Christmas Traditions

Posted by banane on December 24th, 2011 — in nostalgia

The new “city visit” tradition with sister & kids & friends I’m a Christmas baby. The other day, I had a conversation with my older sister Amy, who was 5 when I was born, about my mom having me. She already had 4 kids, Christmas was 4 days away. She was sick with the flu. [...]

In Search of My Grandmother’s Silver

Posted by banane on December 3rd, 2011 — in nostalgia

In helping my parents downsize, I took their silver off their hands. It’s the same stuff I used to have to polish as a kid, and I remember doing that, lazy circles with a rag on a coffee pot we rarely used. So awkward now in my modern apartment, these old silver set and the [...]

In Memoriam: Roger Richman

Posted by banane on November 5th, 2011 — in nostalgia, south bay

I lost my friend Roger yesterday. He was a kind of uncle to me, he was always there as I grew up. An expert witness in hundreds of court cases regarding how metal stood up under collision, he was a metallurgist trained in the Mining School in New Mexico, and ran a consultancy that contracted [...]

Biking to Pier 38

Posted by banane on August 9th, 2010 — in fitness, nostalgia, south bay

Pull up pant leg, check lights, and generally warm up while biking on flat blocks near Powell, Mason, Chestnut, Francisco, untitil you need to go by the Post Office relay station, eying the 45 on the way to the MUNI depot. Merge quickly onto Bay St., battle Marina girls driving their Audis to the Bay [...]

I’m the Anachronism, I’m the Problem

Posted by banane on September 8th, 2009 — in nostalgia, travel

I was shocked, when I was 22 and flew to Paris, that it wasn’t like I’d read in the expat novels of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Instead, it was kinda like home. Grunge was big there, like it was in Seattle. Hip hop was emerging there, just like it was in San Jose. Everyone spoke English, [...]

Travel Food Notes: Part 1 Fish Salad & Horseradish

Posted by banane on January 30th, 2009 — in beer & chocolate, food, nostalgia, travel

My host in Sweden, Ingrid, served me horseradish soup one of the last nights, and I loved the peppery creaminess of it, so I roughly recreated the recipe yesterday for my Dad. From Epicurious and altered. Ingrid said she bought it at the store and re-heated. 1. The hard part is finding fresh horseradish. Whole [...]

Betty G: Chapter 8

Posted by banane on November 21st, 2008 — in betty g, nostalgia

(a novel in progress) “Remember when Atari was big? We went to that place, I forget the name, but you have to ask for ‘the library,’ and it was the place everyone from Atari went.” My mom told me, across the table at Ideale, an Italian place in North Beach. “Well, we were there for [...]

Humidity Makes a Nice Forest

Posted by banane on September 30th, 2008 — in local color, nostalgia, road trip, travel

Before I went to Portland, I wrote this long post that I deleted about problematic feelings regarding that town. Then, I went, had a great time, and now I’m back to thinking of why I don’t live there. So, this is a moment I experienced on the third morning. I dragged my ass up a [...]

Revisiting Places: Portland

Posted by banane on September 22nd, 2008 — in nostalgia, travel

I wrote a long post about nostalgia in Portland, and just deleted it. Why? Because I can! Alright. I’m going Thurs-Sun and will doubtless blog about it. Things to do (besides college conference): – Twit-up/FF-up somewhere downtown – Hang with Dylan of eROI – Thrift hard-core for some good fabrics!

My Best Failure: Paris 1996

Posted by banane on August 30th, 2008 — in nostalgia

Reading a friend’s post on a recent failure and lessons learned reminded me of my best failure, living in Paris after college. I got in a program that would give me a work Visa in France for 5 years. I’d studied French for years so felt well-armed. After a month of successful home & work [...]