01/12/10

Works in progress

01/10/10

I can not move into the new year comfortably until I have organized and archived the year I have just finished. This is usually a pretty simple process, but the end of a decade is different than the end of a mere 12 months. It has been 10 years since I left Alaska. Seems like just yesterday. It has been 7 years since my Mother left this life. The longest 7 years of my life.

My mind went back, evaluating loss, accomplishment, relationships and personal growth. It has been a positive decade for me. I have heard from some folks that are glad to bid good riddance to the 0s. Most likely, spurred by 911, war and the economy. Along with those happy things, I experienced the deaths of at least a dozen people that I love including my mother. I concede that the last 10 years have not been easy. Quite to the contrary, but I feel that I have done my best with this time and have come into the new decade a stronger, smarter, empowered person.

 Recently, I have reconnected with some folks I have not seen or heard from in over 20 years. I am sure that is no surprise to anyone reading this. Facebook, Myspace and the like make that pretty easy. In catching up with old friends I have collected some links to the past in the form of photographs.

This photo was taken by Warren "Butch" Jackson in January 1987 on my porch in Little 5 Points. What a blast from the past! I remember him waking me that cold morning. I am still wearing my jammies!

He took this photo of Mary Alexander around the same time. This is one of my favorites. This is so MARY!

You can see some of his more recent works if you click here.

Thank you for sharing these pictures Warren! They sure did take me back!

The other day, I was chatting with Kevin Haller on Facebook. We were talking about our long lost friend Dave Losi. Both of us consulting the great search gods, he came up with a link to some photos posted by James Burns.

Kevin and I had both worked at the old Binders store, like most of our friends, so we were excited to see these photos of our friends and our old work place. Jim gave me his permission to post the link to those pictures. Thanks Jim!

If you live in Atlanta you probably have heard of James Burns. He is the creator of the weekly comic strip Grumbles published in Atlanta’s Sunday Paper.

01/01/10

With the beginning of this new decade, I have decided to explore writing in earnest. I have been a personal journalist since I was a young girl. I burned some of my diaries when I was 15, because my brother read them and they became a play book for adolescent torment, in typical “Brady Bunch” fashion. I wish that I still had them, although I am sure I would find them painful to read. It was not until later that I realized that the damage was already done and destroying the evidence was not necessary. I am much less sensitive in my old age.

I have been told many stories. My grandmothers’, parent’s and other family and friend’s memories have deeply affected my life through the understanding of their lives through their experiences. Family history needs to be recorded or it is lost forever. As these people leave this life they take with them a part of our history. I strain my memory to recall the stories exactly the way they told them. When I was a child I would ask, “Tell me again, about the day I was born? How did you get that scar? What was it like to grow up during the depression”? I can not ask those questions anymore. I wish I was listening more carefully when I had the chance and my 50 year memory is mounting and sometimes unreliable. If I am going to do this, now is the time!

I have stories of my own, fifty years of experiences that I feel are interesting enough to recall. At the end of this decade I hope that I will learn about myself by writing down my recollections of years long gone. I am going to dedicate at least an hour a day to this discipline. I also intend to scan every photo in the family library I inherited.

With all of this thinking about the past, I hope that my friends and family will help remind me that I am living in today.

Periodically, I will post a story. I welcome your opinion and criticism. I am especially interested to hear from those who have heard these stories before. Please let me know where I get the facts wrong. Send me your stories! Send me your favorite recipe! What do you want everyone to remember? What do you want to pass down to your kids?

I wish you all a brilliant, productive and happy new year! I am determined to make mine just that!

I have a real treat for you!

Click on the hat to hear and download for free!

Collaboration: Music KVpop, Words Tom Ferguson, Editing/Remix Killer Haven

The musical compositions of  KVpop combined with the words of painter and political cartoonist Tom Ferguson.

Featuring Priscilla Smith on track #10 "Farewell"