Proof

Last year when my main computer needed to be replaced, the new box came with Windows 7, which I like.  One problem, the Cannon scanner software doesn't communicate with the new system.  I considered upgrading the scanner software, but have decided to move it to my other computer instead, which is still using Windows XP.

Which means it's about time to pack away the old HP scanner, which is slow, noisy, sometimes balky, and not that user friendly.  I'd have jettisoned it long ago, except that:

A.  It still works, and
B.  It has a transparency adapter so I can scan in 35mm negatives and 2" x 2" slides.

All that preamble to tell you that I've started a massive project to scan all my slides.  I'm not very far into the project; I'm up to about 1956.  I had a rather exciting "Aha moment" when I noticed something in this slide, for the first time yesterday; and I've seen it many times over the years.  This is from my first birthday.

On or near November 12, 1954, and appropriate to this blog, this was in Grandma and Poppy's kitchen.  Left to right, my Uncle Bud, me, and my sister Connie (I'm not sure why she's staring at the wallpaper).  Now Cousin Mike, see if you notice anything...interesting about this picture.  I'll give you a few moments...

Hint:  I've mentioned this here before (paragraphs 17 & 18), it's an old family story.

What we have here is photographic proof of waaaaaay back when I started out as a lefty, before my dad trained me out of that, and made me mixed-handed.  Before yesterday, I didn't realize there was any evidence.  It's neat the things I discover when I look through old stuff.

Oh, and another bit of trivia.  The windowpanes slid into the walls, and you'll notice the one on the right side is open.  I'm sure this wasn't too late in the evening, but it was already dark.  And though this was in southern Missouri, November evenings are usually cool there.  But this was 1954, an unusually hot year, or so they tell me.

While I'm in the mood, here's a few more pictures from that evening.

This one was actually taken just before the one at the top.  I don't know if Connie's trying to get my attention or Bud's.  And I don't know if Bud just sampled some of the cake, or if he was prompting me what to do next.  Well, we can see the story, even if we don't know the dialog.  This next image I cropped...seemed to improve it, I think.

I hope you enjoyed those!



  

Some memories stay clear, others fade

I had hoped by now that I'd have a new image or two to post here. My scanner still works, but unfortunately my copy of Photoshop LE is acting up. It hangs up as soon as I try to open the program. My guess is that there's a link broken somewhere, whatever that actually means.

No problem, just uninstall Photoshop and re-install it. I thought I'd better find my backup disk first, and it's a good thing I've held off doing the uninstall. It's been a couple of days and I still can't find the disk. It's in this room somewhere...well, I've been needing to clean and sort anyway.

I could post about music, as I have been working on my 1969 list. Holy crow (as James Lileks might say), that was one busy year in rock music. A lot of stuff I like about equally well...this might take a while.

Instead, here's a short true story - not to be confused with a true short story, I guess.

I sat down in my reading chair a couple of evenings ago, and looked in my bookcase...what should I browse? Well, I haven't looked at that in a long time. I pulled out my college yearbook from my Junior year. As I turned page after page, I started to notice something. It's been enough years now that there's really a distinct difference between friends I knew well and have lots of memories of, and faces and names that sort of ring a bell. I think as recently as two or three years ago those two groups of people would have blended together, that is, I would have had stories to tell about everyone I recognized. Now I still have lots of stories about my close friends I ran around with, but the others whose faces I kind of recognize...I couldn't recall stories about them. I don't think I'm having any special memory problems, at least, no one's pointed out any concerns to me. I still remember lots of stuff from last week, last year, last decade, my childhood, etc.

Maybe remembering lots of faces and names is more of a challenge than remembering events; it seems that way to me anyway. I could say to myself, "That's sad" (and it would be if I started to forget people I was really close to). But actually, I think it's normal. Some friends are friends for a lifetime, some are friends for a season, a year, four years. Others were casual friends or acquaintances, and that's all okay.

Yeah, that wasn't all that profound, but it was bloggable (and if that wasn't a word, it is now).