Tag: requiem

RIP seven day Oregonian.

At some point during the Kenton Library Book Group, David, our book group leader, offered us free bookmarks he had received.  They were promoting the 2011 Jane Eyre movie and had a  picture of Mia Wasikowska and a pretty blue tassel.  Sentinel pulled off the tassel right away, but I started marking my reading goals on my bookmark and just kept using it.
 

As you can see, this carried on for quite some time.
 

Here’s Mia’s profile peeking out from a reading goal.

I’m taking a three-month hiatus from book group because a writing class conflicts with the time.  I’ll be back in August, and I’ll find a new bookmark to keep track of my progress.  This is a good time to let this bookmark move on.

This is not a picture of my trusty Fox 40 classic which I have owned since the summer of 1994.  There is no picture of that beloved whistle because after years of service, I lost it.  This is the replacement.  The original was black.  In 1994 I think they only came in black, unlike today when everyone can get their favorite color.  I bought the whistle the summer I was a lifeguard at Wild Waters, which was an awful place to be a lifeguard.  We rotated from station to station all day long, spending 7.5 hours per day standing in the sun.  If I had gotten a job at a public pool I would have been outside for an hour at a time, maximum.  If I ever develop skin cancer, I will blame Wild Waters.

When guarding the water slides we had to indicate when children could go, by motioning them forward as we watched to ensure the person in front of them was far enough along that they wouldn’t collide. Because of that,  “Can I go yet?” is permanently in my book as the stupidest question ever.  “If you could go yet, I would have motioned you forward.” I told more than one child in an exasperated voice after hearing the question for the fiftieth time that day.

I bought the Fox 40 Classic because the regular old whistle I was issued did not stand up to the rigors that is guarding at a water park.  Watching the pool portion was the worst as it was a frothing mass of unsupervised children, many of whom didn’t hear me when I whistled at them to stop whatever rule-breaking activity they were doing.  I learned quickly that if you blow a normal whistle too hard it makes a very wimpy “cccaaaa” noise that inspires laughter from the few that can hear it, while the hoodlums I was whistling at carried on with their rule breaking ways.

The Fox 40 Classic, one of my fellow lifeguards told me, never does that because there is no ball in the whistle.  The air travels through chambers.  It’s pretty darn loud too.  I ponied up the then-exorbitant fee of $5.95 for my own and, wow.  That whistle gets attention.

There was only one summer of life guarding for me, but I kept the whistle around.  When I started working at an elementary school and added “recess monitor” to my duties, I pulled out my trusty Fox 40 classic.  It’s been causing children to cover their ears when I blow it at recess for over six years and it deserved more than to be lost somewhere between the playground and one of the K/1 classrooms.  But that’s what it got.  Sorry trusty friend.  

I worked for Bread and Circus Whole Foods Market for a few years at the turn of the century.  Every once in awhile, the managers would roll around a cart full of t-shirt or sweatshirts and every employee would get one.  It was a nice perk.  I’ve been wearing this one for a good ten years now, much longer than I ever worked for the company.  I’ve held on to it because it’s easy to throw on over anything, and, it’s a reminder of my time at the Fresh Pond Bread and Circus.  The color has faded a bit, but it was always a weird shade of blue.  I suspect they may have gotten a discount on a bad dye lot.  There are bleach stains and oil stains and paint from projects and at least one hole.  The neck is frayed and the sweatshirt just keeps on trucking.
 

Today is its last day, though.
 

I’ll save the logos, and say goodbye to the rest.
 

I was in the observation phase of my graduate degree in education.  This meant I took the train and bus an hour each way to Aloha High School and wandered between several Social Studies classes for an entire day, never really feeling like I should be anywhere.  The Social Studies teachers (all coaches, fulfilling my history teacher stereotype*) hung out in a shared office–no one seemed to venture into the staff room.

Due to the lack of access to drinking fountains and running water, I quickly became dehydrated.  My solution?  Buy two Nalgene bottles, fill them in the morning at home and drag them with me every day.

But then the whole BPA thing came about.  I’m pretty sure these are old enough to be BPA bottles, but I can’t tell because the symbol on the bottom has rubbed off.  So I finally got a new fancy glass water bottle and am retiring this one.  Matt has just adopted it for rolling out his foot.  The second water bottle I still use at school. I’ll look to replacing that one soon.

*Why are US residents so incredibly ignorant of their own country’s history?  Because a lot of people hated history in high school.  Every time I encounter someone who professes such hatred I ask them if their history teacher was a coach.  There is always an amazed pause and they say, “How did you know that?”  I know that because a lot of high schools fill their social studies positions with coaches.  In fact, sometimes they advertise them this way.  I couldn’t apply for a Social Studies position in the David Douglas school district because I could not also coach boys’ JV basketball.  Hiring this way ensures all the coaching positions are filled, but are the best Social Studies teachers being hired?  I think we have evidence that in most cases they are not.

This hairbrush was a present in either high school or early college.  My friend Sara had a brush like it and I loved how good it felt on my scalp.  Before this brush I had been using a tight-bristled brush with a blue handle that came from Avon.  Except for periods of short hair, I’ve used this brush daily for a very long time.

But it’s a bit worse for wear.  In college, I tried to use it as a hammer and discovered that wood, when pounded on a steel dowel, yields to the steel dowel and you get splinters.  The side you can’t see has been ragged for 16 years now.  It’s also losing bristles slowly but surely.  They fly off at random moments during the morning brush and Sentinel goes after them followed quickly by me, so he can’t attempt to swallow them.

Getting rid of things like this is very hard for me to do.  Despite its ragged appearance and decades of hair oil buildup on the bristles, this brush still works, so I feel like I’m casting away a slightly crippled child.  On top of that, I can’t donate it, because who wants a broken, crusty brush?  After I took this picture, I left the brush on the table for a good week or so, before taking it to the trash bin, thanking it for its service and tossing it in.  I feel guilty every time I drop another bag of garbage on it.

At Cottey College we lived in suites, a group of dorm rooms joined together by a living room, kitchen and bathroom.  At the end of the year, most suites would have Free boxes, which we wandered about taking advantage of, kind of like an early form of naked lady parties.  It was from a free box I got this sweatshirt.  I can still picture the woman who owned it previously, she was tall and blond in that reassuring Nordic way.  I wore the bajeesus out of this sweatshirt and then tried to make it last a bit longer by practicing some needlepoint on the frayed edges.  This was a great companion.

Interesting coincidence.  Cottey College is located in Missouri and when I was living in Somerville, Massachusetts, my downstairs neighbor saw me with this shirt and excitedly queried me as to where I got it. It turns out that he went to the very same Curtis High School as the original owner of this sweatshirt, though he didn’t know her.
 

I call this my wedding dress as it has made appearances at many weddings.  I bought it for Teresa’s wedding   in the late 90s, but that was just the first of many.  I love that it’s red, form-fitting and has an interesting pattern.
 

But what I really love is the back detail with the fabulous crisscross straps.  Many other people love this detail too and have told me so.  Goodbye beautiful wedding dress.
 

This was a great tank top which I bought at the Junior League Thrift Shop soon after I came to Portland, when that Thrift Shop was located downtown.  It moved (there’s now a vitamin store where it used to be) and eventually closed, much to my horror as it reliably had good stuff.  There was a mattress store occupying the space, but I think that’s turned over too.  I loved the stripy nature of this tank top, but I think my advancing age means I can no longer go without a bra.  And I don’t care to invest in a strapless bra just for one shirt.
 

I was 18 and off to college.  My family dropped me off at my school, but before they did we stopped to visit Aunt Fran and Uncle Stacy.  At some point in the visit, Aunt Fran offered me this jewelery box.  “I thought you might want to have some place to put your jewelry,” she told me.  I hadn’t thought of that, and I didn’t really have much jewelry, but I liked the idea and happily accepted.
 

It’s been a good jewelry box and served me well. Now it’s time for someone else to use it.
 

I can’t remember when I bought this mirror, but it was pretty significant for a stage of my life.  It might have been the stage with roommates, when you can’t spent forever in the bathroom, so some of the grooming migrates to your room.  It’s a great mirror, with standard and magnifying options.
 

I find it strange how I get attached to the oddest things.  I’ve had this bag from the Gap for over ten years.  I can even remember the two pair of jeans that the bag transported home for me.  For years, this bag has held a leotard, tights and ballet slippers.  I’ve decided to let all of the objects go.  Thanks Gap bag, for being a plastic bag in my drawer for so many years.
 

A coworker at Bread and Circus gave this to me for my birthday one year.  At the time, I was wearing army pants with inserts of plaid down the side seams (it was the late 90s.) She thought this shirt would go nicely with those pants.  I disagreed (too much army in one place for an unenlisted person) but I wore the heck out of this shirt. It’s pretty threadbare.  I also used to often wear it without a bra.  (See above about late 90s)
 

When I lived in Somerville, a thrift store opened and I found this shirt there.  I loved it because the 1984 games were the first Olympics I remembered.  I probably would have had memories of the 1980 games, but there was that pesky boycott.  I think the thrift store was supporting a charity that turned out not to be so charitable and that’s why I can’t find the thrift store in the quick internet search I did.  I used to exercise in this, pairing it with men’s boxer briefs.  Again, it was the late 90s.
 

I believe this was my first eBay purchase.  At the time, I was really interested in bicycle touring and I bought this shirt for something like $4.00.  It was a great deal and a great biking shirt.  However, I haven’t worn it in years.  So it’s off to the Goodwill to make someone else happy.  Knowing the Goodwill’s pricing structure, the happy recipient will most likely pay more than $4.00.