children | dual personalities

October 29, 2015

Running [a few] red lights on Memory Lane*

by chuckofish

It almost being Halloween, I thought I’d share a picture of the costume that epitomized the zenith of our mother’s costume-making endeavors.

In 1956 she made a Donald Duck costume for our older brother without a pattern and without all the add-ons that are readily available today. I think she even made the hat/mask. She poured all of her not negligible creative powers and seamstress-y talent into it. It was not easy to do and she was very proud of it.

I hope our brother was proud to wear it. Does he look proud? Somehow I think he would have preferred to have been armed and dangerous and Davey Crockett.

I hope our mother received lots of high-fives. Doubtful. This was mid-century California after all where I’m sure those newfangled rayon-taffeta store-bought costumes were all the rage.

A few years later she made a pretty awesome black cat costume for my brother and a clown costume for me.

But after that, she was done (except for a witch costume which we used for-ever after.)

Well, Sic transit gloria mundi…

On another note–happy birthday and a toast to Dan Castellaneta, who has voiced the character of Homer Simpson on The Simpsons for 28 seasons. Zut alors. Or should I say:

“Everyone knows rock n’ roll attained perfection in 1974; It’s a scientific fact.”

–Homer, aka the OM

*Dire Straights, Telegraph Road

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October 26, 2015

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

by chuckofish

My oh my what a wonderful time in flyover land we’ve had while daughter #1 has been in town!

Here she is wearing a vintage ensemble put together from items unearthed from the back of her childhood closet.

We went to an estate sale, ate out, checked out the new IKEA store (where I bought some more stemless wine glasses), blew a fuse when simultaneously blow-drying our hair, went to church, took multiple walks, went to Ted Drewes, shopped, updated my iPhone and synched it with my laptop, bar-b-qued with the boy and daughter #3 and watched more old home movies, and generally displaced the OM who didn’t grumble too much.

Sadly, she heads back to NYC tomorrow on the 5:55 a.m. flight, because all good things, as they say, must come to an end.

Sigh.

4 Comments

September 14, 2015

Something Wonderful

by chuckofish

I am back from my jaunt to NYC and I am exhausted. I had a wonderful time with daughter #1, celebrating her birthday.

But I need to go to work today, so if you don’t mind, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear about it. Onward and upward.

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July 2, 2015

“I just want to be your firecracker”*

by chuckofish

The OM used to belong to a fraternal organization that was responsible for putting on the annual flyover 4th of July parade here in town. He was involved for years in the float department and so our daughters were shanghaied into dressing up in embarrassing costumes and riding on the floats.

One year daughter #1 was Tinkerbell on the Peter Pan float.

In comparison, daughter #2 got away easy dressing up as a hillbilly gal. I have pictures**, but in typical fashion, I am unable to put my hands on them.

I never went to the parade. There is nothing I hate more than getting up in the pre-dawn hours to park God-knows-where to secure a place amidst a large crowd of strangers to watch a parade downtown.

Since it was the OM’s thing, I let him go with it and have father-daughter bonding time. (I did go down to the “den” with respective daughters to get them fitted in their costumes.)

Anyway, the point is, this year for the first time (in a long time) the parade will be televised. Back in the day, I would have really appreciated this.

This year I will be watching the parade in my pajamas. Mimosas, anyone?

*Ryan Adams

**This is not a conspiracy of not having pictures of the neglected 3rd child. Really. I searched high and low.

9 Comments

June 29, 2015

Postcards from Gasparilla

by chuckofish

From our first night to our last,

we had the best time!

Our week in Boca Grande was filled with good food (thank you, daughter #2)

good drink (thank you, daughter #1)

and ice cream,

hair braiding,

beach time,

and pool time,

and lots of gab, gab, gabbing.

We pretty much did everything we did on our previous visit, but with just the three of us girls, we simplified the formula to basically: floating in the pool, walking on the beach, eating, drinking, and watching movies/Freaks and Geeks and various other Netflix offerings. Although daughter #2 did some online grading, I never looked at a computer or even my iphone. It was great.

On Saturday we headed to the airport, bid adieu to each other and flew off to our separate homes in three states.

Sigh.

7 Comments

January 28, 2015

Way back Wednesday

by chuckofish

Frequently we refer to daughter #2 as the neglected third child. We joke about it, but it really is a thing.

When I was going through all the boxes of my children’s school work and art projects, there was twice as much of daughter #1’s stuff saved than daughter #2’s. C’est la vie.

I could feel guilty about that, but the truth is, it just means there was less to throw away twenty years down the road.

We have plenty of good stuff for daughter #2 to store in a future attic.

Do you think she was trying to tell me something?

I think she knows we value her personhood. You go, girl!

9 Comments

December 19, 2014

“Home is the nicest word there is.” *

by chuckofish

This girl is flying home today.

(The dog is not coming along.)

Is there anything better than that?

Yay.

*Laura Ingalls Wilder

3 Comments

November 19, 2014

“By my troth, I was seeking for a fool when I found you.” *

by chuckofish

Yesterday marked our 1000th post. Gee whiz.

A big thank you to our loyal followers for sticking with us.

I guess I know who we’ll be toasting tonight!

*Shakespeare, As You Like It

13 Comments

October 14, 2014

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”

by chuckofish

On this day in 1926 Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne was published in England.

As I have mentioned before, our pater was a big fan of Winnie-the-Pooh, and, therefore, so were we. No one read A.A. Milne’s stories and poems better than our father. This ability was one of his most endearing qualities.

So in honor of old A.A. Milne, maybe we should put on our Big Boots and have an adventure! But first we need some of these I guess.

Side note: It has been raining cats and dogs here for days on end. Big Boots have been on my mind.

3 Comments

October 1, 2014

Way Back When Wednesday

by chuckofish

On this date back in 1942 the first twelve titles of the Little Golden Books series were published. You remember. These were the books your mother used to buy for you in the grocery store when you were a good child and deserved a treat. The books, which initially sold for 25¢ (rising to 29¢ in 1962 and currently $3.99), were published by Simon and Schuster.

Many of the best children’s writers and illustrators have worked on the series, including several of my personal favorites:

Mary Blair,

Margaret Wise Brown and Alice and Martin Provensen,

Garth Williams,

and, of course, Richard Scarry.

You will be happy to know that now there are Little Golden Book apps for children: “Now the Little Golden Book that you loved as a child can be shared with a whole new generation in this magically interactive storybook app. Open the cover, complete with its distinctive gold spine, to reveal the timeless story, beautifully rendered with interactive illustrations on every page, and activities that encourage reading comprehension and creativity.”

“Magically interactive”! Oh brother. Just what every 3-year old needs for his/her iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch! Gone I suppose is the magically interactive time you spent with your mother or father while you were read these books.

I know I am an old curmudgeon, but this concerns me. And I have to say, it’s sad that there is no name plate on an app where you can make that first attempt at proudly writing your own name on your own book.