Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Aloha Alfred
Almost no sleep last night, but the one dream I had left an impression. My mother was in it & it took place in a creepy but not scary dreamworld Atlantic City I used to visit quite often, so I knew where I was. The real Atlantic City was creepy (still is) but I didn't realize it until later.
Treated myself to a taxi to appt this morning; on the way out the door I passed the furnace repairman coming in. I recall this annual appt last year because it was probably the coldest day of the winter. Took bus back downtown, checked new Michael Connelly novel & a bio of Count Basie out of the main library; spent too much on underwear, always costs more than one expects for a 3 pack of Fruit of the Loom briefs; bought a clip on light at the rummage hop; chatted for five minutes on the street with someone whose name slipped my mind; the kind of encounter where you're trying to pay attention but you're distracted by thinking, "I know this person's name. What is it?" Of course, I connected the dots & recalled it afterward. Part of the problem was that the name was so ordinary.
Joe Weil has two poems in the New York Times online edition.
Suzette sent word of the death of Alfred Shaheen, age 86, designer, manufacturer, & popularizer of Aloha shirts & garments in the Fifties & Sixties. I'd never heard of Shaheen, but he's now one of my culture heroes. I passed the news on to WFMU, & Robin replied with a photo of her favorite Shaheen print for a dress no longer made, & which would cost a mint if one could be found at a vintage clothing store.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Treated myself to a taxi to appt this morning; on the way out the door I passed the furnace repairman coming in. I recall this annual appt last year because it was probably the coldest day of the winter. Took bus back downtown, checked new Michael Connelly novel & a bio of Count Basie out of the main library; spent too much on underwear, always costs more than one expects for a 3 pack of Fruit of the Loom briefs; bought a clip on light at the rummage hop; chatted for five minutes on the street with someone whose name slipped my mind; the kind of encounter where you're trying to pay attention but you're distracted by thinking, "I know this person's name. What is it?" Of course, I connected the dots & recalled it afterward. Part of the problem was that the name was so ordinary.
Joe Weil has two poems in the New York Times online edition.
Suzette sent word of the death of Alfred Shaheen, age 86, designer, manufacturer, & popularizer of Aloha shirts & garments in the Fifties & Sixties. I'd never heard of Shaheen, but he's now one of my culture heroes. I passed the news on to WFMU, & Robin replied with a photo of her favorite Shaheen print for a dress no longer made, & which would cost a mint if one could be found at a vintage clothing store.
Labels: culture, dreams, Elizabeth NJ
