Days 10-13

[bironic]

10. College

Thanksgiving break, freshman year, one or two days after I'd started going out with my boyfriend L. A bunch of us—all guys in that group besides me—were hanging out at a mutual friend from high school's house, in the basement. It smelled thickly of dog. It was so late it was early. I was really tired. I was sitting next to L. on a stool or a wooden chair, and the host's dog came downstairs, a golden retriever or something, and started sniffing around, as dogs do. I was trying to push its nose out of an impolite place when L. reached over to help more firmly and said to the dog, "Hey, stop that. That's my job now." I'm sure I went beet red, but I don't think anyone else heard.


11. Pre-school

One of the few non-school memories I have of that era (age 3-4) is of watching Charlton Heston's The Ten Commandments. It took a while, although I didn't mind; we may have watched it over a couple of afternoons. I think my mom once told me we watched it when I was home sick, though, so I'm not sure. I remember bits and pieces of it: dark red sky, smearing the lamb's blood on the doors, finding baby Moses in the reed basket, the whirling storm and parting sea, the chariots and Egyptians drowning, the dirt and loose clothes and sandals and beards and the women's long hair.


12. & 13. Elementary School

My friends E. and K. and I traded religious holidays a few times, like exchange students. They came over once for Hanukkah and maybe for Passover, and I spent a Christmas and an Easter at each. The unevenness of the swaps -- that, looking back now, I feel that I was more condescended to when I visited them, as if there were some element of Educating The Poor Ignorant Minority, and more of an odd curiosity when they visited me, whereas we simply explained and shared -- is a subject for another time.

The Easter I spent with E. was at her aunt and uncle's house somewhere out on the island. I remember:

- When her mom picked me up in the car, E. brought me a small Easter basket (it had a Reese's peanut butter egg) and a candy cane. *squints* I think there was a candy cane. If not, it was at Christmas. But I seem to remember that she explained the significance of the red, green and white stripes of the candy cane in the car on the way.

- E. and her mom telling me the basics of the story of Easter on the ride over: death and miraculous resurrection.

- At the house, there were jelly beans and Jordan almonds and little malted eggs. I loved the malted eggs and kept stealing them from the candy dish. There must have been relatives asking me questions, too, but I don't remember that much.

- There were little playground sets in the backyard, and we played there for the afternoon with E.'s cousins, who I think were younger. There was something unusual that they had, something other than a swing set or slide, but I can't remember what, exactly; not a bouncy castle—that's an SGA story I mixed up with this memory when I read it—but something maybe by Fisher Price.

- We had ham. I'd never had ham before, hadn't even seen a thick cooked ham, only the tissue-thin deli slices my dad would eat with Swiss cheese on his bagels.


What I remember of the Easter at K.'s:

- We went to the midnight Mass at her church (Lutheran). (Was that Easter? Is midnight Mass a Christmas thing I'm mixing up with this?) Before we left, so late at night, we were listening to the radio, some top 40-type station she liked; Desiree's big hit of the day was on.

- We brought Snapples with us; in the car, K. showed me a trick where you hit the bottom of the bottle with the heel of your hand so the cap wouldn't pop when you opened it for the first time and disrupt the service.

- Bits and pieces of the service, all mixed up with when we went at Christmas (if I'm not confusing these two and we didn't go at Easter at all) and when K. was confirmed. Latin, high walls, a choir, a sermon, a collection basket, people going up for communion, being interested and a little uncomfortable but mostly interested, and I wasn't sure whether I should mouth along to the songs and readings or sit/stand and observe.

- In the morning, K.'s mom gave us each an Easter basket. I don't remember what was in it (candy mostly, and K. got some small gifts, maybe a stuffed animal) other than lots and lots of plastic grass, which we kept finding in our basement years later.

 

Comments

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

*coughs at your first memory* oh dear. :-D
College:
I took a film theory class first year (my first college major (of quite a few) was film, and I still love it) and saw an amazing number of movies, most of which I hadn't seen before. One that sticks out was an old melodrama called 'Tol'able David' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tol'able_David) which was apparently a box office smash (in 1921). The MAJOR PLOT POINT was that he wanted to learn to drive the MILK WAGON. 99 minutes of my life I'll never get back, I swear to god.
Pre-school:
I remember hiding in the bottom of our family's linen closet (I'm honestly not sure why, but it seemed terribly important at the time.) And my mother watching General Hospital and Days of Our Lives, with the old-style beginning: "Like sands through the hourglass ..."
Elementary school: (holiday specific)
When I was nine I cried for hours because I'd just realized that OMG my family was eating an ACTUAL BIRD that used to be ALIVE. (I have no idea why I hadn't made that leap previous to that point.)
When I was eight I spent ... some holiday or another - I actually forget which one - in a double leg cast due to an orthopedic operation I'd had that year. I remember watching television, hearing the word 'telemarketing', not knowing what it meant and writing it on the thigh portion of one of my casts with a marker. This bewildered the hell out of my family, and to this day I have no idea why I did it.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's fabulous. They're all fabulous. The bird one too -- reminds me of Charlotte's Web, actually, when the girl won't let her father kill the pig to eat it. (Are you a vegetarian? Did that epiphany turn you away from meat forever?)

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

Easter is usually sunrise services, for metaphoric reasons (resurrection, etc.), whereas Christmas is midnight services, but you can mix and match, depending on the individual parish.

I've been to one seder, and it was cool. I didn't feel left out at all, even though I'm really an atheist.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ah, I must be mixing up Christmas and Easter, then. But the basket was definitely Easter. :)

How did you end up at a seder? I am curious.

I've found ways over the years to integrate my own atheism with religious occasions; viewing God as a metaphor, and comparing my own faith that there isn't a higher being (rather than the perhaps more rational agnosticism) with others' faith that there is, and things like that.

I was just speaking of you! An episode of Michael Palin's New Europe was on the Travel Channel; he was visiting Serbia at the end, and under the end credits/narration was a group of people on a back patio playing gorgeous folk music, with a clarinet, violin-or-something, accordion and tambourine. They were only missing the dancers.

[mer-duff.livejournal.com]

10 – Guys being crude

One day a few years back, I was watching one of our men’s teams play [field] hockey. Afterwards, we went into the change rooms to drink beer. I was the only woman there, which they normally overlooked (“You’re a bloke,” my friend S said to me once. “No you’re not. Well, yes you are.”), but I guess it was situational.

On this occasion, one of the guys, A, was having a shower. My friend M dared me to walk in on A. I refused, so he said he’d give me a dollar if I did (this may as well have been grade school). I refused again, so he asked how much it would take. Like an idiot, I said $5. Of course my friend K pulls out his wallet and slaps a $5 bill on the bench next to me. I immediately try to backtrack and give him the money back, but the next thing I know, M and one of the other guys have lifted me off the bench and carried me into the shower room. I escaped as quickly as I could, and when I re-emerged, K asked what I saw. “Nothing,” I replied. “His gut was hanging too low.” I never did get the $5.

11 – Classic movie

“One of the times I nearly blinded myself…”

I think it was probably the time I turned my swim goggles inside out and snapped them into my eyes, but whichever incident it was (and there were several), I had both eyes bandaged for a day or so. The first night I was a little freaked out over being temporarily blind, but what I remember most is having oxtail soup for dinner and “watching” The Wizard of Oz on TV. I still associate both the soup and the movie with not being able to see.

12 – Easter

My cousin P, who is more than 20 years younger than me, was always super-bright, but more than a little dreamy and wonderfully gullible. One time when I was visiting – he must have been 5 or 6 – we were out for a walk and he expressed some concerns about the existence of the Easter Bunny. Apparently, he’d noticed a distinct similarity between the presents in his Easter basket and the contents of his mother’s shopping cart the day before. I pointed out to him that unlike Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny didn’t have a sweatshop full of elves making presents for kids, so he had to have a little help from mothers. EB sent out the orders and the mothers filled them for their children. That seemed to reassure him for another year!

13 – Church

I don’t remember a lot about my church-going days (United Church of Canada) until I was old enough for youth group, which mainly consisted of sitting in a circle singing folk songs – I always requested “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” because it ate away a lot of time. I have vague memories of singing in the choir, and Christmas pageants, and walking down the aisle carrying a candle. And I remember putting my change in the collection plate and working out which hymns were scheduled by looking at the numbers posted. But I think my early church years were mainly defined by how much I hated having to wear a dress. My father, who I believe was the parental figure that insisted we go to church, never went himself, though he’s now active in the Anglican Church. I questioned him once about that and apparently it was my Nana’s choice – the United Church had more social cachet at the time.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

I love you for the Easter one. That is so cute.

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

That easter bunny memory is ADORABLE. :-D Quick thinking.
... ONE OF the times you nearly blinded yourself? *wraps you up in large amount of gauze*

[thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com]

My flatmate D dared me to eat a dollar bill. Well, he probably didn't dare me, but definitely said something that had that ultimate effect. He forgets at times that I'm the rare person who is unintimidated by his mannerisms, and that I like to be literal. Anyhow, a bet was made, a dollar bill was provided, and we made a dollar bill salad. ...Do you know exactly how well the US mint does their job? Those things are indestructible (not to mention indigestible). We created a tasty salad dressing on the way, though, so it wasn't a total loss.

After I was done he looked a little shaken, then grinned and handed me a ten dollar bill, asaying, "This should feed you for a week, then."

[bironic.livejournal.com]

10. It's all good until they suddenly remember you're female.... Heh. Was it true what you said about the guy's belly, or was that a spur-of-the-moment excuse for not having looked?

11. “One of the times I nearly blinded myself…” I was wondering if & when that would make a reappearance. :) It's so strange and interesting (well, at least to me!) the associations we end up with while growing up.

12. What everybody else said. Awesomeness. A very clever kid, and a very clever (and quick!) answer.

13. Interesting. And I'm jealous that you got to sing "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in groups. Nobody here under the age of like 50 even knows it. (It's in my Norton Anthology of Poetry from freshman year of college, though, which I thought was very cool.)

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Hee! Love the first memory. And... you could drink Snapples during the service as long as you didn't pop them? Oooookay. Are Jordan almonds the sugared ones?

As I think I've told you, most people I knew growing up was at least nominally Christian, so I've gone to a lot of services over the years. I generally follow along with whatever you have to do, but always get the feeling I'm missing some crucial point to the whole thing.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Mm. I get that too -- an emotional lack, a not-getting-caught-up, an intellectual understanding of what others are getting out of it, but not experiencing it for myself. For temple and church services both, although at temple I know much better what's going on.

Jordan almonds AFAIK are the pastel candy-coated, chocolate-covered almonds. Like so (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=jordan+almonds&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2).

It does seem weird that we could bring Snapples, doesn't it? I guess it was the kids' equivalent of bringing a bottle of water in case you get thirsty during the service? Or rules were lax at midnight Mass? Or... something?

[recrudescence.livejournal.com]

*fumbles for Moses icon* I'm listening to Yael Naim's "Pachad" right now, appropriately.

I also remember random bits of TTC--the old dude standing up in the mud and going "you rot our bodies" always stood out in my head as a kid. The I got older and started really appreciating things, like how horrible the wigs were.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Heh. And most of the acting, I'd guess. I caught some of it on TV a few years ago, but I really haven't seen it since pre-school. Or maybe summer camp on a rainy day? Would they have shown that at a non-denominational summer camp?

Yael Naim's "Pachad"

I am not familiar. Song? Pretty?

[thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com]

"Hey, stop that. That's my job now."

*snerk* A comment like that is frankly par for the course among most of my friends. In exchange for laughing, I'll offer you a memory I still wince at:

I was a sullen child, smart and unnecessarily cynical, and prone to acting out in quiet ways. In retrospect, I think the sullenness was a reaction against my suspicion that I really was a goodie two shoes. I was always bored by Sunday Mass and unimpressed with religion (sort of like Santa Claus -- "You don't mean people actually believe that? I thought everyone understood it as an enjoyable fiction."). I made it through First Communion without causing too much trouble (to my delight my mother even brought me a veil for that event, protesting all the way). One Sunday some time after that I found myself at church in a particularly bad mood, having fought with my father all the way there. I fumed through the sermon and songs, and when it came time for Communion, instead of swallowing the wafer, I kept it in my hand. And crushed it. My father was understandably furious, and it probably wasn't long after that that he gave up on taking me to Mass. I was probably the last one -- my mother rarely came, her religion being not Catholicism but self-imposed work deadlines, and you really can't take my brother places (except when you can, confusingly). In later years, I've tried to attend Mass with my father on occasion (I need to remember this Easter), because it really does sadden him that he's raised heathen children. The music is nice, after all, and the architecture. On holidays, the vestments as well. (It's another story, but I've done a lot of crawling about among vestments, and there really are a variety of different ones, and they really are pretty.)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ooh. That's a powerful one. I know you've said you acted out at Sunday school and the like, but it seems it wasn't all funny.

I don't mind at all that you laughed, BTW. I'm usually fine with raunchy comments; it's just that in that case, it was about me.

10. Crude boys!

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

When I was in high school we had this stupid setup for the after-school sports program where boys' teams used the middle school gym locker rooms and girls' teams used the high school gym locker rooms to change. The home team used the "proper" gender's locker room and the away team used the other. So our boys used the middle school boys' locker room while the boys from the other school used the middle school girls' locker room, and our girls used the high school girls' locker room while the girls from the other school used the high school boys' locker room. Amazingly enough, this didn't cause as many issues as one might imagine.

Once, though, I was in the middle school gym, setting up all my charts and papers (I was always the statistician/score keeper/line judge/team manager/whateverthefucktheyneededmetobe for one team or another every season) before a girls' volleyball game in the middle school gym and I really needed to pee. Seriously, if I didn't get to the bathroom RIGHT THAT MOMENT the janitor was going to hate me and I was going to smell funny. I didn't think I'd be able to make it to the high school locker room in time and the boys from the other school hadn't arrived yet, so I made a mad dash across the court to the middle school girls' locker room. I hurried up and did my business and I thought I was safe; I was reaching to flush when I heard the locker room door bang open and a bunch of male voices filled the room. Oh. No.

I stayed where I was, hoping they'd hurry the hell up and get out onto the field (it was a football team, as I recall). Alas, they were taking their goddamn time, which I couldn't do because I had scores and statistics to record and my game was starting soon. I waited for about ten minutes, listening to them making crude comments about the way the locker room smelled and various other things about girls. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I flushed to let them know I was there (which made them all fall silent because they knew none of them were in the stall) called out, "Cover up anything you don't want seen, ladies!" and flung open the door. I didn't look around, just held my head up and marched through this group of half-dressed (and I assume open-mouthed) boys and out into the gym.

Not a single one of them met my eyes when they eventually left the locker room. :D XD

Re: 10. Crude boys!

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

OMG. I didn't think ANYTHING could strike fear into high school boys. :-D

Re: 10. Crude boys!

[thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com]

Not a single one of them met my eyes when they eventually left the locker room.

Win!

Re: 10. Crude boys!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Brilliant. Calling them ladies so matter-of-factly just makes it perfect.

[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

First (in honor of Fraggle Rock and Farscape being released for download on iTunes *SQUEEE!!!*):

When I was in. . . oh, I'd say 4 grade, maybe early 5th, We took care of my Great Grandmother at her house. Since at that point in time we didn't have TV at our own house, after dark (and sometimes before) we would sit in a row in front of the TV and watch Farscape on her little TV. The floor was hard and a dark brown wood, and the walls in the Living room were painted a pastel pink.

Not too long after that, at most a year, my great grandmother's Alzheimer's had progressed to the point that even full time in home care wasn't possible, so we moved her into the nursing home, and several years later she died. Right now, that house (which I will always love and that my great grand Father built) is being sold to the neighbors who will be leveling the entire structure (and quite possibly the garage) so that he has a bigger driveway. I'm livid, and I honestly wish I could have saved that house. However, the water main had broken and so buying it for myself or to rent out would have been impossible for me, even with a small loan. Hell, without the water main, I could have paid mortgage and taxes and utilities on a disability check alone, and that's without the option of renting out the downstairs room with joint use of the bathroom and kitchen room or even just getting a flat out room mate. arg arg arg.

2. Growing up, we went to a lot of different churches. For a while in Washington we went to a Dutch Reform church, and I remember that one time Rick was driving us there. I remember wearing a pastel dress, and how Rick joked that it was a recycled church when we asked what reformed meant.

3. Not long after that, We went to a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall. I remember that every Thursday, us kids were tucked in early while my mother and Rick had individual bible study with an Elder that came over. At the time, I had no idea what was what dogmatically, but JW's never felt right to me and that's what mattered. Years later, after moving back to PA, I would fall asleep in the back room during Wednesday service, bored out of my mind. Eventually this annoyed somebody, and they started a rumor that I was robbing everyone for candy, and that I was switching everybody's keys. I remember being heart broken, because weren't you supposed to trust your fellows not to bare false witness against you? If so, then why were these people saying these things? I learned later that a couple of the older kids had switched out people's keys and decided not to speak up when I was accused. In any case, we left there, and to this day my mother hides when JW's come to the door.

[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

. . . and I skipped the first one. *headdesk*

When I was in . . 7th grade, I think, We would stay at my "Aunt" Kris's house, and instead of hanging out with her daughter like my sister, I hung out with her son and my brother and geeked out about video games. At one point, Mike asked me to draw Lara Croft Naked for him.

It hung on his wall for the next 3 years. XD

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Fraggle Rock! Now there's an opening theme that takes me straight back to early childhood. Oh, man.

1. I'm sorry to hear about your great-grandmother and the house, too. In your memories, at least, it'll live on in perfection, free of water main breaks.

2. That's great. Heh.

3. That's not great at all. Jerks. And shame on the adults for taking them at their word.

4. Tsk, tsk. :)

11, 12, 13!

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

11 - very early film/TV memories

Does anyone else remember The Wuzzles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wuzzles)? I can't possibly remember it from its original run... I was only a year and a half old. But I do remember watching it all the time when I was little. Maybe we had it taped? I have no idea. And I know I had a bunch of the books because I remember all the extra characters listed in the Wikipedia entry. Anyway, yes. Wuzzles. I remember watching and being delighted by the fact that they were two things at once. They fascinated me just like werewolves and griffins and centaurs and all that cool two-in-one stuff.



12 - Easter

The longest grudge I ever held was against my first dog, Buddha. I couldn't have been more than five or so on the Easter in question. When we went to my grandparents' house for dinner, I left my Easter basket on the floor in the living room. It should have been just fine there but Buddha, despite being a miniature dachshund, managed to get past the gate in the living room/kitchen doorway. When we got home from dinner all of my Cadbury creme eggs were gone. I was devastated, as they were my favorite and I wasn't usually allowed to have them. I ignored the dog for probably two weeks. She lived for about another ten years and I never totally forgave her. As a matter of fact, I still feel a little bitter just thinking about it now. XDDD



13 - holiday church services

My cousin and I, both religious in our own ways which do not include congregating like sheep and monotonously intoning responses and prayers with a bunch of other robots, always really resented being dragged away from our computers to attend midnight mass at Christmas. Instead of sitting there and scowling, though, we'd find ways to entertain ourselves. He was especially good at hunting down bits of scripture that were hilariously lewd when taken out of context (lulz and some that were rather lewd even in context). My favorite was the first year after we heard Cartman's version of O Holy Night on South Park, though. We sang those lyrics (http://www.lyrics007.com/South%20Park%20Lyrics/O%20Holy%20Night%20Lyrics.html) instead of the real ones. "Jesus was born and so I get presents. Thank you, Jesus, for being born."

Re: 11, 12, 13!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

11. Hm. I don't remember The Wuzzles except for the name. I do remember the Mr. Men (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Men) books with characters who were various faces and colors.

12. Tragedy! Cadbury Eggs are precious treasure! Bad dog.

13. *facepalm* At least you weren't singing about Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo.

[roga.livejournal.com]

11. The first time I ever saw The Ten Commandments was in the US, when it aired on TV in Passover. I loved it so much - more than the movie itself, I loved the fact that it aired on Passover. I felt like the Americans cared that I was being 100% embraced as a Jew in the US, that there are more like us out there, enough to matter. I only got a chance to listen to see it for two years, and haven't seen it more than once maybe since, but just thinking about the movie still leaves me with a warm feeling.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I felt like the Americans cared that I was being 100% embraced as a Jew in the US, that there are more like us out there, enough to matter.

That sounds like a wonderful realization. I feel very lucky now to have grown up where I did, in a town with a fairly high Jewish population near a city with the highest Jewish population in the country, maybe the highest outside of Israel. I've always felt the minority status, but I've also always felt accepted.