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adrift in time
Thursday, February 13th, 2025 11:40 pmI haven't bought wall calendars the last few years, from lack of finding ones I particularly like, and/or lack of time to seek them out. Instead, I've printed out monthly calendar pages from timeanddate.com, and attached them to old wall calendars with paper clips. It lets me revisit pretty calendar images from prior years.
I have a box of scrap paper where I put papers that are blank on one side. December's calendar page was printed out on the other side of a flyer I made back in... 2009... when I found puppy Zorro in my yard. "Found a little lost puppy [ phone number ] FOUND PUPPY".
It may be the last of those flyers I've finally used up. I'm not sure. I sort of want to use them up, not to get this sad strange feeling every time I see one of them.
It is surreal, Zorro having shown up in my yard, been a puppy, grown up, lived a full life, died, so many years, and me still having these flyers in perfect condition... as if it was just the other day.
I have a box of scrap paper where I put papers that are blank on one side. December's calendar page was printed out on the other side of a flyer I made back in... 2009... when I found puppy Zorro in my yard. "Found a little lost puppy [ phone number ] FOUND PUPPY".
It may be the last of those flyers I've finally used up. I'm not sure. I sort of want to use them up, not to get this sad strange feeling every time I see one of them.
It is surreal, Zorro having shown up in my yard, been a puppy, grown up, lived a full life, died, so many years, and me still having these flyers in perfect condition... as if it was just the other day.
memories of sounds and scents
Friday, January 10th, 2025 05:17 pmI started playing the music files on my laptop in random mode, by means of my VLC script.
The first thing it played was the recording of grandma speaking about Boston. After only a couple seconds of hearing that, in my mind I could smell the sweet scent of unsmoked pipe tobacco; that was what I remember grandpa smelling like. It is funny how hearing a voice from the past can trigger the memory of a scent.
The first thing it played was the recording of grandma speaking about Boston. After only a couple seconds of hearing that, in my mind I could smell the sweet scent of unsmoked pipe tobacco; that was what I remember grandpa smelling like. It is funny how hearing a voice from the past can trigger the memory of a scent.
memories and moods
Sunday, December 31st, 2023 08:43 pmI wanted to post some of my memories of Serena here, like I did for Zorro. I wrote them on my laptop in the weeks after her death. Serena died two months ago. But I have not been in the mood to do the necessary reformatting and editing/rewording. When I try, it doesn't feel right. The words don't sound right.
So I think I will keep them unposted.
Qiao adopted a one-year-old dog from the shelter a few days ago. I did not want another pet so soon. But I don't begrudge him giving a dog a home. He named her Venus. Luckily, she isn't terrified of the sound of fireworks like Serena was.
So I think I will keep them unposted.
Qiao adopted a one-year-old dog from the shelter a few days ago. I did not want another pet so soon. But I don't begrudge him giving a dog a home. He named her Venus. Luckily, she isn't terrified of the sound of fireworks like Serena was.
clues to the past
Sunday, January 29th, 2023 07:22 pmWays I currently have of checking the details of things in my past, when my memory does not suffice:
The notes I've written down in my "daily notes" file, about the things I do each day.
The notes I've written down in various other more specific files, like computer notes, etc.
The DW posts and comments I've written.
The emails and texts I've sent and received.
The photos I've taken.
The receipts from shopping in person (these may be photos, scanned PDFs, or text emails).
The spreadsheet detailing where/when I've gone shopping and what I've purchased (includes online purchases) along with the total prices.
My checkbook registers, bank and credit card statements (for purchases/payments/etc).
The call history on my phones.
My browser history.
Things I've written on calendars.
The daily notes I write down as part of my work.
[ probably various other things too ]
The notes I've written down in my "daily notes" file, about the things I do each day.
The notes I've written down in various other more specific files, like computer notes, etc.
The DW posts and comments I've written.
The emails and texts I've sent and received.
The photos I've taken.
The receipts from shopping in person (these may be photos, scanned PDFs, or text emails).
The spreadsheet detailing where/when I've gone shopping and what I've purchased (includes online purchases) along with the total prices.
My checkbook registers, bank and credit card statements (for purchases/payments/etc).
The call history on my phones.
My browser history.
Things I've written on calendars.
The daily notes I write down as part of my work.
[ probably various other things too ]
up in the dark
Monday, November 28th, 2022 01:19 amI've discovered that heights bother me less at night / when it is dark. Today I cleared pine straw off the roof, using an extensible pole with a rake-like attachment while standing on a ladder leaned against the roof. The sun set before I was done, so I continued while wearing a headlamp (yay LED bulbs which can shine bright for hours without using the batteries up).
Usually doing the side above the garage feels scary to me. But today in the dark, notwithstanding the flood lights and headlamp, it didn't bother me. Doing this task after dark has another benefit - not having the sun glare in my eyes.
.
It reminds me of an amusement park ride I was on as a child. I'm not sure, but it must have been Space Mountain at Disneyland. It was like a roller coaster, but indoors and in the dark. Normal roller coasters terrify me due to my fear of heights. But this ride didn't bother me and was fun.
Usually doing the side above the garage feels scary to me. But today in the dark, notwithstanding the flood lights and headlamp, it didn't bother me. Doing this task after dark has another benefit - not having the sun glare in my eyes.
.
It reminds me of an amusement park ride I was on as a child. I'm not sure, but it must have been Space Mountain at Disneyland. It was like a roller coaster, but indoors and in the dark. Normal roller coasters terrify me due to my fear of heights. But this ride didn't bother me and was fun.
daily notes
Tuesday, July 12th, 2022 01:06 amSome days it takes SO LONG to write down notes about my day in my daily notes file, because there's so much to write. That is even without waxing poetic about anything; with hardly editing it at all, just typing what I remember in the hopes that it will make sense to me later if I ever read it again. Later on I still sometimes find that I forgot to include some important things.
Oh Gosh. I just remembered another important thing about yesterday to write down. It's something I plan to post about eventually, but not now.
Oh Gosh. I just remembered another important thing about yesterday to write down. It's something I plan to post about eventually, but not now.
My last working incandescent fairy lights strand. The color faded, more white than blue now. The bulbs get warm when it's plugged in. A hundred little furnaces in glass.
I still remember, about 30 years ago when I first bought them, plugging it in and draping it across my neck, lights adorning me, the warmth against my skin. Lights adorning the room. That room where I used to listen to music, dance, stare into the internet on the glowing computer monitor.
The short wave receiver, receiving signals through the air, sent from the other side of the world.
Compact disks, audio cassettes, the internet delivered over telephone lines.
The electric blue rug from that room is here in this room now.
Per my notes, the strand uses 41 Watts. That's not too bad. Do I keep it? For the physical tangible link back to my memories? Even though I've already replaced it with a strand of bluer blue LEDs?
I still remember, about 30 years ago when I first bought them, plugging it in and draping it across my neck, lights adorning me, the warmth against my skin. Lights adorning the room. That room where I used to listen to music, dance, stare into the internet on the glowing computer monitor.
The short wave receiver, receiving signals through the air, sent from the other side of the world.
Compact disks, audio cassettes, the internet delivered over telephone lines.
The electric blue rug from that room is here in this room now.
Per my notes, the strand uses 41 Watts. That's not too bad. Do I keep it? For the physical tangible link back to my memories? Even though I've already replaced it with a strand of bluer blue LEDs?
tasty memory flash, maybe
Sunday, August 30th, 2020 02:37 amI take my first taste of this:
strawberry banana
So Delicious
Dairy Free
coconutmilk
yogurt alternative
and think "It's like that Dannon!"
(re: the strawberry banana flavor)
the memory of which must be from between 1980 and 1986
and I remember again
the yogurt cups back then weren't plastic;
they were wax-coated paper
with rolled lips at the top
that you could unroll
and chew with your teeth.
I don't remember how they were sealed shut on the top.
Aluminum foil like now, or something else?
That sudden memory may even be false.
Was it really Dannon I ate back then?
Did they have this flavor?
I'm pretty sure there was a vanilla flavor I ate.
I think the vanilla came in blue containers. But maybe yellow.
Not sure I really had strawberry banana way back then,
that might be from more recently.
There's this which mentions them using paper-wax cups in the past:
http://blog.trilliumarts.com/2010/03/dannon-yogurt-cups-part-1.html
According to this photo, they did have vanilla in a blue container.
(Photo from: How Dannon Made Yogurt Mainstream in America After Starting as a Staple for Immigrants)
But I wasn't able to find out how long ago they started making strawberry-banana.
strawberry banana
So Delicious
Dairy Free
coconutmilk
yogurt alternative
and think "It's like that Dannon!"
(re: the strawberry banana flavor)
the memory of which must be from between 1980 and 1986
and I remember again
the yogurt cups back then weren't plastic;
they were wax-coated paper
with rolled lips at the top
that you could unroll
and chew with your teeth.
I don't remember how they were sealed shut on the top.
Aluminum foil like now, or something else?
That sudden memory may even be false.
Was it really Dannon I ate back then?
Did they have this flavor?
I'm pretty sure there was a vanilla flavor I ate.
I think the vanilla came in blue containers. But maybe yellow.
Not sure I really had strawberry banana way back then,
that might be from more recently.
There's this which mentions them using paper-wax cups in the past:
http://blog.trilliumarts.com/2010/03/dannon-yogurt-cups-part-1.html
According to this photo, they did have vanilla in a blue container.
(Photo from: How Dannon Made Yogurt Mainstream in America After Starting as a Staple for Immigrants)
But I wasn't able to find out how long ago they started making strawberry-banana.
disorienting darkness
Saturday, September 21st, 2019 04:44 pmBeen driving home from work in the dark after sunset. Been short on sleep, much as usual but maybe more so lately.
Yesterday I planned to stop by Home Depot on the way home, to buy some caulk. So I turned left onto a road that I drive on only occasionally, to get to the other road that the store is on. My mind was wandering, thinking about this and that. Then with a slight shock, I realized I didn't recognize where I was. In the dark, the road and environs looked totally unfamiliar. I remembered that I'd turned left on purpose... but which road was I on? Where was it going? I kept driving, disoriented. Weird, scary feeling to have a memory lapse like that. Somewhat further down the road, I started recognizing some things, and remembered where I was and why.
.
Today I looked at some photos of me from two decades ago. If these photos weren't in my own folders; if I didn't have memories of having taken them, and of having looked at them various times before, I wouldn't recognize myself in many of them. They could be photos of a stranger. Yet besides the hair, I don't look extremely different than I do now. I still have the same mouth, the same eyebrows, the same kind of nose, the same kind of skin.
It's like comparing the faces in the different photos of a clothing store advertisement, trying to decide which ones are of the same person.
.
This was the first year at work, where there was no mention at all of 9-11 on its anniversary. Not even in the corporate emails / newsletters.
18 years.
This morning I was trying to remember back then... I was at a family friend's house. I think he had 2 TVs back then in different rooms, but I couldn't even remember which TV we watched the news on. I remember the shocked feeling as I saw the first tower collapse live on the air... but not which TV I saw it happen on. For some reason, that seems strange to me as if I should remember. Instead, I remember sitting at his computer, checking message boards.
Why was I thinking about that this morning while trying to fall back asleep?
.
In recent past years after big hurricanes with lots of damage, our company did matching fund drives for the affected areas. So after Dorian, rather than donating to the Bahamas relief efforts right away, I decided to wait. But the company still hasn't sent out any indication that they're doing a matching fund drive this year.
Yesterday I planned to stop by Home Depot on the way home, to buy some caulk. So I turned left onto a road that I drive on only occasionally, to get to the other road that the store is on. My mind was wandering, thinking about this and that. Then with a slight shock, I realized I didn't recognize where I was. In the dark, the road and environs looked totally unfamiliar. I remembered that I'd turned left on purpose... but which road was I on? Where was it going? I kept driving, disoriented. Weird, scary feeling to have a memory lapse like that. Somewhat further down the road, I started recognizing some things, and remembered where I was and why.
.
Today I looked at some photos of me from two decades ago. If these photos weren't in my own folders; if I didn't have memories of having taken them, and of having looked at them various times before, I wouldn't recognize myself in many of them. They could be photos of a stranger. Yet besides the hair, I don't look extremely different than I do now. I still have the same mouth, the same eyebrows, the same kind of nose, the same kind of skin.
It's like comparing the faces in the different photos of a clothing store advertisement, trying to decide which ones are of the same person.
.
This was the first year at work, where there was no mention at all of 9-11 on its anniversary. Not even in the corporate emails / newsletters.
18 years.
This morning I was trying to remember back then... I was at a family friend's house. I think he had 2 TVs back then in different rooms, but I couldn't even remember which TV we watched the news on. I remember the shocked feeling as I saw the first tower collapse live on the air... but not which TV I saw it happen on. For some reason, that seems strange to me as if I should remember. Instead, I remember sitting at his computer, checking message boards.
Why was I thinking about that this morning while trying to fall back asleep?
.
In recent past years after big hurricanes with lots of damage, our company did matching fund drives for the affected areas. So after Dorian, rather than donating to the Bahamas relief efforts right away, I decided to wait. But the company still hasn't sent out any indication that they're doing a matching fund drive this year.
orange turpentine
Wednesday, July 3rd, 2019 04:51 pmWhew, is it hot outside. Upper 90s, but with the humidity and in the direct sun it feels like in the 100s.
Qiao hired tree cutters to take care of the fallen tree as well as another dead tree that hadn't fallen. They finished it all, including grinding the stumps and removing the debris, in under 5 hours. It's a good thing they started early when it was still overcast and not as hot.
I will need to do some more fence repair before I can let the dogs loose again. But it's too hot now; maybe this evening. Although the forecast says it will still be 90 degrees, feeling like 96, at 9pm.
My mom is going to a free outdoor concert this evening. Phew. Hot, hot, hot.
Apparently Fort Jackson doesn't do their annual 4th of July Torchlight Tattoo and Fireworks anymore*. I didn't go often... I'm not into patriotic stuff, but the cannon blasts and fireworks, and cheering for the states and territories in the union was fun. Except for the parts where I worried that the fireworks would misfire and hurt someone.
I am still doing my work-work for the day. Learning to write JUnit tests, using Mockito. I feel somewhat ambivalent about their usefulness. In my experience, they only test what you already know works, and when they break it's not usually because the code got broken, but rather because the test code or test data became outdated.
Qiao's back yard now smells like my mom's oil paints used to. Or rather, the turpentine she used to clean the paint off the brushes. I like the scent, knowing that it is only pine.
I had a small set of oil paints when I was younger. And a small bottle of orange-scented turpentine. The orange didn't mask the turpentine smell at all; it just morphed it into a different strong overpowering and astringent scent.
Oil paints didn't appeal to me much. Too long to dry. Too hard to clean. Too messy. Not very suited to my style of abstract art. Me, not talented enough to paint realistic images very well. Although one time I copy-painted a portrait of my mom and brother from two photographs, and it turned out fairly well.
Turpentine smell makes me think of the Mediterranean too.
Whaddya know: orange terpene is made from orange trees and can be used as a substitute for turpentine. But I still think that the one I had back then was orange-scented pine turpentine. One made from orange tree extracts would probably have smelled better, like one of those citrus-based cleaners.
..
*A web search shows that 2017's Torchlight Tattoo event was cancelled due to the year-long centennial celebration that finished up that year. 2018's event was cancelled due to the "Victory Week" celebration in June of that year. But nothing at all is mentioned anywhere about it this year, which seems odd to me, considering that per those pages, "The Torchlight Tattoo is typically one of the most popular July Fourth events in the Midlands. Before last year, Fort Jackson hosted July Fourth celebrations each year in recent memory".
Per a family friend, Fort Jackson is not doing the July event at all anymore, instead having fireworks as part of their annual June celebration, the aforementioned "Victory Week".
Qiao hired tree cutters to take care of the fallen tree as well as another dead tree that hadn't fallen. They finished it all, including grinding the stumps and removing the debris, in under 5 hours. It's a good thing they started early when it was still overcast and not as hot.
I will need to do some more fence repair before I can let the dogs loose again. But it's too hot now; maybe this evening. Although the forecast says it will still be 90 degrees, feeling like 96, at 9pm.
My mom is going to a free outdoor concert this evening. Phew. Hot, hot, hot.
Apparently Fort Jackson doesn't do their annual 4th of July Torchlight Tattoo and Fireworks anymore*. I didn't go often... I'm not into patriotic stuff, but the cannon blasts and fireworks, and cheering for the states and territories in the union was fun. Except for the parts where I worried that the fireworks would misfire and hurt someone.
I am still doing my work-work for the day. Learning to write JUnit tests, using Mockito. I feel somewhat ambivalent about their usefulness. In my experience, they only test what you already know works, and when they break it's not usually because the code got broken, but rather because the test code or test data became outdated.
Qiao's back yard now smells like my mom's oil paints used to. Or rather, the turpentine she used to clean the paint off the brushes. I like the scent, knowing that it is only pine.
I had a small set of oil paints when I was younger. And a small bottle of orange-scented turpentine. The orange didn't mask the turpentine smell at all; it just morphed it into a different strong overpowering and astringent scent.
Oil paints didn't appeal to me much. Too long to dry. Too hard to clean. Too messy. Not very suited to my style of abstract art. Me, not talented enough to paint realistic images very well. Although one time I copy-painted a portrait of my mom and brother from two photographs, and it turned out fairly well.
Turpentine smell makes me think of the Mediterranean too.
Whaddya know: orange terpene is made from orange trees and can be used as a substitute for turpentine. But I still think that the one I had back then was orange-scented pine turpentine. One made from orange tree extracts would probably have smelled better, like one of those citrus-based cleaners.
..
*A web search shows that 2017's Torchlight Tattoo event was cancelled due to the year-long centennial celebration that finished up that year. 2018's event was cancelled due to the "Victory Week" celebration in June of that year. But nothing at all is mentioned anywhere about it this year, which seems odd to me, considering that per those pages, "The Torchlight Tattoo is typically one of the most popular July Fourth events in the Midlands. Before last year, Fort Jackson hosted July Fourth celebrations each year in recent memory".
Per a family friend, Fort Jackson is not doing the July event at all anymore, instead having fireworks as part of their annual June celebration, the aforementioned "Victory Week".
errant thoughts revisited
Thursday, June 13th, 2019 02:09 amIt's curious reading some of my old writings. Like from two decades ago. I used wordplay and oblique references to things. Now, for some of those posts, I can't remember what I had been referencing, or what events sparked the words and feelings. So for me to read it now, is probably what it was like back then, for others to read it, if they were to have ever done so.
For example:
* august 5, 2000 *
visiting an old haunt
i was disturbed by what i found
a poltergeist haunting my abandoned abode
breaking the clear silence
with words of hate
(or were they words of pain?)
or were they just words
playing tricks in the halls and
dripping blood on the clean marble floors
but i doubt this poltergeist was expecting visitors,
so should i take offense from its lack of hospitality?
...
I feel like if I think about it hard enough, I might remember what that was about. Or I might not. If I don't, it's a part of my history / memory / inner life that may forevermore be lost to me. A part of my history become a mystery.
...
update: I remembered what that entry was about. I used to frequent a Culture Club message board with a group of other online fans. Over time many of my acquaintances there drifted away, and more flak got posted; including a fair bit of trolling & unpleasantness. I drifted away too, but checked back once in a while. The website owner eventually set up a new message board with tighter controls, but the old board page was still there and still usable.
I had checked the old page, and found that a solitary troll had posted even more unpleasant and vicious messages in the meanwhile, even though no one else was using that board anymore.
For example:
* august 5, 2000 *
visiting an old haunt
i was disturbed by what i found
a poltergeist haunting my abandoned abode
breaking the clear silence
with words of hate
(or were they words of pain?)
or were they just words
playing tricks in the halls and
dripping blood on the clean marble floors
but i doubt this poltergeist was expecting visitors,
so should i take offense from its lack of hospitality?
...
I feel like if I think about it hard enough, I might remember what that was about. Or I might not. If I don't, it's a part of my history / memory / inner life that may forevermore be lost to me. A part of my history become a mystery.
...
update: I remembered what that entry was about. I used to frequent a Culture Club message board with a group of other online fans. Over time many of my acquaintances there drifted away, and more flak got posted; including a fair bit of trolling & unpleasantness. I drifted away too, but checked back once in a while. The website owner eventually set up a new message board with tighter controls, but the old board page was still there and still usable.
I had checked the old page, and found that a solitary troll had posted even more unpleasant and vicious messages in the meanwhile, even though no one else was using that board anymore.
the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational...
Friday, January 18th, 2019 01:04 amI had my headphones on a few days ago at work, listening to my music, and the Muppet Show Theme Song came on. It had a strong effect on me, a sudden welling up of emotion. It was like I suddenly felt what things felt like when I was a child. Feeling content, maybe happy, anticipatory, cozy. All the feels instead of hum-drum monotony. It brought tears to my eyes.
It's like when I'm driving in my car with the radio on, and the radio reception improves so that it switches from regular stereo to HD radio. Until you hear it, you can't really fathom what you are missing. But the moment you do hear it, the regular stereo version sounds so very inadequate.
It's like when I'm driving in my car with the radio on, and the radio reception improves so that it switches from regular stereo to HD radio. Until you hear it, you can't really fathom what you are missing. But the moment you do hear it, the regular stereo version sounds so very inadequate.
Little Oktoberfest
Saturday, November 10th, 2018 09:13 pmI came across this old flyer in my things a while after posting about the Little Oktoberfest that used to be held by the American military housing area in Munich. The flyer is from the last year I lived in Germany, 1985.
Text Transcription:
Postwurfsendung
[ image of Fireworks ]
Traditionelles 29. deutsch- amerikanisches
"Kleines Oktoberfest"
in der amerikanischen Wohnsiedlung am Perlacher Forst LincolnStraße
BAYERISCHES BIERZELT
mit erstklassigem Musikprogramm täglich bis 23.00 Uhr
Täglich großer VERGNÜGUNGSPARK ab 13.00 Uhr
Ice Cream, "Hamburgers", "Hot Dogs" und andere amerik. Spezialitäten
Straßenbahnverbindung: Linie 27 bis Endhaltestelle Schwanseestraße, dann 10 Min. Fußweg, S-Bahn
Linie 2 - Haltestelle Fasangarten - Parkmöglichkeit nur an der Lincolnstraße
vom 15. Juni mit 30. Juni 1985
Veranstalter: Amerikanischer Verband für Freizeitgestaltung, München
...
My memories of the fest, in general:
In content, it was rather similar to the State Fairs they have here in SC every year. There were food booths, rides, games. There was a beer tent, but I don't remember much of that.
I remember there was a wall, maybe part of a building, on the outskirts of the area, where the men who had drunk too much beer, went to piss.
There was a dunking booth.
I think there was a test of strength game, where you'd hit down hard on something using a sledgehammer, which would cause something to lift up high based on how hard the hit was. Maybe when it got to the top, it activated the dunk. Or maybe the dunking booth was a different game, throwing a baseball hard at something. Maybe I'm getting memories mixed up.
There were the kind of games where you throw balls at a target, to try to win a prize.
They sold blocks of American ice cream in in box containers. I remember the Neapolitan flavor, stripes of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The same stuff the we could buy in the military commissary. There were other American staples like hamburgers and corn on the cob - a lot of Germans came for the food.
They sold German Dampfnudeln, as mentioned in my other post.
One time, on one of the rides that spins you around up in the air and back and forth, around and around, my head slid off the side of headrest, and the momentum of the ride was so strong, that it was a hard struggle for me to pull my head back into place against the headrest. It was scary, but I think I was too embarrassed to mention it to anyone. I still wonder if that incident is why, as an adult, I find it hard to lean my head back to look upwards at tall things. My neck gets tired and achy very quickly when doing that. Or maybe my neck was weak to begin with.
One time, I went on a ride with my mom, which I wouldn't normally go on due to my fear of heights. The kind where 2 people are locked into a cage-like thing with 2 seats, and it gets pulled up high, and then the cage is spun around head-over heels a few times. It looked sort of like this Zipper ride, though I don't remember the whole thing rotating like that one. Maybe it did. Regardless, it was scary.
https://www.muenchenwiki.de/wiki/Little_Oktoberfest
http://munich-greeter.de/en/2014/07/amerikanische-geschichte-in-muenchen-teil-1/
Text Transcription:
Postwurfsendung
[ image of Fireworks ]
Traditionelles 29. deutsch- amerikanisches
"Kleines Oktoberfest"
in der amerikanischen Wohnsiedlung am Perlacher Forst LincolnStraße
BAYERISCHES BIERZELT
mit erstklassigem Musikprogramm täglich bis 23.00 Uhr
Täglich großer VERGNÜGUNGSPARK ab 13.00 Uhr
Ice Cream, "Hamburgers", "Hot Dogs" und andere amerik. Spezialitäten
15. Juni, 17 Uhr ............. Eröffnung und Bieranstich 20. u. 27. Juni, 14-19 Uhr ... Familientage mit erm. Preisen an allen Fahrgeschäften 23. Juni ..................... Erstmals in München Tagesfeuerwerk 29. u. 30. Juni .............. 15. Internationale deutsch- amerikanische Wandertage .............................. (Start und Ziel im Bierzelt) 30. Juni nach 22 Uhr ......... Großfeuerwerk
Straßenbahnverbindung: Linie 27 bis Endhaltestelle Schwanseestraße, dann 10 Min. Fußweg, S-Bahn
Linie 2 - Haltestelle Fasangarten - Parkmöglichkeit nur an der Lincolnstraße
vom 15. Juni mit 30. Juni 1985
Veranstalter: Amerikanischer Verband für Freizeitgestaltung, München
...
My memories of the fest, in general:
In content, it was rather similar to the State Fairs they have here in SC every year. There were food booths, rides, games. There was a beer tent, but I don't remember much of that.
I remember there was a wall, maybe part of a building, on the outskirts of the area, where the men who had drunk too much beer, went to piss.
There was a dunking booth.
I think there was a test of strength game, where you'd hit down hard on something using a sledgehammer, which would cause something to lift up high based on how hard the hit was. Maybe when it got to the top, it activated the dunk. Or maybe the dunking booth was a different game, throwing a baseball hard at something. Maybe I'm getting memories mixed up.
There were the kind of games where you throw balls at a target, to try to win a prize.
They sold blocks of American ice cream in in box containers. I remember the Neapolitan flavor, stripes of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The same stuff the we could buy in the military commissary. There were other American staples like hamburgers and corn on the cob - a lot of Germans came for the food.
They sold German Dampfnudeln, as mentioned in my other post.
One time, on one of the rides that spins you around up in the air and back and forth, around and around, my head slid off the side of headrest, and the momentum of the ride was so strong, that it was a hard struggle for me to pull my head back into place against the headrest. It was scary, but I think I was too embarrassed to mention it to anyone. I still wonder if that incident is why, as an adult, I find it hard to lean my head back to look upwards at tall things. My neck gets tired and achy very quickly when doing that. Or maybe my neck was weak to begin with.
One time, I went on a ride with my mom, which I wouldn't normally go on due to my fear of heights. The kind where 2 people are locked into a cage-like thing with 2 seats, and it gets pulled up high, and then the cage is spun around head-over heels a few times. It looked sort of like this Zipper ride, though I don't remember the whole thing rotating like that one. Maybe it did. Regardless, it was scary.
https://www.muenchenwiki.de/wiki/Little_Oktoberfest
http://munich-greeter.de/en/2014/07/amerikanische-geschichte-in-muenchen-teil-1/
Today I remembered a CD that I used to have... It was based on the 1980s "21 Jump Street" TV show. It was labelled either as music that was played in the series, or somehow "in the style" of the series. It may have even been a German CD. I'm pretty sure it had the songs "Ice, Ice, Baby" and "Play that Funky Music" on it. Or maybe a mishmash version of both songs. I don't remember any of the other songs offhand.
But this evening I checked my MP3 folders with the MP3s I had ripped from my CDs, and I couldn't find it there. So I looked through my CD cabinet. It isn't there! (But I noticed that the wood board on the left side of the cabinet is starting to bend outwards in the middle, making the cd shelves fall off their pins and lay crooked on top of the CDs below them. Gah.)
I can't figure out what happened to that CD. Surely I wouldn't have gotten rid of it.
I'm quite sure it wasn't a cassette or a record or an MP3 download. It must have been one of my earliest CDs.
..
Now I did some online searching, and I finally found which CD it was:
https://www.amazon.com/Street-incl-Yebo-Various/dp/B078SBMC9V
http://mb.videolan.org/release/bdb805bb-a3e5-467f-a396-758dcdbf1099
But this evening I checked my MP3 folders with the MP3s I had ripped from my CDs, and I couldn't find it there. So I looked through my CD cabinet. It isn't there! (But I noticed that the wood board on the left side of the cabinet is starting to bend outwards in the middle, making the cd shelves fall off their pins and lay crooked on top of the CDs below them. Gah.)
I can't figure out what happened to that CD. Surely I wouldn't have gotten rid of it.
I'm quite sure it wasn't a cassette or a record or an MP3 download. It must have been one of my earliest CDs.
..
Now I did some online searching, and I finally found which CD it was:
https://www.amazon.com/Street-incl-Yebo-Various/dp/B078SBMC9V
http://mb.videolan.org/release/bdb805bb-a3e5-467f-a396-758dcdbf1099
tea without sugar
Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 03:00 amMost teas don't taste good to me without sugar. But some do.
This is one:
Rooibus (red bush)
My aunt Ruth introduced me to Rooibus tea many years ago, when it was still new to her too.
This is one:
Rooibus (red bush)
My aunt Ruth introduced me to Rooibus tea many years ago, when it was still new to her too.
Christmas memories
Friday, December 22nd, 2017 02:45 amOnce I stopped mucking with and moping about the unlit lights, it only took me about 3 more hours to finish decorating the tree and the other room. I didn't use the tinsel, as the tree looks good to me without it this time. (Or maybe I just don't want to bother, in spite of having stored the tinsel in a special way last year to make it easier to put up). I also didn't put the batteries in the hallmark light & sound ornaments, and I skipped putting up my glittery painted mirror pieces. It all still looks good anyway. Now I just need to put away the boxes and clean up.
Tomorrow, probably going out to watch Star Wars 8 with Qiao.
It's odd, how a few years of vivid Christmases as a child have imprinted themselves so strongly on my brain. How even now, thirty years later, I still feel compelled to put up a Christmas tree and such, all because of those long ago memories, even though they are so vague now. They became a part of my core, and they still affect me, even though the Christmases of adulthood, or perhaps rather the *me* of adulthood, are so empty and meaningless compared to back then.
A memory of liking to crawl under the tree, and look up at it from below. At the orange, blue, green, glowing, bigger Christmas tree lights of back then.
A memory of playing chess. I suppose that has nothing to do with xmas. But it was in the same living room as where we had the xmas tree at xmas.
The American Armed Forces newspaper (Stars & Stripes) always had a coloring contest around xmas-time. They printed some holiday-themed image (outlined like from a coloring book), which you could color in and submit, in hopes of winning. I don't remember if there was any prize. I never won.
My mom baked German Christmas cookies, and I helped. Ground up hazelnuts, mixed into a dough, refrigerated, then rolled out and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Baked, then iced and decorated. Then stored away in sealed containers, sometimes with pieces of apple, to give them time to soften up.
The excitement of getting presents. Of listening for reindeer hooves on the roof (nah, I never did that; above us was another apartment or the attic, not the roof). Of looking out the windows in the evening, looking for Santa. And for reindeer and a sleigh.
Of going on a road trip to visit our German relatives. The chatter of the people; the glow of the lights. The cold, desolate German winters.
Making hand-made Christmas decorations in elementary school. Red and green construction paper, cut into strips, glued into links for a paper chain to put on the tree. Paper cut-out snowflakes! Wrapping yarn into a diamond pattern around two crossed pieces of wood.
The thick sweet egg-nog in the tall round rippled metal cans. Iced Lebkuchen. The spicy sweet scent of Gluhwein. The Adventskalender, with pieces of chocolate or little pictures behind each day's door. The Adventskerzen, another candle lit each week. The angels singing, the little bells tinkling, the big church bells ringing.
Some winter / Christmas scenes from the "The Dark is Rising" book also managed to entwine themselves into my Christmas memories, such that when I think of Christmas, I often also get memories of those scenes from the book.
Tomorrow, probably going out to watch Star Wars 8 with Qiao.
It's odd, how a few years of vivid Christmases as a child have imprinted themselves so strongly on my brain. How even now, thirty years later, I still feel compelled to put up a Christmas tree and such, all because of those long ago memories, even though they are so vague now. They became a part of my core, and they still affect me, even though the Christmases of adulthood, or perhaps rather the *me* of adulthood, are so empty and meaningless compared to back then.
A memory of liking to crawl under the tree, and look up at it from below. At the orange, blue, green, glowing, bigger Christmas tree lights of back then.
A memory of playing chess. I suppose that has nothing to do with xmas. But it was in the same living room as where we had the xmas tree at xmas.
The American Armed Forces newspaper (Stars & Stripes) always had a coloring contest around xmas-time. They printed some holiday-themed image (outlined like from a coloring book), which you could color in and submit, in hopes of winning. I don't remember if there was any prize. I never won.
My mom baked German Christmas cookies, and I helped. Ground up hazelnuts, mixed into a dough, refrigerated, then rolled out and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Baked, then iced and decorated. Then stored away in sealed containers, sometimes with pieces of apple, to give them time to soften up.
The excitement of getting presents. Of listening for reindeer hooves on the roof (nah, I never did that; above us was another apartment or the attic, not the roof). Of looking out the windows in the evening, looking for Santa. And for reindeer and a sleigh.
Of going on a road trip to visit our German relatives. The chatter of the people; the glow of the lights. The cold, desolate German winters.
Making hand-made Christmas decorations in elementary school. Red and green construction paper, cut into strips, glued into links for a paper chain to put on the tree. Paper cut-out snowflakes! Wrapping yarn into a diamond pattern around two crossed pieces of wood.
The thick sweet egg-nog in the tall round rippled metal cans. Iced Lebkuchen. The spicy sweet scent of Gluhwein. The Adventskalender, with pieces of chocolate or little pictures behind each day's door. The Adventskerzen, another candle lit each week. The angels singing, the little bells tinkling, the big church bells ringing.
Some winter / Christmas scenes from the "The Dark is Rising" book also managed to entwine themselves into my Christmas memories, such that when I think of Christmas, I often also get memories of those scenes from the book.
