The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Questions: The Home Edition

    By Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:13am | Potpourri, Personal

    Since I'm home for the Thanksgiving weekend, I figured I'd compose a bunch of questions relating to childhood and hometowns. Many of these assume you have parents who are still alive and a 'normal' upbringing (you know, nuclear family and all), so please accept my apologies if this isn't the case and feel free to adjust the question if at all possible (by going back in time or thinking about your own children perhaps) to fit your situation.

    1. You are getting sleepy?

    2. First crush?

    3. Regress much?

    4. Childhood home?

    5. Any connections left?

    6. Hometown sports teams?

    7. Teenage hangout?

    8. High school dances?

    9. Barely relevant ethical question?

    10. Philosophical Finale?

    Topics: 
    Potpourri
    Personal
    Series: 
    Questions

    Comments

    1) Last week, I used nothing but my hypnotic good looks and the enchanting sound of my typing to send you back to your teenage years and have you recall some notable pop culture experiences from that time in your life. Now I want to take you back further, to your earlier childhood, when you were still cute and innocent, your mind a relatively blank slate, with only thousands of media impressions filling it instead of the pop culture junkyard it has now become. For the following categories, please choose the one example from your preteen years that first jumps out (my answers in parentheses).

    TV show (Family Ties/Electric Company)

    Movie: (ET)

    Album: (Thriller by The Gloved One)

    Toy: (Intellivision Hockey)

    Ad/Commercial: Ancient Chinese Secret (I forget what it was for - a detergent??)

    Book: (Superfudge)


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:16am

    TV show (Courageous Cat)

    Movie: (Bambi)

    Album: (Soupy Sales - Spy with a Pie)

    Toy: (ScoreFour)

    Ad/Commercial: (Eggs, eggs, eggs, they go into Nabisco - vanilla wafers!)

    Book: (Tom Swift series)


    by Donal on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 1:28pm

    do you know where to get a copy of the eggs, eggs, eggs they go into Nabisco commercial. It came up the other day and none of my friends have heard of it.


    by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/05/2009 - 6:02pm

    I am also looking for this hilarious commercial!


    by Rich P (not verified) on Sun, 07/08/2012 - 3:17pm

    TV Show:  Sesame Street / Electric Company

    Movie:  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

    Album:  West Side Story (Movie Soundtrack) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Studio Version)

    Toy:  Barbie Townhouse

    Ad/Commercial:  It's the Real Thing (Coke Is...)

    Book:  Richard Scarey Books


    by LisB on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 4:05pm

    TV Show: Riptide

    Movie: Goonies

    Album: Delirious (Prince)

    Toy: Preteen years? Toys were over.

    Ad: Don't remember

    Book: especially in 5th and 6th grade, I was really into John Saul (Suffer the Children, etc.) and then right after that, I moved into Stephen King. It's truly a wonder that I never had nightmares. I haven't liked the scary stories for years. 


    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:38pm

    Toys over???????? Toys should never be over .... Girls are dumb.


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 12:44am

    Toy: Get-in-shape Girl

    Book: Babysitter's Club (the whole set.  we had them all in our sixth-grade class room)

     

    The other ones don't jump.


    by CaliforniaPaige on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 7:00pm

    TV Show: Sesame Street / Electric Company

    Movie: Reds (believe it or not, this is the first movie I remember watching, though it was not my first movie)

    Album: Free to be You and Me

    Toy: Donny and Marie Osmond dolls

    Ad/Commercial: Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs

    Book: Babar the Elephant


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 8:40pm

    donnie and marie dolls??? now that's priceless ...


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 12:42am

    Question.  How old is "preteen"?  I thought it was like 5th-8th grade, but some of the answers seem to be from much younger years.


    by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 1:49pm

    I just meant anytime in childhood before teenage years - I wanted to keep it wide open


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 12:43am

    2.Who was the first crush that you remember? When was it? Was it requited? (Mine: Susan Appel, kindergarten, No, but she was my first French kiss in a 6th (7th?) grade game of spin the bottle)


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:16am

    Kathy G - a little blonde girl in Kindergarten. No, but I did a lot of after school smooching with a brunette named Sherry.


    by Donal on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 1:29pm

    Patrick Connely in 2nd grade.  Little redheaded kid with freckles, missing his front teeth.  I think he liked me as a friend, but alas, nothing more.


    by LisB on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 3:52pm

    David something. Third grade. Unrequited and quickly replaced.

    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:40pm

    Third grade. I told my friend that her nose looked shiny. The bastard told her that I said that. I still haven't forgiven him.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 8:42pm

    do i know this particular friend (and is he a mocker??) it certainly sounds like him! was saying her nose looked shiny supposed to be a compliment or a way of deflecting your true feelings with an insult?


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 12:46am

    3. I love when I go back home. I have no responsibilities, and I immediately regress. How much younger do you feel when you visit the parents, and which household chore do you most enjoy not doing while home? (10 years, laundry)


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:16am

    I always feel like a teenager again when I go to my mom's.  I love that she does the dishes herself because it's my least favorite chore (besides laundry, which she lets me bring every time I visit because she knows I hate the laundromat).

     


    by LisB on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 3:53pm

    Growing up, the only thing my mom did for me was my laundry, but I always had to fold my own and put it away. Plus, I had to cook, do dishes, clean the house, do the yard work. We always divided up chores pretty evenly at my house. But then, when I would go back to visit when I was in my early 20s, I wouldn't have to lift a finger. It always felt weird to me.

    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:43pm

    I lived with my parents for about 2 months after college, so I somehow managed to break through that regress-to-when-you-lived-there thing. Hmm. And I don't really avoid chores, either.

    by CaliforniaPaige on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 7:07pm

    Laundry is a dumb answer for me cuz i dont do laundry at my apartment either but just bring to the laundromat. I think doing dishes and tidying would be better ones. the other thing I remembered this past weekend was how much i hated mowing lawns. That was the worst.


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 12:49am

    4. My parents still live in the same house from my childhood, and I hope they never leave. Do your parents still live in your childhood home. If so, isn't it the best? If not, does it still feel like 'home' when you visit?


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:17am

    We moved around a bit, so no house ever really felt that much like home, except my grandma's house, which was the house she was born in and lived in until her final few months were spent in a nursing home. The house is no longer in the family and that makes me a little sad. But I've never been that connected to a house or a place.

    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:45pm

    Same house. It's great.

    by CaliforniaPaige on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 7:09pm

    No and no. They skipped town when I went to college, so I lost my room immediately. Now they're on their second house (and second city) since I left.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 8:44pm

    5. Where did you grow up and what percentage of your childhood/high school friends still live in your hometown? (Mine: St. Louis, I'd say a surprisingly high 60%)


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:17am

    We grew up in a rural area of MD, which was steadily taken over by exurban development, beginning with a new town called Montgomery Village. My folks moved away about a decade ago and I rarely go back.


    by Donal on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 1:33pm

    From birth to 8: northwest Indiana From 8 to 16: a suburb of St. Paul, MN Last three years of high school: back to Indiana--the town where I was born. Only one of my high school friends still lives in town.

    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:47pm

    San Francisco suburbs (the Peninsula). None of my close friends -- not sure about acquaintances. Definitely a decent percentage (30-40%?) of former classmates have moved to the East Bay or San Francisco proper.

    by CaliforniaPaige on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 7:14pm

    Iowa City. With respect to my inner circle of 10 or so friends, 0% stayed, though some went back briefly for grad school.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 8:46pm

    6. Assuming you have since moved on from where you spent the majority of your childhood, do you still root for those 'hometown' sports teams or have you adopted new ones from the place you now live (or some other place you've lived)?


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:17am

    I root most for the Steelers, although I still have a fondness for the Skins. The Skins play the Ravens, where I now live, next weekend, so that will be a test of loyalty, too.


    by Donal on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 11:19am

    I grew up in NY / CT and I've always loved the Mets, rooted for the Giants and the Jets, but I have to admit that when I lived in California I became a big Niners fan.


    by LisB on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 3:57pm

    Because we were in the Chicago media market, we loved the Chicago teams. I'm still a Cubs fan. I don't care too much about the other sports anymore, but if the teams make it to the playoffs, I still root for the Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks. But not the White Sox. That would just be dumb. My favorite sport to watch these days is soccer. Especially the international matches. I root for the US until they are out of the tournament. Then, I root for England, Brazil, and the Netherlands (because I have mad respect for grown men who will dress from head to foot in orange). Also, in the EPL, I love Man Utd. and Sunderland.

    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:50pm

    Funny. I was just telling a friend today about how my dad and I used to watch 49ers games on a black and white TV. I don't follow football at all, but if I happen to catch the 'Niners on TV, I'm glued to the channel. Though I guess that counts as having moved closer to my childhood hometown team rather than away. Hmmm.

    by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 1:51pm

    Insofar as I root for any sports team, I still root for the Hawkeyes. I make a point of not-adopting sports teams of my adopted towns for contrarian reasons, though I sometimes allow myself to root for teams from towns in which I used to live.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 8:49pm

    i really think i might call you mr. poo-poo from now on. i dont think i've ever fully realized how negative/contrarian/poo-pooing you are.


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 12:52am

    poo-poo on you too


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 1:21am

    7. Where did you most often hang out as a teenager (Mine: Denny's)?


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:17am

    In the woods


    by Donal on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 11:16am

    In town or at my house while my mother was at work.  I would get on the school bus in the morning, meet my friends outside high school, and then we would walk into town and then hang out at my house, smoking and cooking spaghetti or stuffing. 


    by LisB on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 3:59pm

    A group went to the same friend's house almost every day after school and a lot of weekend nights too. But also, cruising was a big deal in my town, and as soon as the first person got their license, we would drive up and down the same 3 mile strip through town, all night long. So unbelievably lame.

    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:52pm

    We "city kids" used to ridicule the hicks who cruised the strip, particularly the ones who hung out in front of the public library but never went inside.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 8:50pm

    We hicks lived in real America, so we were never particularly concerned with what the city kids thought.


    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 9:12pm

    Then why did you cruise in front of the library on Linn St?


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 9:19pm

    The library wasn't even on the strip in my town. I know this because I visited often (the strip and the library).

    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 9:22pm

    As long as you didn't strip at the library


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 1:25am

    Godfather's Pizza after football games. Until we got kicked out for rowdiness. When they demanded that we all sit down in our seats, I stood up on a chair and sang, "Stand" by R.E.M. I was quite the revolutionary.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 8:52pm

    i can totally picture that scene and it makes me smile. mr. poo-poo revolutionary rallying the troops and sticking it to the godfather's pizza manager with a stirring rendition of michael stipe. i wish they had flip minos back then.


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 12:55am

    Public library.


    by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 2:26pm

    what's with this library hanging out?? isn't that where people go when they want to be studious, antisocial and most importantly, QUIET??? were you friends with mimes?


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 12:57am

    People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw poo poo


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 1:23am

    8. Do you have any good high school dance stories (I have a couple, which I'll give when I have more time)?


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:18am

    I didn't stay in school long enough to attend prom, so the only dance I can remember going to was a Halloween Party at Waveny Manor, which is a gorgeous old mansion next to my hold high school in Connecticut.  My friend and I dressed up in our pajamas, put our hair in double ponytails and carried teddy bears around with us.  We seemed to be a big hit with the live band that played that night.  Wink


    by LisB on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 4:03pm

    "Fifteen'll get ya twenty, that's all right, Cause we'll be rockin' and a rollin' on a Livingston Saturday night."


    by Donal on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 3:00pm

    When my high school was founded in the 70's, it was very counter culture, so they had morp (girls ask guys, dress down, eat fast food) instead of prom. In the conservative 80's, they adopted prom but kept morp. A girl asked me to morp. I liked her and planned to invite her to prom if morp went well. It did go well. Morp was on Friday. The girl went out of town for a chorus concert the next day. I called her on Sunday. Some guy had asked her over the weekend! And she sais "yes"!

    We went out anyway and started dating. I found another date to the prom. When the date found out that I had a girlfriend, she didn't say anything to me, but I guess she told her mother. Her mother didn't like it. She called my mother. She called my girlfriend's mother. She called the mother of a friend of mine who wasn't involved. But in the end, I kept the date, made sure not to talk to the girlfriend during prom, and had a good time, though probably not as good a time as I would have had with the girlfriend.

    And yes, the date's mother was crazy. Like homicide-crazy, as it turned out years later.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 9:05pm

    9. Ethical question: Last night, the fam went to a little play at a shopping center, and ended up eating out afterward at a restaurant that advertised in the program a '15% off your bill' special if you show your ticket stub. The server only briefly looked at and did not take the stubs before giving us the discount. Is it unethical to give those stubs to a family waiting in the restaurant lobby? What about if we gave to a family walking outside which we knew for a fact would not have gone to that restaurant if we hadn't given them the ticket stubs? Is it unethical for either family to use the stubs?


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:18am

    Of course it's unethical.


    by Donal on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 11:14am

    I would give them to the next family waiting to go into the restaurant.  Everybody's broke these days.

     


    by LisB on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 4:04pm

    seems to be some disagreement on this one - i thought all of it would be unethical, but if you could be sure the people you were giving the ticket stubs weren't going to go to the restaurant before you gave them the discount, wouldn't that be benefitting all parties - the family gets a cheaper meal, the restaurant makes money it wouldn't otherwise have gotten (i guess that's the ends justifying the means, but if all parties benefit and no one gets hurt, can something be unethical?)


    by Deadman on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 1:00am

    10. Can you ever really, truly go home again?


    by Deadman on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:18am

    Only if you accept that everything has changed.


    by Donal on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 11:15am

    What Donnie said.


    by LisB on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 4:04pm

    Until LisB, home was the only place I was ever called Donnie. Smile


    by Donal on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 9:20pm

    Depends on what home means to you. For me, home is not the place, but the people. Before I moved back to Indiana, I came home every time I came to visit, no matter which family member I was visiting and where they were currently living. Now, I am home again, literally, although I live in a different town from where I grew up. But most of my family lives in the same town now and I see them all the time. We've all changed, but our love for one another hasn't.

    by Orlando on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:56pm

    Can you ever really, true leave?


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 9:20pm

    Hell no. And why would you want to? *shivers*

    by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 2:27pm