It's retro in every way:
1. spirograph
2. that painty spinning wheel thing that I can't remember the name of
3. hippies!
4. Laughing Cow, I presume :)
I must quote from the contents (three hippies (four if you count their dog), and two spirographs):
On the back of the spirographs:
"...J and his friend C helped make this box and the only thing I could think to fill it was: Hippies. A box full of hippies for you. Growing up in Cali, a hippie sighting was like bird-watching and very satisfying..."
The Hippies:
"We will not eat processed, genetically altered food. Locally grown and organic ONLY. Amen.
"I have modeled my entire life after Jerry. I carry on his legacy."
"I will grow up to be an investment banker!"
(this has to be an homage to "I'm used to be a heroin addict, now I'm a methadone addict".? )
"Woof! Woof! I have a tick on my thigh! Woof! Woof!"
(another homage to: "My name is Rags. Woof! Woof!"?)
I feel like I know these people. I won't mention any names but some of my best friends are hippies! Some are born hippies, some become hippies. And in 2012, some buy their hippieness at Target and wear it on casual Fridays.
* * *
I read the Eudora Welty short story. Thanks for the handy link! It was really atmospheric and transported me from the couch to a place I'd never been before, and it also reminded me of some of the fly specky towns we'd just driven through on our trip. Sometimes this town reminds me of the smallness of that town...where you can't even go out into your own yard without bumping into twenty people you know and probably don't want to see. Most of them being hippies and all!
I never had a thing for Woody Allen, just the movies. I must've been very influenced by Annie Hall. She was so non-commital. It was a very useful attitude in so many ways: "oh, I'm not into addiction...it's too much of a commitment", that sort of thing. I don't remember celebrities I had crushes on, do you? I must have...but this memory of mine is not very memorable. Jeff Bridges was always interesting, especially in The Last Picture Show. If I were a little kid these days and had to pick a celebrity, I don't know that any are really that intriguing. I never went in for those guy bands but then again, they didn't really exist in the 70s/80s, did they? Does David Cassidy count?
I haven't been reading much lately. I'm working my way through a partially annoying graphic novel, "Friends with Boys". I don't know where it's going but it's kind of boring. Then, for work, I'm going to try to get into Negima, a manga series. I tend to like non-fiction more than fiction. I wish I liked fiction more. What have you been reading? If you have any title suggestions, I'd love to try them.
Do you want me to look into doing a display of our mail art here? Or if you'd like to, you can ask to use one of the display cases at your local public library. Let me know what you think.
Well, my aunt and cousin are visiting for the next three weeks which will make it challenging for me to work on much...I will try, but please bear with me. I will get something out to you...
PS: yes, I would love to get together in SF at the maritime museum and musee mechanique (my favorite place even in its new incarnation)...let's try for September?
PPS: do you want to knock around some ideas for a screenplay? Nothing very serious, just brainstorming, etc.
2 comments:
Yes, Laughing Cow! (Although I always forget and call it Happy Cow). Good retail eye!
Jackson and his friend were doing some spin art the other day and I had these containers sitting around and realized they would make fine spin-art "keepsake" boxes. Full of hippies.
I have a vintage Spirograph set that I got on eBay. It's just like the one I had when I was a kid. When I opened it, the drawing board had scribbles, spirographs, and the name "Lisa" written in cursive writing. Isn't that funny? I had to buy all new pushpins and a special pen to use it and "Lisa" managed to mess up her set by using a too-fat pen nib at one point, so that's why my spirographs tend to be sloppy--slipped pen syndrome.
Yes, I would love to plan a day at the old arcade. We usually try to do that little beach just before school starts, but we can aim for September too. Once Jackson gets on that beach, he never wants to leave. So maybe I'll take him there one day, and then we can meet at the Museum Mechanique on another day. Yay! I love those old machines. I hope they're still in working order. The guy who fixes them is a national treasure.
The other museum I've always wanted to take him to is the cable car museum. I have a record with "sounds of the cable car" and the stuff recorded at that museum (or car warehouse, or whatever it is) is like industrial 80s noise rock. It's just hard to get to by car or bus and if you go by cable car, you have to pay two fares for there and back (rip-off). But it's on the list of things to do.
Well, I'm glad the hippies and their doggie got through OK. The lady at the p.o. didn't bat an eye, as they say. Just weighed it and told me to use five stamps. What a cool lady. Eudora Welty is such an odd bird. She's still alive, yet I equate her with the "great writers" of America's past. She's a cool lady too. "Where Is the Voice Coming From?" is a very chilling tale. It's here: http://www.newyorker.com/online/2009/03/16/090316on_audio_oates
And also in the Oxford Book of American Short Stories (excellent collection, by the way, edited by Joyce Carol Oates).
I'm reading John Connolly's "The Book of Lost Things." I've read his two YA novels, "The Gates," which I think you might like. It's very macabre and funny--a fantasy-adventure with demons and a brave young lad and his doggie. The new sequel, "The Infernals," I didn't like quite as much--kind of a downer, but still very funny in parts. Haven't read his detective novels because they look very DARK. Will get to those at some point. He's a terrific writer.
"Apocalypse On The Set - Nine Disastrus Film Productions" by Ben Taylor is good if you don't know the stories behind "Heaven's Gate," "Baron Munchausen," "Apocalypse Now," and others, including the weirdest, a bunch of films made by a kidnapped director and his ex-wife actress in North Korea. I knew a lot of these stories going in, but there's some good weird information in this about the insanity of filmmaking.
Stephen King's "On Writing" is a page-turner (always, with him) about writing. I'm enjoying it. He has such a down-to-earth voice.
I'm finishing up Evan S. Connell's "Mrs. Bridge." Devastating and simple. Now I must see the film with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
I usually read nonfiction or short stories. But I do try to find novels too. It's hard when there's so many to choose from. And many are disappointing. What a difficult form of writing.
Yes, screenplays--I am thinking of ideas. Nothing's happening in my noggin. But I've got my feelers out there. So, yes. Let's do that. Are you going to send me a 2nd draft of yours? Should I read the first or wait? Sorry for this LOooooong comment.
Oh, and that IS an homage to Rags. Woof woof woof. God, that scene has informed my entire comedic world view, apparently! I don't know who I'd have a crush on now either. Yes, David Cassidy counted, but we were eight, so not really.
Do you remember the scene in "Play It Again Sam" where Woody is on a date and he's shoveling rice into his mouth at lightning speed while his date looks on, aghast? He could really do physical comedy. I miss that. He's compulsive about filmmaking. It's too bad for us, the audience. He's not thinking it through so much anymore.
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