid of the son of sam… what a summer…
Your poor mom. She was trying. I hate the idea of nuclear plants but all the rich people are buying stock in uranium mines so we will probably get them shoved down our throats.
OK, with the clue I know the movie, I’m sure there are others who need a chance. What a cast, and what a hoot!
1976 was a seminal year for me.
Is the photo in your post giving reference to the jug of wine? It looks like a scene I’ve seen many times before; pretty innocuous on the surface.
Speaking of photos, you have samples and bios on a number of my favorite photographers. One I didn’t see was Alfred Steiglitz. When I first saw his work, I immediately went out and bought a Minolta SLR and enrolled in a class. It wasn’t until later that I learned about his marriage to Georgia O’Keefe. What an amazing pair they were.
It was also the year my first child, Heather, was born.
Sometimes I wonder: WWJC do now? (Jimmy Carter)
Very moving. I missed that you had resumed this captivating story of your life. So succinct, the way you tell it, yet all the emotion, drama, fear, loathing, hope…I can relate to so much of it. Just played out slightly differently.
I must be semi-cursed. Whenever I pick a toothpick out of the box, no matter how careful I am, I end up with the point of one under my index finger nail. Ouch. Nasty darn things.
Hmmm… ’76… The year we all were subjected to that nauseous excuse for music known as “Afternoon Delight”… ‘scuse me now, I must push some Q-Tips entirely too far into my ears in the hope that along with great quantities of blood, the sound of that song will be washed out of my head.
Be well!
Ferd and Panther. I can relate, even if they were cats. Sabrina lived with me through more than any human, so I can relate. (I wrote about her today.)
Well, good, it is “Tootsie.” I had a moment of doubt, pulled it off the shelf to watch last night, but… no VCR player. D’oh. I’m still going out to find a DVD copy to rent.