Retro
The kid made out pretty well this holiday season; she got everything she wanted on her list other than the “more money” item (in addition to the “money” item) and even though, at this point, we’re all just pretending about Santa, she was still willing to write a note to the Big Fat Man in the Red Suit and put out cookies and bourbon for him before turning in, so all in all, a successful holiday, for everyone, kids and parents alike, Merry Christmas.
What I found particularly charming about her gift requests this time around is that, basically, it turns out she’s essentially recreating my adolescent bedroom, circa 1972 or so.
Here’s what she wanted and got:
• A record-player turntable with built-in speakers, kind of like a fancy Close N’ Play. Then Jen went to the Salvation Army and bought a bunch of old LPs, including a couple I had, including the first Elton John album, Deep Purple’s Machine Head, and the Grateful Dead triple album, Europe 72.
• A film camera, one of those plastic Holga jobs, although I supposed a more authentic choice would have been a Polaroid Swinger.
• A Zippo lighter, complete with a can of fluid and some extra flints.
All she needed to add was a black light and some posters and a rotary dial phone and she’d have had the complete package.
I’m sure none of this was intentional, but it’s charming, and probably not unique. One of my students, for instance, in an exercise we were doing in the Philosophy of Religion class where they were to conceptualize what heaven might be like, described it pretty much like the world of my adolescence: a place of no cellphones or computers, where you could stay up late and didn’t have to check in with your parents every couple of hours; seriously, throw in a couple of seedy joints rolled in American flag papers, and basically, that was life.
What I found particularly charming about her gift requests this time around is that, basically, it turns out she’s essentially recreating my adolescent bedroom, circa 1972 or so.
Here’s what she wanted and got:
• A record-player turntable with built-in speakers, kind of like a fancy Close N’ Play. Then Jen went to the Salvation Army and bought a bunch of old LPs, including a couple I had, including the first Elton John album, Deep Purple’s Machine Head, and the Grateful Dead triple album, Europe 72.
• A film camera, one of those plastic Holga jobs, although I supposed a more authentic choice would have been a Polaroid Swinger.
• A Zippo lighter, complete with a can of fluid and some extra flints.
All she needed to add was a black light and some posters and a rotary dial phone and she’d have had the complete package.
I’m sure none of this was intentional, but it’s charming, and probably not unique. One of my students, for instance, in an exercise we were doing in the Philosophy of Religion class where they were to conceptualize what heaven might be like, described it pretty much like the world of my adolescence: a place of no cellphones or computers, where you could stay up late and didn’t have to check in with your parents every couple of hours; seriously, throw in a couple of seedy joints rolled in American flag papers, and basically, that was life.
posted by Professor Dave at 11:21 AM
1 Comments:
I love reading your posts, they make me laugh alot, in a good caring sharing sort of way of course,
Keep Posting ! x
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