N is for be Nice

For as long as I can remember, my mother was always telling me to

"be nice."

Was I so horrible, that I had to be frequently reminded

just to be social?

Through grade school,

high school,

college...

she'd include a little note at the bottom of the

letter, check, note, bill...

"Be Nice"

I can remember graduating from college and joining

the work force.  I'd come home and complain about

something or someone, and Momma would help me

talk it through, and then end with "and remember to be nice."

Even when I went to medical school,

and through residency, she'd still remind me to

"be nice."

I do have one of those personalities

that makes it seem as though I am not the friendliest person,

so a gentle reminder now and then to smile and say thank you

or please probably was needed...

Even when she's gone I'll hear that small reminder as I 

start something new, or meet a new group of people

"be nice."

November Notes, Day 19

"Camera Ready"

I don't know how much time people of my generation think about how the lives of current generations are so different from when we grew up.  Sure, there are all those memes on Facebook that show an item or two that only "Gen X's" can identify.  But, where you really notice the differences are when you look at old photos... or unpack boxes from your college years (mixed tape anyone..?  or better yet, what can I play that mixed tape on...?)

Take for example this photo that my bestie that was visiting this weekend sent me.  Look at that camera... I think this is a C24 camera that used to take film that came enclosed in its own container.  You popped the film in, advanced the film with a roller, then popped the film out and took it to be developed.  Some people might remember the 110 film cameras and rolls that were a much smaller version of this.

I had one of those too.

We didn't take a lot of pictures back then because film was pricey and developing the film also cost some money.  So our parents paid for it, and they weren't about to spend a lot of money on just a bunch of random pictures, so we had to make every photo count.  Not surprisingly, we didn't shoot a lot of pictures.

I still remember my high school trip to Europe in '85.  I took 10 rolls of film with me.  I would have loved to have taken more, but tried to factor in the cost of developing 360 photos on my measly allowance.  As a comparison, on my last cruise I shot over 2000 photos on three different devices including an SLR digital camera, a point-and-shoot digital camera and my iPhone.  I can promise you that about 30% of those shots are probably throw-aways and only about 40 or so would I ever consider printing.  Not to mention the video captured on the PNS and GoPro.

Kids today will have their entire lives documented and posted online.  I have photo albums.  Whatever happened to those...?  I guess I'll have to look into making a photobook online.  Much easier than trying to weed through several thousand images now on Facebook.  

How do you capture your memories....?

November Notes, Day 13

My best friend from forever is visiting this weekend.

One of the earliest memories I have of her, 

aside from how we met,

is of her falling down the slide in grade school.

Someone had dared us to go down the slide backward.

I took the challenge and made it down.

N. didn't quite make it.

I think she panicked halfway down and then tried to turn around.

It did not end well.

Scraped face and knee for that year's class photo.

Almost 40 years later we're still friends...

It's great to have people in your life

who are there to be your memory.

We can still find things one or the other 

has forgotten/remembered.

I'm sure we'll be sharing and making many more this weekend...

MyPod Birthday Month #1 - If You Leave Me Now

It's appropriate that the first song 

on the first day

of the third year

of my Birthday Month iPod Shuffle

was released on my birthday month 1976.

It's the first song I remember hearing on the radio.

Isn't that strange?  I can remember the radio being on,

but this song...

this particular song captured my attention.

It was one of the first 45's I remember asking for.

I turned 9 years old that year.

I was going to be starting the 4th grade that fall.

It was 1976.

Nadia Comaneci

The olympics were that month;

Just the start of a young girls' inspirations and dreams

as I watched her flip her way into the history books.

It was a good summer to be young and

just starting to lay the foundation

for the rest of my life...

NaBloPoMo Day 28 - Rainy Days

It's the start of the rainy season and the dogs are already bored.  It's funny because a year ago we didn't even have one dog and now we have two.  One dog is hard enough to keep track of, but two... wow, are they terrors when they get together... especially these two.  They are too smart for their own good, and being cooped up in the house all day makes for some frustrated dogs.

Which kind of made me start thinking about grade school.  We used to love rainy days.  Recess was held inside.  We could draw on the blackboards.  Gym was held in the parish hall, and when they had just polished the floors you could take your shoes off and slide all over the place.  Or we did folk dancing.  I honestly think I can remember the steps to some of those dances... for some reason, the song "Never on a Sunday" is coming to my head... weird.

We played games like Duck, Duck Goose and Heads Up, Seven Up!

I wonder if any of my classmates ever cheated and looked down at the shoes when you were supposed to keep your eyes closed.  It was so hard though, waiting, with that thumb stuck up in the air, wondering if you were going to get picked.  Or standing in the front of the room, wondering if that cute boy would realize it was you... tapping his finger... letting him know you were thinking about him...

Yeah, grade school memories...

Although, I think I could still hold my own in Duck, Duck, Goose... 

not sure my knees can though...