Category: nostalgia

  • Betty G: Chapter 8

    (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

    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

    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

    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 […]

  • Preparing for Road Trip

    It’s been my unofficial goal to be absent every weekend this summer. So, for Labor Day, I’m driving to San Diego for a week. My preparations: Drop car off at mechanic. It’s like asking for bad news. He calls, $1200 work done on car. I check, and it’s all kosher. Shit. Buy new music for […]

  • Camping Improvements Since the 70s

    I just came back from a 4 day camping trip in the El Dorado Forest – great alternative to Yosemite, by the way! As I was comparing my gear to my sister & her husband’s, I started a mental list of vast improvements in camping technology since the stuff my parents had in the 70s. […]

  • Girl Weekend

    This Thursday night begins… Girl Weekend! I was invited by one of my sisters to attend the conference of girls in our family up in Seattle. It’s going to be fun. Unfortunately one or two can’t make it, but we’ll do the best with our small numbers. I have a few surprises in store. The […]

  • Visiting Minnesota-Style

    My aunt and uncle from Minnesota just visited, and it reminded me of childhood visits from my other Midwestern extended family and their unique visitor behaviors. Sit around drinking coffee for hours at the kitchen table. This begins right when you wake up. I forgot about the endless pot and kept reminding myself it was […]

  • Riding the Train

    My first rides with CalTrain were from San Jose/Diridon to Palo Alto, about 20 minutes. I was on a year break from college due to financial issues, and attending San Jose State and Stanford night classes. I had a scam- I’d board at San Jose, and slowly travel up the train, walking, until I reached […]

  • The SwingSet – for Jud Grubbs

    Arrived in Monterey 7 days after driving out of Baltimore, and had a few days of rest and relaxation, including a funeral. Family friend died of cancer during the road trip, so I headed to the service with my parents, both of which had key roles. I was just the support staff, but since he’d […]