I became enveloped in a warm wave of nostalgia the other day. It was so intense that it turned wistful within moments. It was all because of Tom Selleck. I was watching TV when an orange juice ad came on and I realized he was providing the narration. My initial reaction was one of confusion--why use him? But his voice sounded sunny and familiar; confident. This is someone who could lead men into battle, emcee a roast for George Clooney, and take your boy to a ballgame. There was a bedrock of truthiness underneath it all, though. This man was no empty suit. Think Wilford Brimley delivering his homespun avuncularisms for Quaker Oats. That's how effective he was. Anyhow, the first memory this ad brought on involved Magnum P.I. of course; a show I didn't even watch. But my friend Sean Miller from grade school did. I remember, quite vividly, the title sequence with Magnum holding the snorkeling woman in the bikini while glancing down at her derriere; my thoughts turned to a day spent at Sean Miller's house when he showed me his dad's gun in the basement and his stack of Penthouses.We were in the Indian Guides together. Does anyone remember the Indian Guides? It was this YMCA-sponsored father/son thing; you'd get together with other fathers and sons and have an activity in which you'd make something or play a game and then you'd have a snack afterwards. Lastly, after our sugary snacks and juices, us boys would band together and challenge the dads to a Battle Royale WrestleMania match. I remember one time my dad had like three boys draped on his limbs and I was overcome with this need to protect him so I switched sides and battled my friends. Dads were called "chiefs," sons were "braves," and your group was a "tribe." Everyone wore a light-tan colored suede vest pinned with Indian-inspired flair. I've just now realized after doing some research on Seattle PI that "Y programs (have) shed Indian trappings now deemed racist: 'Indian Guides' will become 'Adventure Guides,' 'Princesses' will be 'Explorers' and 'tribes' are to be known as 'circles,' as the program's curriculum shifts to a more generalized one based on nature." Normally I'm not one of those Bill O'Reilly anti-PC guys, but this seems a little dumb.It seems I've gotten sidetracked; my main point was that this OJ ad got me thinking about this generalized idea of youth and the attendant existential vicissitudes of our time here (did I manage to sound smarter than I am with that sentence?); life is just really hard now and when I think of my childhood it all seems so gorgeously honey-dipped and golden-hued and perfect. Like how my folks went nuts come Christmas time; they'd do up the house like a goddamned circus and lay out their hundreds of christmas cards on this humongous shiny silver platter (between me and the wife, we get like three christmas cards!). Presents from my parents were wrapped but presents from Santa Claus (the big shit, like a bike) were left out unwrapped in the middle of the night; I'd always get up at like 3 am and go see what Santa brought. My dad knew this so he'd construct booby traps; he'd string together a bunch of pots and pans and pull a nice taut trip wire across the hallway. I usually managed to stealthily avoid his I.A.D.s (improvised alert devices) but he did get me one time I think.They took us all to Africa and we went on safari when I was like 11. How the hell are we going to afford to take Claudia to Africa? My mom would lovingly design our birthday cakes with our favorite pop culture figures of the moment. The one that really stands out was my brother's Kiss cake. She absolutely nailed Paul Stanley and his makeup. She'd make our Halloween costumes, too. She sewed my bro's Luke Skywalker costume and even created an R2D2 for him using a small wastebasket on wheels with a painted basketball on top for the head! Who has time for that kinda shit these days?Anyhow, all these thoughts rushing back served as a cathartic closing of the book on my childhood--it really is over now. I have a child now and it's time to man up and make my way in this fucking world. I'll take you and mom to Africa some day, Claudia, mark my words!
As a parent, you just gotta make memories for your kids. Just like how your parents did for you when you were younger. So in the future when Claudia is in her space ship, she can look back at all the ipods, and cellphones and be nostalgic. "Remember the iPad? That's, like, old school!"
Favorite post yet! We did have the most amazing, carefree childhood, but seems to me that Claudia has had a pretty amazing first year- so don't worry! You'll do fine. I agree that you just have to make memories for her and you already are! YLS
thanks, yanks. yeah, I know WW, memories. "So it's the laughter we will remember, whenever we remember... the way we were. speaking of, when's a good weekend for you? btw, I invited Eric (from VIZ) and tiger lilly to be a part of the zoo crue as he called it. guess it's turned into a dad/daughter hangout session. lemme know buddy! thanks, a-kos. glad you read and liked it. i asked mom and dad to read it since it really is a loveletter of sorts to them but I haven't heard back. yup, I had the merlin and loved it.
Even if you don't end up taking your wife and daughter to Africa, they'll still feel very lucky to have such a thoughtful and devoted husband and father!
I became enveloped in a warm wave of nostalgia the other day. It was so intense that it turned wistful within moments. It was all because of Tom Selleck. I was watching TV when an orange juice ad came on and I realized he was providing the narration. My initial reaction was one of confusion--why use him? But his voice sounded sunny and familiar; confident. This is someone who could lead men into battle, emcee a roast for George Clooney, and take your boy to a ballgame. There was a bedrock of truthiness underneath it all, though. This man was no empty suit. Think Wilford Brimley delivering his homespun avuncularisms for Quaker Oats. That's how effective he was. Anyhow, the first memory this ad brought on involved Magnum P.I. of course; a show I didn't even watch. But my friend Sean Miller from grade school did. I remember, quite vividly, the title sequence with Magnum holding the snorkeling woman in the bikini while glancing down at her derriere; my thoughts turned to a day spent at Sean Miller's house when he showed me his dad's gun in the basement and his stack of Penthouses.We were in the Indian Guides together. Does anyone remember the Indian Guides? It was this YMCA-sponsored father/son thing; you'd get together with other fathers and sons and have an activity in which you'd make something or play a game and then you'd have a snack afterwards. Lastly, after our sugary snacks and juices, us boys would band together and challenge the dads to a Battle Royale WrestleMania match. I remember one time my dad had like three boys draped on his limbs and I was overcome with this need to protect him so I switched sides and battled my friends. Dads were called "chiefs," sons were "braves," and your group was a "tribe." Everyone wore a light-tan colored suede vest pinned with Indian-inspired flair. I've just now realized after doing some research on Seattle PI that "Y programs (have) shed Indian trappings now deemed racist: 'Indian Guides' will become 'Adventure Guides,' 'Princesses' will be 'Explorers' and 'tribes' are to be known as 'circles,' as the program's curriculum shifts to a more generalized one based on nature." Normally I'm not one of those Bill O'Reilly anti-PC guys, but this seems a little dumb.
It seems I've gotten sidetracked; my main point was that this OJ ad got me thinking about this generalized idea of youth and the attendant existential vicissitudes of our time here (did I manage to sound smarter than I am with that sentence?); life is just really hard now and when I think of my childhood it all seems so gorgeously honey-dipped and golden-hued and perfect. Like how my folks went nuts come Christmas time; they'd do up the house like a goddamned circus and lay out their hundreds of christmas cards on this humongous shiny silver platter (between me and the wife, we get like three christmas cards!). Presents from my parents were wrapped but presents from Santa Claus (the big shit, like a bike) were left out unwrapped in the middle of the night; I'd always get up at like 3 am and go see what Santa brought. My dad knew this so he'd construct booby traps; he'd string together a bunch of pots and pans and pull a nice taut trip wire across the hallway. I usually managed to stealthily avoid his I.A.D.s (improvised alert devices) but he did get me one time I think.
They took us all to Africa and we went on safari when I was like 11. How the hell are we going to afford to take Claudia to Africa? My mom would lovingly design our birthday cakes with our favorite pop culture figures of the moment. The one that really stands out was my brother's Kiss cake. She absolutely nailed Paul Stanley and his makeup. She'd make our Halloween costumes, too. She sewed my bro's Luke Skywalker costume and even created an R2D2 for him using a small wastebasket on wheels with a painted basketball on top for the head! Who has time for that kinda shit these days?
Anyhow, all these thoughts rushing back served as a cathartic closing of the book on my childhood--it really is over now. I have a child now and it's time to man up and make my way in this fucking world. I'll take you and mom to Africa some day, Claudia, mark my words!
6 comments:
As a parent, you just gotta make memories for your kids. Just like how your parents did for you when you were younger. So in the future when Claudia is in her space ship, she can look back at all the ipods, and cellphones and be nostalgic. "Remember the iPad? That's, like, old school!"
Favorite post yet! We did have the most amazing, carefree childhood, but seems to me that Claudia has had a pretty amazing first year- so don't worry! You'll do fine. I agree that you just have to make memories for her and you already are! YLS
Oh, and didn't we have that Merlin toy?
thanks, yanks. yeah, I know WW, memories. "So it's the laughter we will remember, whenever we remember... the way we were. speaking of, when's a good weekend for you? btw, I invited Eric (from VIZ) and tiger lilly to be a part of the zoo crue as he called it. guess it's turned into a dad/daughter hangout session. lemme know buddy! thanks, a-kos. glad you read and liked it. i asked mom and dad to read it since it really is a loveletter of sorts to them but I haven't heard back. yup, I had the merlin and loved it.
Even if you don't end up taking your wife and daughter to Africa, they'll still feel very lucky to have such a thoughtful and devoted husband and father!
Dad/daughter? We'll most likely bring the whole fam. It should be a date when it's nice and warm, for sure. By the way, how's everything?
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