Old Magazines: September 1991

In anticipation of moving to more commodious quarters, I've spent the past few days sifting through all the magazines I've accumulated over the years with the aim of recycling the bulk of them. I'm trying to minimize how much we have to transport, so this has been a great opportunity to throw away out-dated and no longer important brochures and how-to's, most of which have been updated and made freely available on the tree-friendly Internet.

Our sexual mores can change in a matter of decades, but looking at the following Pentax ad from the September 1991 issue of the recently defunct Petersen's PHOTOgraphic magazine, apparently the same fate befalls our collective graphic arts sensibilities. Sheesh!

Here's something we won't see on the cover of any current magazine—a slide film showdown. I got pretty excited way back whenever the mags did this sort of test. As far as I know, Velvia and Kodachrome are either dead or moribund.

The September issue also featured a long Darkroom Basics article. Inside, to drum up sales, the magazine mentions that new subscribers are eligible to win a top-of-the-line Beseler enlarger. I think I'll add enlarger to the list already containing the ditto machine, typewriter, cassette deck, and the VCR.

Mother's Day Card 2007

This is the card Shaula made for Betty. Demented, no? I'm trying to digitize artefacts like this to reduce clutter. The paper version has been consigned to the big blue box in the sky.

Random Thoughts For May

Betty and I have this notion of a "Sunday Deep", which is a short, but very deep, Sunday afternoon nap. It usually takes 15 minutes to snap out of an SD, before one's strength returns. I took an SD this long weekend, right after a trip to the local White Spot for a late lunch selected from the "Lifestyle" section of the menu, which usually means an anaemic green salad sprinkled with pine cones and bird seed.

What I really wanted is what Shaula ordered, pictured below, a Fettucine Alfredo, or perhaps a burger. But (sigh) I'm on a diet again... Sleeping after a meal is definitely not an auspicious start.

***

I can't stand spiders. They plain freak me out. I had two encounters last week. A brown one ran out from under my computer keyboard at work. The second incident saw one dangling from my bangs, then my glasses, right after I got out of the car from a lunch jaunt to Taco Del Mar. Lucky for me, they were smaller than house ants, so I did myself proud by managing to refrain from issuing high-pitched girly screams.

***

I saw this variation of Jean Jacques Rousseau's famous line in The 100-Mile Diet.

Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chainstores.

A Dedication

They lost one of the good ones today, just let you walk away.

Freed of the keys once meant to let you in but now led you nowhere, you made your way down the stairwell one last time, the echoes of your footsteps applause to my ears for a job well done, reverberating in unison with a thought you shared—

I have been thinking about whether one should work at being just rather than good. People who are concerned with fairness or justice are people who know the difference.

So here's to truth, justice, daydreams, and a new beginning.

Mother India

We took my mother out to an Indian (East African) restaurant Saturday evening. People of her generation and culture are pretty set in their ways and opinions—tunnel visioned, IMHO—so I wasn't surprised when the "oohs" and "aahs" weren't forthcoming as she tried (clockwise, from top left) the naan, tandoori chicken, butter chicken, and fish biryani, among other dishes.

She's been ill lately, complaining of fever and chills, and a general lack of energy and appetite, so that might partly explain her less than enthusiastic reaction.

***

Internet-savvy Shaula recently asked me to explain the term "pen pal". That certainly made me chuckle. Yep, I'm getting old. Had I been a professional hockey player in my younger days, I'd now either be a coach, a commentator, or just plain fat. A few month ago, I spent an evening looking at the bios of some centerfolds. Sagittarius, born 1960, one of them read. Taurus, 1962, read another. Okay, so I didn't feel as old anymore. But then it struck me that these were back issues from, like, 1979!

Did I say centerfolds? I meant hockey cards.

Rainy Day People

The weatherman was once again wrong, dashing my plans of a day of picture taking at the local arboretum. Instead, I spent the afternoon walking the drizzly streets of my neighbourhood, taking shots of and "interviewing" some of the local shop denizens.

Everybody says I'm lucky because I was born with green eyes and blond hair, but if only they knew the truth. I don't do so well at school—mostly 'C's and a 'B' in Phys Ed (I like soccer). My dad's a big jerk who works the night shift, so life at home can get pretty rough. My complexion's pretty good, but I have open lesions—warts, I think—on my hands. I want to be a mechanic or play in the NHL. I have one brother, Jake.

-Danny

Before you pass judgement on me, I want you to know that I have my act together now. My boyfriend says I look like Sinéad O'Connor in this photo, but I don't think I'm nearly as pretty. I decided to shave my hair off when I started to lose big patches of it. My weight is back up and I'm not so wild anymore. When I look at how well all of my friends from high school are doing, I feel inspired. People tell me that I'm a very nice person and deserve better.

-XOX Jen