It all started with an idea.... and a good dose of inattention.
So this is how inspiration strikes, bang out of the blue, when you totally are not paying attention but are still open to "signs from the universe" if you go in for that kind of thing. Which I do.... when it suits my narrative... like it does now.
I was sitting at my kitchen table with my brother and we were talking about going to Ikea. He was saying he needed a new book shelf and I ... well I needed my Ikea fix, hot damn it's worse than crack.
MJ (that's my brother, the eldest of us) said he had a shelf of National Geographic magazines. This of course caught my attention, I friggin love NG. The magazines came from his father, who for the sake of clarity is not MY father. Someday I might break down my family tree for you but not until I know you have a good handle on non-euclidean math. His Father, who I call "Uncle Walter" was my mother's first husband. He was the sweetest, kindest, dearest man in the world, and with out a doubt the best, by a long shot, of my Mother's three husbands. He passed away several years ago, it sucked.... like a LOT. My brother isn't what you would call sentimental but still he didn't want to part with the National Geographics but needed more shelf space. I piped up that I would not mind taking them, I love NG, I have since childhood and I would definitely give them a re-read.
I think at this point I must have fugued out with the great distraction of Ikea and magazines because I totally missed the conversation about how many magazines there were. This was important and a good reminder to pay attention to what you are agreeing to... or when your siblings talk, I guess that is just good manners.
The next day my sweet and alarmingly forgiving husband went with me to pick the magazines up. I tried to hide the surprise on my face when I saw that it wasn't a SHELF but a BOOK SHELF of NG's all in their Jan-June July-Dec boxes .... and there were 16 years worth. My extraordinary chill husband mused if they would all fit in the car, my brother, relieved of having them out of his home but very pleased they were still in the family, pondered how we would get them all down from his 5th floor apartment. What was I doing? I panicked wildly, where would I put them in my house?!
And that.... is when... IT happened. Right there in my brother's kitchen, 16 years worth of Uncle Walter's lovingly maintained collection piled in front of me; inspiration found its mark and hit!
Wouldn't be interesting to read them, in order from the start, January 1982, and document the experience?
I was sitting at my kitchen table with my brother and we were talking about going to Ikea. He was saying he needed a new book shelf and I ... well I needed my Ikea fix, hot damn it's worse than crack.
MJ (that's my brother, the eldest of us) said he had a shelf of National Geographic magazines. This of course caught my attention, I friggin love NG. The magazines came from his father, who for the sake of clarity is not MY father. Someday I might break down my family tree for you but not until I know you have a good handle on non-euclidean math. His Father, who I call "Uncle Walter" was my mother's first husband. He was the sweetest, kindest, dearest man in the world, and with out a doubt the best, by a long shot, of my Mother's three husbands. He passed away several years ago, it sucked.... like a LOT. My brother isn't what you would call sentimental but still he didn't want to part with the National Geographics but needed more shelf space. I piped up that I would not mind taking them, I love NG, I have since childhood and I would definitely give them a re-read.
I think at this point I must have fugued out with the great distraction of Ikea and magazines because I totally missed the conversation about how many magazines there were. This was important and a good reminder to pay attention to what you are agreeing to... or when your siblings talk, I guess that is just good manners.
The next day my sweet and alarmingly forgiving husband went with me to pick the magazines up. I tried to hide the surprise on my face when I saw that it wasn't a SHELF but a BOOK SHELF of NG's all in their Jan-June July-Dec boxes .... and there were 16 years worth. My extraordinary chill husband mused if they would all fit in the car, my brother, relieved of having them out of his home but very pleased they were still in the family, pondered how we would get them all down from his 5th floor apartment. What was I doing? I panicked wildly, where would I put them in my house?!
And that.... is when... IT happened. Right there in my brother's kitchen, 16 years worth of Uncle Walter's lovingly maintained collection piled in front of me; inspiration found its mark and hit!
Wouldn't be interesting to read them, in order from the start, January 1982, and document the experience?
So that is my plan. I am going to start reading. I will read the whole issue, pick out a few of the most interesting things and talk about them. Look at where they stood in history, find out what, if anything, has changed since the story was published. And if you are very (un)lucky I talk a bit about where I was in my own time line.
What qualifies me to do any of this? Well nothing except that I love learning new things and I love listening to the sound of my own voice... text...you get it, I like myself. And I hope you like it too!
Comments
Post a Comment