tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post1436819593743731652..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: NostalgiaAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-58665371461657487122014-08-07T01:42:22.475-04:002014-08-07T01:42:22.475-04:00Spencer, you may be the only contributor here who ...Spencer, you may be the only contributor here who writes vanilla, but I do too. That's all I write. One man/one woman, HEA. My only brother's wife called me "vanilla" years ago and it took me a while to realize she meant it as an insult, to denigrate my success in getting published. So I stopped giving them free copies of my books.<br /><br />I was in high school and college during the 70s. I was one of those dick-loving "hippie chicks", and Garce jokes that he wishes he knew me then. I'm sure I'm older than him, so I might not have given him a tumble...or I might have enjoyed playing "Mrs. Robinson." Sometimes I remember things I did and laugh...other times I really miss that sense of freedom and irresponsibility that I only enjoyed until I graduated from college. And sometimes I marvel that it really was me, since I feel so boring and "normal" now, having raised 4 kids, been a PTA volunteer and a Girl Scout leader. About the only remnant of my crazy youth is my many tattoos...that and I can still shoot a mean stick (we had a pool table in the basement of the house I grew up in, and I learned how to play once I could see over the top of the table.)<br /><br />As for memories of Vietnam, when I sub in high school classes that are reading books like "The Things They Carried", or in history classes, I tell the kids that I knew people who lost loved ones to the draft. When I hear the chicken-hawks bleating about how great war is, I remind the kids that Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush-the-shrub, Rush Limbaugh, and Ted Nugent, were all draft-dodgers when they were vulnerable, but now that they're too old to be drafted, suddenly they're all waving weapons around bragging about how tough they are. Fucking sniveling cowardly wimps. But I remember when lowering the voting age to 18 was a huge deal, because if you were old enough to kill and die for your country, at least you deserved a say in WHO the commander-in-chief was, who was going to send you to war. So I've been a volunteer registrar for many years, and I register mostly young people, so they can begin their lifetime of civic responsibility. My sons berate me, telling me that today's young people are dumber than a rock, so I shouldn't give them the ability to vote because their votes will cancel out mine. I remind them that, in the immortal words of Crumb comics: It has always been thus.Fiona McGierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495707848048468428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-19114000398737093182014-07-29T19:17:15.992-04:002014-07-29T19:17:15.992-04:00And nothing seems to get better - talk of wars I a...And nothing seems to get better - talk of wars I always hoped was a thing of the past, but now we're up to our necks in it again - or have we ever really been free of wars? Can't feel nostalgic about any of that.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10305127219838784688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-43245249084924331772014-07-28T09:47:40.680-04:002014-07-28T09:47:40.680-04:00The Beatles did not change pop music for the bette...The Beatles did not change pop music for the better? Oh, Spencer, we could argue about that!<br /><br />Music definitely kindles nostalgia in me. Sometimes I'll hear an old song that came out when I was in high school and I'm back there in a flash.<br /><br />The Vietnam war was this terror looming over us. Avoiding the draft. Marching in demonstrations (yes, even my mother!) Knowing that horrible evil was being visited on human beings in the name of my country... so ugly.Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-68350028599751172532014-07-27T11:33:41.540-04:002014-07-27T11:33:41.540-04:00Garce:
How true. I feel like the oddball here as I...Garce:<br />How true. I feel like the oddball here as I write vanilla, m/f erotic romance from a male POV. My exception is the novella posted here, "Bliss" which is not erotica or romance and it's from the heroin's POV. <br /><br />Did you enter the Blasphemy anthology call from Burning Books? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15484640447109164744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-2053790309275828952014-07-26T22:27:56.152-04:002014-07-26T22:27:56.152-04:00In the 70's anfd 80s and part of the 90s I was...In the 70's anfd 80s and part of the 90s I was deep in my religious years. So I was sheltered from a lot of the dumb stuff and missed out on the opportunity to explore a lot of the wild stuff.<br /><br />What a strange aggregate of people we are here, sexually that is.<br /><br />GarceGarceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-87119886262454411892014-07-26T22:26:32.334-04:002014-07-26T22:26:32.334-04:00Sacchi sounds like what Polyamorous folks (recent ...Sacchi sounds like what Polyamorous folks (recent article in Atlantic Monthly online) refer to as a "unicorn" a rare and highly sought after creature.<br /><br />GarceGarceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-31802214928525508102014-07-26T02:13:44.787-04:002014-07-26T02:13:44.787-04:00Jean:
Ditto Daddy's comments. It's only fi...Jean:<br />Ditto Daddy's comments. It's only fitting that the company that gave me my first publishing contract, Breathless Press, is located in Calgary, making me, in my estimation, an honorary Canadian citizen.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15484640447109164744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-21242886679579926572014-07-25T21:13:25.011-04:002014-07-25T21:13:25.011-04:00Jean-- You were born to saints.
But even with th...Jean-- You were born to saints. <br /><br />But even with that prior experience of Viet Nam, the US still thinks it can help countries with problems we can't relate to or exert change.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-65084316040261865922014-07-25T21:09:46.107-04:002014-07-25T21:09:46.107-04:00Well I told them I had other plans! :>)
That i...Well I told them I had other plans! :>)<br /><br />That in itself wouldn't have done the job, so I didn't wear underwear's when I went for the drafty physical. Guys who saw that scene will understand how I … uh… stood out.That also had something to do with my 1-Y classification.<br /><br />As you guys have read on these pages that Momma and I lost our 20's to her illness, with her too close to expiring over twelve years or so over the 60's and 70's. <br /><br />And yes, it is becoming easier, not having to struggle to make a living. Between the social security checks and our savings, we'll probably get through okay.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-49493514803891300552014-07-25T20:17:24.775-04:002014-07-25T20:17:24.775-04:00Spencer, my parents rescued as many draft dodgers ...Spencer, my parents rescued as many draft dodgers as possible, after we moved to Canada in 1967. I was told that was the first televised war, and the images of napalm victims on the nightly news were horrible to watch. I wouldn't want my worst enemy to be drafted into that war, but most of my male classmates seemed to be knee-jerk patriots who looked forward to the experience. (A young man whose mother was first cousins with my mother was one of these gung-ho warriors. He was killed in the war, and his body was sent home to his parents.) I'm very glad you were able to stay out of the war without having to leave the U.S. At the time, draft dodgers thought they could never go home again.Jean Robertahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08805088081675965859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-78177532592330879492014-07-25T19:28:57.654-04:002014-07-25T19:28:57.654-04:00Sacchi:
Fantastic! How sweet is that?Sacchi: <br /> Fantastic! How sweet is that?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15484640447109164744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-43595664590513031412014-07-25T19:27:21.271-04:002014-07-25T19:27:21.271-04:00An excellent point Daddy:
How did you avoid the dr...An excellent point Daddy:<br />How did you avoid the draft?<br /><br />Like so many seniors I have grown happier with time. I've never been happier than I am now. I only wish I had a deep well of happy experiences to draw upon.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15484640447109164744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-81079273857152184372014-07-25T17:41:13.447-04:002014-07-25T17:41:13.447-04:00The word nostalgia implies a comfy feeling about t...The word nostalgia implies a comfy feeling about the past. The positive things. Too bad you don't have much in that area, Spencer. I have lots to be thankful for, but it's easier because I tend to be a positive person, and consider the negative things as learning experiences.<br /><br />Easy to say, I know. It's not that the bad times weren't there, but they're not what I focus on.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-67170960526478951992014-07-25T17:20:05.602-04:002014-07-25T17:20:05.602-04:00Oddly enough, my appreciation of female allure inc...Oddly enough, my appreciation of female allure increased as I approached sixty. Or possibly not oddly at all. I've known since adolescence that I was bisexual, but I guess the dwindling of the biological imperative that came with menopause let me notice the lesbian side more.Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.com