tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post2763055504857585418..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: In a MomentAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-39325018385531006682014-05-11T18:23:57.347-04:002014-05-11T18:23:57.347-04:00One moment that I remember from my youth involves ...One moment that I remember from my youth involves listening to my radio in my bedroom at night. A Motown girl-group hit, "South Street" by the Orlons, hit the charts in 1963. I had no idea where this street was located, or if it really existed. I just looked up the song -- sure enough, the Orlons came from Philadelphia. Unfortunately, I'm too tech-challenged to post a link to the song here, but you can hear it in a site on Motown girl groups of the 1950s-60s.Jean Robertahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08805088081675965859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-7343305050622902982014-05-08T11:33:28.997-04:002014-05-08T11:33:28.997-04:00Yes, Annabeth- the day after the attack, I saw a p...Yes, Annabeth- the day after the attack, I saw a pickup truck, jacked up on big wheels, several large American flags flying, hyper-base crashing, three assholes in front yelling unh-unh-unh to the beat. America first!Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-8537608668959823302014-05-07T23:06:41.141-04:002014-05-07T23:06:41.141-04:00My most vivid memory from 9/11 is the fear I had a...My most vivid memory from 9/11 is the fear I had at the way people changed around me. I was working at a local newspaper at the time, editing a special edition for local creative writing students. I was expecting a bunch of bad but good-hearted poetry, some teenage angst, etc. Instead, since the issue was coming out just shortly after 9/11, I received so many "essays" about how we needed "to crush them like the cockroaches they are." Not clear who "they" were. I was nauseated and scared of that violent mood. I saw the fear in the eyes of the brown-skinned men who owned convenience stores and noticed the way that critical comments had become unpatriotic and dangerous to speak above a whisper. <br /><br />I don't want to minimize the tragedy of what occurred at the World Trade Center. I'm very sorry for the people's families. <br /><br />I've always been sorry also for all the terrorism we imposed on ourselves, and all the terrible things we've perpetrated in the name of vengeance. <br /><br />You ask: Why is hatred so more seductive than tolerance?<br /><br />And I wonder the same. I wonder why people sneer so much at the idea that there might have been another way. I remember the goodwill we had in the world after the attack, the sympathy, the stories about other countries sending gifts and condolences, and I'm sad because I think we've destroyed that with military actions since then. Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-34014458015842033062014-05-07T18:35:20.557-04:002014-05-07T18:35:20.557-04:00I was in early grade school when JFK was shot, so ...I was in early grade school when JFK was shot, so I only vaguely remember it. I was leading the first meeting of the year for my kids' school's Girl Scout leaders when 9-11 happened. One of the moms was married to an Arab man, and her kids were mixed. He traveled a lot, so she was quite distraught. They heard about it on the radio before they got to my house and insisted on keeping the TV on in the next room. I was trying to get some important business done, they were freaking out.<br /><br />Have you seen the second IronMan movie? There is a convention of arms manufacturers, and every time I watch that scene I'm nauseated and angry. That's how the folks who make money from death view it...just another "business". I could go on a feminist rant here about psychological theories the say forget about penis envy, men have womb envy. They can't produce a life from their bodies, so they have become masters of destroying the lives of people brought into this world in pain by some woman. Who doesn't matter. Sigh...<br /><br />Unfortunately the God-fearing types in this country are more afraid of godless socialism (tell that to the British who are primarily Episcopalian and Church of England), than they are of the endless wars. A slogan I remember from the 60s and 70s was: "War is good business. Invest YOUR son!" I have sons and that makes my skin crawl.<br /><br />My earliest memory is of being 4 and having convulsions. I was sick a lot when young, and since penicillin was new, every time I coughed I got a huge shot in my butt. Since both parents were heavy smokers, I coughed a lot. I've been allergic to penicillin since I was about 9 or 10. Anyway, I was feverish and Mom was distraught trying to bring my fever down. She finally tossed me into a tub of what I thought was ice water...it was really only tepid. My teeth started chattering and I cried to get out. She wrapped me in a blanket and carried me over to the sofa in the living room and told me to watch TV while she called the doctor. Dad told me years later he was watching some noir movie...but I was watching the Flintstones! Hallucinating like mad, I guess. It turned out that I had Scarlet Fever, which explained the high fever. Mom always worried about heart or brain damage after that. My heart scan was clean as a whistle, and I'm a MENSA member, so no worries, Mom!<br /><br />I can't believe you remember stuff from being still in diapers, Daddy X! I've heard that some people can remember every single thing from their lives, but most of us just keep the "digest" version. I read a book called "The Ape That Spoke", by John McCrone that deals with how the development of language occurred and how it differentiates us from other animals. An excellent book, it supports what I've always believed: most of us can't remember things from before kindergarten because we didn't have enough words to lock memories in, and no frame of reference to tie them to. Trust me, read the book. You'll be happy you did.Fiona McGierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495707848048468428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-41258402409583164662014-05-07T12:30:23.832-04:002014-05-07T12:30:23.832-04:00Thanks for commenting, Lisabet. Yes, local causes ...Thanks for commenting, Lisabet. Yes, local causes for war can be deep and varied. Some are even worthwhile. We have choices whether to keep armaments away from suspect causes or for the arms trade to exploit those causes. How well do weapons suppliers vet their customers? Arms traders don't want wars to stop.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-33409906783068214742014-05-07T12:17:55.662-04:002014-05-07T12:17:55.662-04:00I don't know why major events like 9/ll didn&#...I don't know why major events like 9/ll didn't occur to me while I was posting. I was vacuuming with the TV on at that exact time and saw it all. My best friend from college lived in NY, and her son was at school very near the Trade Centers. she was distraught for a while, but the school staff had sent the kids running north at the first sign of major trouble, and they were all okay. but I heard about that part later, not in the moment. When Kennedy was assassinated, I was getting into a friend's car for a ride to Yale, and the newscaster wasn't sure they whether he had died. That was a memorable trip, watching folks out on a golf course as we passed and knowing that they hadn't heard the news yet. I also heard about RFK's killing right away, when I happened to turn on the radio late at night because there were sirens in the distance and a huge glow of fire on the Oakland flats (I was living uphill near Mills College) so we thought there was a riot. No, just a warehouse fire, with no connection to the assassination. Hmm, maybe I should be prohibited from turning on radio or TV news.<br /><br />Don't remember diapers, as such, but I remember peering under the door of a cubicle in the restroom we shared with a bunch of army families when my Dad was stationed in Muskogee during WWII. I couldn't have been more than a year and a half old.<br /><br />I'm with you on the useless war situation, Daddy X, while also realizing that it's a very tangled web indeed.Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-48126048071258003662014-05-07T10:15:07.862-04:002014-05-07T10:15:07.862-04:00Great post Daddy and I couldn't agree with you...Great post Daddy and I couldn't agree with you more - war is a business these days with no winners except the weapons manufacturers - while governments mutter age old rhetoric that is ultimately meaningless.<br />On the lighter side, can't remember having my diaper pinned, but I do remember a lady who lived on the ground floor of the tenement I was born in who would put kirby grips (bobby pins) in my long curly hair. We left there before I was one year old, but the damage had been done LOL!JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10305127219838784688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-79070956171512818052014-05-07T05:39:18.711-04:002014-05-07T05:39:18.711-04:00An intense post, Daddy. However, I think that war ...An intense post, Daddy. However, I think that war is far too complex a phenomenon to be dismissed as simply economic. As you point out, though, It does unfortunately seem to be addictive,<br /><br />I was only in fourth grade when Kennedy was shot. My memories are a bit vague. However, I vividly recall 9/11. I lived in a rural New England town with 35Kbaud dialup internet. I was working at home on my computer. We had the BBC News set to come on at noon every day. That's when I first heard about the air strikes, several hours after they occurred.<br /><br />I tried to bring up the New York Times website. No way. It was totally overloaded. I tried to call my step sister who worked in downtown Manhattan. No way. I don't think I've ever felt quite so isolated and helpless, so distanced and yet appalled.<br />Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-25262294954672419802014-05-07T00:49:45.688-04:002014-05-07T00:49:45.688-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.com