The More Things, Stay The Same

Zach and his Papa, 2011.
Me and my Papa, 1976.

Nanas Are Special

c. 1977

PS: Whatever happened to those PANTS?

Borne Ceaselessly Into The Past

Boats, Currents.

1977:
2011:
There's something to be said for curmudgeonry.

Tubes, Wires

This has made the rounds, and the amusement is based on a smugness we feel here in the 2010s, but it's still worth checking out.



Who knew?

There She Blows!

A hump like a snow hill!



Does everyone else remember this so vividly?

On This Day In History

Remember last October 28th? I posted this pretty funny pic, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, it's David's birthday again! Since his last birthday, he visited NYC once for NYE and we had much fun buying brightly colored pants, suffering the heat of my new apartment (until Jeremy figured out how to turn off the radiator, bless him), ate nice food, and tussled with Zach. He visited once again after that, which was after I ate that bad burrito, but we STILL had a nice time eating a mild dinner and watching a Barbara Stanwyck movie. Aren't friends great?

Here's hoping he visits again soon. In the meantime, here's us c. 1994, celebrating all the loot we picked up at Graceland. God Bless us ALL !

This Is Where I'm From, Too

This Is Where I'm From

My heritage. Data from this site, enjoy tickling around on it.

The Lost Honor of CRD & DSB

Apparently, in The Past, David B. and I were members of the Baader-Meinhof Gang.



Happy Birthday, David!

In The Family Way (Matrilineal Edition)

From my mom:

Grandpa is the little blonde boy front and center. The one in the dropped waist dress is Nellie, Grandpa's mother and a VERY stern woman); Helen (grandpa's sister) is the little girl with the necklace, next to her is George, Grandpa's father (a sweet, kind man who would sneak us candy when Nellie wasn't looking).


I was never terribly close with my Grandpa, but he was a good man, and I always enjoyed favored status as the first (of fourteen) grandchildren. The resemblance is kinda illuminating too:

This picture would be from sometime in the mid-1920s. Heritage.

Workplace Obsolescence

NPR has this nice story on The Jobs Of Yesteryear, including interviews & such.

I guess it's only logical, but I hadn't thought that there were people at the bowling alleys who would run out and set up the pins.

Type-setting!
In the early 20th century, Lectors were hired to read to factory workers - here's one in 1909 in a cigar shop. Since these were union shops, it was mostly lefty trades that were read aloud. I wish they still had this job today, so Kevin could do it. I bet he'd do the Police in different voices.

Here's some soon-to-be obsolete jobs.




Oh well. Here's hoping we make it to 65 before the kids start downloading content for free right to their eyeballs.

Sepia Town!

Know what's awesome? This website here.

It's all user-submitted vintage photographs, helpfully aligned on a map. It's a little clunky, but well worth the visit.

Here's the closest one I could find to my house:

Here's where Kevin & Diana live, sort of:

Here's another one near me:

This is the closest one I could find to Jonathan in Brooklyn, near the 7th Ave B/Q stop. That sure looks scary.

Sorry Amber, they didn't really have any up by you.

Snow Day = Internet Research!

Giving Thanks, Past-Style

I have done a lot of things on Thanksgiving, but one time I did stuff with Colleen.

In what must have been 1999, I went to visit her in her first Grown-Up Apartment, in Philadelphia. We made a massive feast together, and photo-documented it for our friend Timmy, who at the time was in Mali, in the Peace Corps, and had only eaten some sort of corn gruel for six months and had probably only gone to the bathroom once in that time.

Here's Colleen putting the finishing touches on our candied yams:

And here's me, in a shirt I had stolen from Timmy back in college, proudly displaying some sort of delicious looking dessert.
God Bless America, and all our Feasts and Friends. I sure am Thankful for these things.

Ain't No Cure For Birthday

So last year, I think I did a pretty nice birthday post for my dear chum David.

However, now that we are both smack dab in the mid of our 30s, I'm just too pooped to create a proper one.

But really, isn't it amazing we made it this far?

Sigh.

Wait - It's NOT 1996?

In The Family Way

So at this moment I am at my parents' house for a few days before
embarking for the Cape. Among other adventures, I am looking through
old photo albums.

A Wedding! California-Style

Looks like it's Wedding Week here at Internals Plural!

So yesterday I got home and sure was excited about what came in the mail. Was it that I received the Farrah Fawcett cover of Vanity Fair instead of the Michael Jackson one?

Yes, but there was something else too! The invitation to Dory's Wedding!


I'll be hopping on a plane to San Francisco the third week of October to bear witness to Dory and Dave tying their knots. Sarah will be my plus one, which makes this only the second wedding in the 21st century that I will not attend with Amber. The last time this happened I ate a bottom-feeder, threw up in Friendly's parking lot, and lost 15 lbs. Fingers crossed!

I first met Dory in 1997 when I replaced her as an assistant at the Book Barn. Over time our friendship blossomed, and we saw many movies together at the $3 theatre and ate a lot of Ollie's Chinese Food. Later, she moved to San Francisco and I visited her there quite a few times, sometimes just so I could watch Designing Women on her Cable TV. I haven't met this Dave fellow yet, but hopefully he's as nice as Dory says he is. If not, I will tell him so during the ceremony.

Once Dory and I took a road trip together through Tennessee. I think this was in 2001, but I'm not sure. I know it was before digital cameras were invented because I had to scan these in. It also may have been before camera timers were invented because we have no pictures of Dory and I together.

Here's me in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame:

Here's Dory at the entrance to Shelbyville, which everyone knows is the nemesis of Springfield.

Here's me in front of my favorite shop, Hatch Show Print.

I'm looking forward to my second wedding of the year, and I'm sure it'll be as lovely as the first one.

The Big B.M.

Happy Birthday, Barry Manilow!

It's always fun to mock Barry, but I think he's terrific, and have thought so ever since I was a wee lad.

There are many reasons I like him so much, notably "Mandy" (which I can sing in perfect pitch), "A Linda Song," and many others. I used to play his records over and over at my Nana's house and sing along to the lyrics that were printed on the LP sleeve.

About the time I was born, Barry was playing piano in the Continental Bath House for Miss Bette Midler - which I think is just about the coolest thing one could do.

Also cool? What this Danish person did to put a video together for Mandy.



And now, I'm off to Canada. See ya, America!

Cats! Dogs!

Really, America? MORE rain?

I sure wish I still had this slicker.

Hello Again, Dolly!

This weekend brought even MORE packing.

I have now used up all the Fresh Direct boxes that have been re-gifted to me - 28 in total. Things look good too; I probably only need another five or six boxes to pull everything together, and the move is at least a week or two away.

Here's some more stuff I've found while choosing what to save and what to toss. If you know me at all, it won't surprise you that Dollywood is one of the places I've been to in my life.

Here's me at that grand place, in 1995:


That's easy to save, it's just a picture.

Save or not: 51 Dolly Parton Playing Cards? (save)

Save or not: Dolly Parton change purse? (Save).

I actually saved the change purse once before. In 1996 I was in Barcelona, traveling by myself. I was mugged by two rather bumbling teens with a flimsy, yet still scary, knife. They took my credit card, my cash, and my cigarettes. I actually asked them to give me back the purse, in my best broken Spanish. They did. I think this deserves space in one of the boxes. Gracias, Ladrones!