June 8

Buckle up; 10 entries for 6/8

1977

The American Studies class is getting smoother and smoother. With Riis read and “The Toadstool Millionaires” almost read, I am over the hump in my reading. The research for the paper has been going well; next week I should be starting to write. That frees me from doing a lot of library work when Connie is here. I’ll still go to the library, but to write, not read.

1979

National Town Meeting, “Fashion and Meaning”

Comment: I took two and a half pages of notes, mostly from the Q & A portion, which I will not include here. Except for two questions.

Glad I didn’t stay home and listen on the radio; the scenery is worth the bus ride. The variety of “looks” is amazing after the conformity of campus fashion. I think every trend in the last 5 years (post-mini, still big top) is represented. I should have worn my gloves. The size of the crowd is also impressive. (Of course, I’ve only heard them before.) There are a few hints of 50s and 60s, especially in hairstyles. Wonder if anyone else I know made it?

Nina Hyde talked about the role of the fashion media in fashion change. (News making) Consumerism is a response to needs. Fashion media’s role: validity of design, where to buy, reasonable alternatives.

Oscar de La Renta: democratization is an important trend (as opposed to ethnic style and aristocratic dress)

Q: (To Oscar de La Renta) Would you consider a maternity line”

A: Not smart business

Q: Isn’t fashion a big conspiracy? Doesn’t the industry work against quality?

A: No. Both de La Renta and Hyde would be just as happy if people bought a few expensive items.

Do I really believe this? Yes and no. Somehow, moving production offshore and making clothes cheaper is a solution to the labor shortage here. Where the industry could scare up the necessary legions of skilled workers, I don’t know. Then again, the old hands in the business might prefer the rat-race atmosphere and seasonality of the rag business. The ultimate question, of course, is whether the American public, especially the instant gratification set, would ever be interested in giving up their variety and change. I am thinking of compulsive shoppers like X, who gets as much of a charge out of shopping as she does the clothes she buys. After all, why am I sitting here at an over-priced restaurant, having lunch? Not simply for nourishment, but to consume fully, to get maximum Z-value out of my lunch break. To feel different, to explore a new corner of myself. It ain’t just the souvlaki.

Later - although the souvlaki was excellent! (It’s better on pita bread, but—one gets that at a strip mall Greek place, not Adam’s Rib.) Now I am home, warm, with aching feet. That’s the price I pay for pounding the pavement all afternoon. The National Geographic was worth it, though. Nice stuff. Especially the air conditioning.

1981

We just had a very nice weekend. Saturday Jim, Masao (office mate) and I went to the Textile Museum for their Museum Day Celebration. We saw many different demonstrations of weaving, rug-making, etc. Then we walked down Connecticut Avenue, had gyros in a little park, then continued to Woodies. Masao hadn’t been downtown yet, so we showed him Woodies, Ford’s Theater, the FBI building. From there we went to the Hirschorn to see their current exhibit by a sculptor Jim likes and whose name I have forgotten.

1997

Mom is now moved to a nursing home nearby to continue her rehabilitation. I find it hard and confusing deal with my new role and my new schedule. I wish I could talk about it with someone, but by evening I am drained and exhausted. A could of times I have poured myself a glass of wine but ended up regretting it, as it makes me more depressed and irritable. Maybe I should switch my daily meditations to the evening?

2003

And then life got better! I am going to MONTANA in July to do some consulting at the Museum of the Rockies. When I agreed to the proposal over two years ago, it seemed like a faint possibility. But suddenly it’s happening. Oh joy! So on July 11 I step ALONE onto a train bound for the West. Mountains! Fresh air! Sky! Playing in someone else’s attic for three days. On a different, more ambivalent note, Kiddo 1 will be moving to Baltimore in July. I knew the day would come when she would leave for good, and this may well be it. I am looking forward to the space and the lowered stress level, but I will miss seeing her so much. But it will be nice to have an excuse to visit Baltimore more often. My little girl is finally growing up! Now I can understand why weddings used to be so poignant when they marked the day the bride actually moved out of her parents’ house. I wish we had some kind of ritual to mark this passage. Another year and Kiddo 2 is off somewhere. Oh, my.

2012

Another day with a creaky back, after staying up late and rising at 6:30, &:30, 8 and 8:40.The back still creaks after two hours of work. Thinking of a warm bath and a short walk, or a short walk and a warm bath. The Girl Scout sing-along sounds like fun but I fear the pain of walking, sitting, standing. Not only that, but I wish I had backed up what I wrote on Tuesday. The more I think about it, the more brilliant it was. That will teach me. There are no expendable drafts. Each sentence is unique and potentially the best I can write on the subject. Ideas are so hard to capture, always in motion. Like trying to photograph a hummingbird with a disposable camera. A trick with words is that sometimes they come together when I am barely thinking of them. The minute I try to focus on them, they slip away to the side, or duck behind a rock. Or sink into deep water. So I must write every day because the ideas are flowing through me almost constantly and I will never pause for me to catch them.

That’s enough free writing for now. These morning pages are just to get me started not finish my writing for the day.

Amen.

2015

Instead of a finished work, today's effort is a study for something I am working on. It was inspired by some daydreaming this morning. The image that sprang to mind was a woman crouching over a small fire that is being threatened by a sudden rain shower. She holds a large cloth over herself and the fire to protect the spark. It's about creativity...

2016

This may be a short morning pages as I am restless to begin writing and don’t want to expend my entire store of energy on them. So I am going to write just for the 14 minutes of my morning playlist, do a quick Tarot reading, and then plunge in.

Today is Wednesday. Hilary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee and, God willing, the next President. Please, not Trump. A Trump victory would say so much about the American electorate that it would be hard to look them in the face. I would want Trump voters - and Sanders/Green  write-ins - to wear a scarlet T on their chests for the next four years. Can’t wait until he picks a running mate. I assume they are all running away from him right now.

This man cannot be President. I can’t imagine him in Obama’s place giving a response to the next mass shooting. No, no, no. Must not happen.

Now what? I could comment on how much I like my new office layout. The big table, especially. More storage where I can reach it. More reasonable positioning of chairs. B-o-r-i-n-g

Today’s work - besides writing. Must do those stupid phone calls. Especially Social Security. OK, maybe I will do that tomorrow. I do need a shower, and there’s a stack of stuff waiting for me on my campus desk. After this article is done, I will have some actual research time. Time to really get organized for the next book. And suddenly a book on boys has popped up on the horizon. From Boys to Men. Boy culture and clothing from infancy to young adulthood. Am I nuts? I also have been carrying my gender parable idea around in my head. Short stories. Short stories. Must think short stories. Just publish them online. Poof. My own drawings. One version as a pop-up book, given away. Wouldn’t that be fun!!!! I need to have some fun, that’s certain. 

There is a Hrithik Roshan film coming out in August and I must go!

2019

Lovely event but NEVER volunteer for this task again.

Comment 2023

I am not the person to ask to coordinate a reception after a big event. Nope, nope, nope.

2023

Blissful, having done good writing in the morning, and then thought about singing, listened to singing and actually sang from 2 pm to 9 pm, thanks to a new choral group here at Riderwood and a workshop and house concert featuring the incomparable Elise Witt, with a special appearance by Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock.