Frozen moments

A few months ago, my mom purchased a nifty new device. This device can scan negatives and slides, digitizing them and transforming them into color photos. It seemed like a magical box of wonder when I heard the description, and it is - sort of. The quality of the output depends a whole lot on the quality of the negatives, and there's no way to adjust anything before scanning - any editing of exposure and color adjustment needs to be done after the file has been digitized. It's actually quite time consuming to get a decent finished product from an old negative.

But. There's nothing quite like scanning some mystery negatives from the bottom of an old shoebox and seeing a scene from the past pop up on your screen. Even if the quality is kind of sucky, what gets me in these old photos are the background details. I am fascinated by background details. They're things that are most likely to have been forgotten, or never consciously noticed at all. Certain ornaments on a Christmas tree. How the furniture was arranged. The dishes and appliances on the counters in the kitchen. Beyond just digitizing old negatives and photos, scanning them into the computer in high resolution allows them to be viewed much larger than the typical 3x5 snapshots that populate our old photo albums, revealing a whole new dimension of background detail. I could get lost in these photos. Here are a few from old holiday negatives:

My mom helping my oldest sister decorate the Christmas tree in 1969. Oh my God, my mom was four years younger than I am now in that picture.


With toys. I love the stuff in the back of this picture. It was taken at my parents' first apartment, but I remember that hideous puke-looking rug, so they must have brought it with them. I also remember that stereo, which may still be down the Basement o' Wonders. Classy floral arrangement, too.


A year or so later. I wish the colors were better, because that dress is adorable. Hey, how much do you think the TV weighed?

The other thing this device can do, as I mentioned above, is scan slides. This might not be as useful to most people as the scanning of negatives, but most people didn't have my maternal grandfather taking photos when they were growing up. Grandpa, as I have noted in the past, loved both photography and technology. This combination of traits was perhaps less common back then than it is today, with new tech gadgets in constant demand. Grandpa had a camera that took 3D photos. These photos had to be sent off to another city to be developed, where they were put on ViewMaster-style slides and shipped back. To look at them, you needed another special device - pretty much a really expensive ViewMaster. Except instead of showing Return of the Jedi or Thriller slides, like my red plastic one did, it showed the photos you had just taken in startling, lifelike 3D detail. It took me a long time to realize that everyone's family didn't have these. Grandpa also typed the exact date on every slide, bless him. That's so something I would be crazy enough to do.

With the new device, for the first time, I'm able to digitize these photos. As amazing as it is to have them as 3D slides, it's also somewhat restrictive. You need the ViewMasters in order to look at them in any meaningful way, and can't easily share them with others. Scanning them robs the slides of their three-dimensionality, of course, but the quality of the resulting files - at least, some of them - is breathtaking. They haven't degraded the way old negatives and photographs have. The slides have some exposure issues, which unfortunately I'm not sure how to fix on the scanning end of things. But when the composition of a shot is just right for scanning, wow. Some examples follow. Thanks, Grandpa.

My sister on Nana and Grandpa's porch, 1974. The colors in this shot may have turned out the best of any of the scanned slides.


My sisters on a car, ca. 1975. Love the outfits.


Me on Nana's couch with a racket, 1983.


In the corner of Nana's kitchen. Look at the wallpaper long enough and you'll go insane!

Kids these days

This is the exact jacket my eleven-year-old nephew requested of my mom for Christmas:


My favorite thing, I think, is that it's a woman's jacket. That kid is awesome. A couple of years ago he wanted a purple ninja mask, too. (My mom isn't buying the jacket, in case you were wondering.)

Twenty-eight

Last Friday I got a flu shot at work. As I filled out the form, I realized this was my last chance to list my age as 27, because my birthday was the next day. I feel like I was just 26, and now all of a sudden I'm 28? What's up with that?

But yes, Saturday was my birthday. It comprised the second portion of a four-part series of birthday celebrations stretched out over a week or so. I felt like I was being greedy, to be honest, but with far-flung friends and family (and alliteration) sometimes it can't be helped. At any rate, I'm not really complaining.

Two weekends ago, as you may know, was Maudie's birthday weekend in Tahoe. I also count that as part one of my celebration, because it was just a week before my birthday, and that's how I justified the added vacation day to myself. Plus, over the weekend I got to share (and by "share" I mean "eat three of") the chocolate chai birthday cupcakes Uyen made for Maudie.

Saturday, on my actual birthday, I got a haircut, went to the Festival of Trees in Racine, and then attended the Laurie's Planet of Sound 10th Anniversary celebration at the Hideout. Sam was kind enough to buy me a ticket, and it was a really fun night. Adam Fitz, Vee Dee, and Miss Alex White performed, and I got to celebrate with many Chicago friends. I even received my own birthday cupcakes with adorable flowers on top, courtesy of Laura. The candles were eventually lit from a candle sitting on the Hideout bar. I think that's good birthday candle karma for the upcoming year. My only regret was being too tired to hold out until Sam's late-night DJ set. I blame my age.


The next day, Sunday, was my family birthday celebration. I received a hand-colored birthday card from the older twins, a rain check for a gift from my oldest sister (who hadn't had a chance to extricate herself from minding the younger twins in the past week), and a promise of post-Thanksgiving shopping and a lovely birthday cake from my parents. My mom got the cake from a local Italian bakery; my request of a blueberry and custard torte with whipped cream frosting. A big slice of that was my main sustenance for the day, and now I can dream about it for another year.


Monday night was the finale of Birthday Week; a low-key get-together for local friends at my place. I served my guests beer and soda from Halloween, salt water taffy, three kinds of pizzelle, and local handmade chocolates that we get for birthdays at work. I figured we'll all get enough heavy baked goods later this week anyway. We played 90's Trivial Pursuit, opened presents and cards (well, that was mostly just me) and had a fine time in general.


Speaking of later this week, I really think Thanksgiving weekend might be my favorite weekend of the whole year. It's a long weekend (at least I always take Friday off to make it one) with no responsibilities except to eat, relax, spend time with family, and go shopping. Our family begins decorating for Christmas over the weekend, which I also find terribly exciting. I can't wait to decorate my condo for Christmas. Seasonal display in the over-the-fireplace box!

A week in California (and Nevada)

Last week I was in Sacramento for work. Despite the long shifts it was actually a good time - dinner every night with coworkers, including lots of sushi and a fantastic Italian meal to finish out the week. On Friday I had some time to actually explore the city during daylight hours, and walked my way from Capitol Park to Old Sacramento, and back to Midtown and some cool little shops. I found a used copy of a CD I've been hunting for at least two years, history-geeked out over the old time-y buildings in Old Sacramento, and raced around trying to refill my meter every couple of hours before it expired. (I was always too late, but managed to avoid a ticket nonetheless.)


Soon Uyen arrived and it was off to Tahoe for Maudie's birthday weekend. I adored Tahoe. It was a perfect (for me) mix of campy "rustic" shops, restaurants, and hotels, swanky spas and boutiques, casinos that are, mmm, a notch or two below their Vegas counterparts ... and, in the background, this magnificent natural beauty everywhere. It was the type of place that made me feel nostalgic for childhood family vacations, despite the fact that I'd never been there on a family vacation. We made the most of our time in Tahoe: swimming, being pampered in spas, gambling (I won!), working out (a little), eating (a lot), watching girly movies, and just hanging out in our palatial suite at the Timber Lodge enjoying the scenery and the company. I hope Maudie has a birthday in Tahoe every year, and I hope I'm lucky enough to be invited. At the very least, another big blowout in 2017!


On Sunday evening, Uyen and I returned to San Francisco by way of Napa. We had a fantastic dinner at Ad Hoc in Yountville. As if the food weren't enough, we had a couple of celebrity sightings: Thomas Keller (chef and owner extraordinaire) was sitting at a table when we first arrived, and later Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal came in for a late dinner. I hope they enjoyed the meal as much as we did - I love letting the chef decide what I'm going to eat.


Monday I flew back home in the late afternoon, but beforehand I was able to squeeze in a nice walk down to the beach and the Presidio. Technically I wasn't supposed to be near the beach, as a sign indicated when I got down far enough. I had forgotten about the recent oil spill, and cleanup efforts were underway. But, not being an abider, I walked a little further anyway. I'm glad I did, because I got a great (if slightly hazy) view of the Golden Gate Bridge. After returning to U's apartment via Geary Street, she was kind enough to shuttle me to the airport. Is it wrong that I'm already trying to figure out when I can make my next trip to California? Nothing wrong with five or six times in a year, right?

I interview Paul ... some more

Here's P(p)aul's answer to the traditional first interview question, which I originally forgot to ask.

Interview date: 11/7/07

What is the most satisfying thing you've done today?

I guess the most satisfying "thing" I did, if you can even call it a "thing" was just take advantage of being in New York. Since I live in White Plains, which is about a 40-minute train ride north of Manhattan, I usually try to make my trips into the city as productive as possible. That means cramming as much as possible into them. In that regard, my most recent trip was just about as perfect as could be in the sense that I got a lot done and even got to do some stuff I wanted to do. Plus, everything worked out beautifully from a timing perspective. My main mission was to get my hair cut, which I did just after I had lunch at this Upper East Side place I always go to when I get my hair cut. From there, I headed downtown to pick up a copy of the "Flight of the Conchords" DVD that just came out, a couple of guidebooks for an upcoming trip and next year's calendar for my little Filofax organizer. (About the latter, I realize I'm probably hopelessly old-fashioned in that I don't just have everything in my cell phone and/or computer, but what can I say? I like having stuff written down just in case.)

Anyway, that left me just enough time to make the 5:30 p.m. showing of a movie I'd really been wanting to see, "Romance and Cigarettes." It's probably the thing I love best about living in New York: the culture. You just don't get the range of cultural opportunities anywhere else that I've been. This movie, for instance, was probably playing in exactly one theater in America. It was written and directed by John Turturro and actually premiered in 2005, but apparently he had a hard time finding a distributor for it, so he finally decided to distribute it himself. It stars James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet and is sort of a musical comedic fantasy, with a dramatic twist, if that makes any sense. I enjoyed it. R&C let out just in time for me to make it back uptown to the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side, where I had a ticket to the special tribute concert that was being held to celebrate Todd Haynes' soon-to-be released Bob Dylan movie, "I'm Not There." Basically it was an all-star show of various people doing Dylan songs. It wound up being a bit of a train wreck, but was pretty fun.

When that show let out, I was going to stop by and see my friends Mart and Craig, who play music every Wednesday at a place not too far from the Beacon. But then a friend of mine called and wanted to have a drink, so I joined her and her boyfriend back over on the Upper East Side--really close to where I had started my day. Her apartment had just gotten robbed and I wanted to see how she was doing. Plus, I hadn't seen either of them for a really long time. We went to a cool little bar that played a lot of Wilco, weirdly enough. Its name escapes me at the moment, but we hung out until past 1 a.m. when I had to leave to go catch the last train back to my place. It was a perfect way to end a full, but satisfying, day.

I interview ... Paul

The fifth edition of the interviews, brought to you from sunny (though not right at the moment) Sacramento. Four questions for Paul!

Name: Paul
Age: 30
Location: White Plains, NY
Interview date: 10/31/07

1. You've seen a lot of concerts. What is the concert or musical event you feel most fortunate to have witnessed in person?

Wow, that’s a tough one. I wish I could say it was a legendary show like one of Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band’s early gigs or something like that. But the truth is, I didn’t actually go to a lot of concerts until after I graduated from college and moved to New York. I think part of the reason I have packed (or at least tried to pack) so much showgoing into the past seven or eight years is that I didn’t get to go to a lot of concerts growing up.

But to answer the question, I guess I’d say that the single event I feel most fortunate to have been at was the first so-called “living room show” that Jeff Tweedy did in my friend Sooz’s basement. Really, I feel that way about all three of those shows that she has hosted. Just knowing everything that went into making those nights happen, seeing the joy it brought my friends and thinking about the people those events helped makes them special. The music was pretty great, too. Those shows remind me of how people really can be brought together through music, which I guess is one reason why a lot of us go to the lengths we do to see as much music as possible.

2. What is your favorite sports-related memory?

It’s funny. I can probably come up with a lot more sports-related memories that I’d like to forget: Cubs lose in the playoffs in 1984, Cubs lose in the playoffs in 1989, Cubs lose in the playoffs in 2003—you get the picture. Such is life as a Chicago Cubs fan, I guess.

Anyway, I probably have two favorite sports memories. The first was the last football game of the season when I was a junior in high school. I went to a boarding school called Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and our archrival was Phillips Andover Academy. One Saturday every November, there would be an Exeter-Andover Day when all of the sports teams played each other. The day culminated with the varsity football game. We had a pretty good team, but we hadn’t beaten Andover in like seven years and we found ourselves losing 21-0 at halftime on our home field. It didn’t look good, but somehow we came back. We had a great running back named Erik Bashaw, who I remember literally hurdling a guy on the drive for the go-ahead touchdown. Somehow our defense stopped Andover one last time and we won 28-21. The crowd went crazy, rushing the field. I have a videotape with that scene and I still get chills every time I watch it. (Full disclosure: I barely played at all in that game, but I had started most of the season because of an injury to one of our seniors, so I felt very attached to that team. The next year, as a senior, I played a lot more and we wound up tying Andover, 20-20. We would have won, actually, if not for a missed extra point. Argh!)

My other favorite memory is from my first year of college. It was the fall of 1995 and that was a heady time to be at Northwestern because the football team became a national story when it went 10-1 and went to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the late 1940s.To fully comprehend the story, you have to understand how bad the program had been. NU hadn’t had a winning season since 1971 and once had the longest losing streak in major-college history at 34 games. So for the 1995 team to do what it did just boggled everybody’s minds. It started with a 17-15 upset of Notre Dame in September before classes had started, but I don’t think I realized the full magnitude of the season until a November win over Penn State. The following week, the team was the cover story in Sports Illustrated. I hadn’t expected to be going to a big-time sports school — I mean, NU certainly wasn’t a big state school like Penn State or Ohio State — but that’s what that fall felt like. It was exciting. And I think maybe more than anything else, that whole experience really cemented my desire to be a sportswriter which, in turn, ended up shaping my life for the next 10 years.

3. Would you rather be forced to spend at least one full month in Minnesota every year for the rest of your life, or never be allowed to set foot in Minnesota again?

I’m curious why you’re asking specifically about Minnesota, but I’ll bite. As long as the one full month I was forced to spend in Minnesota wasn’t, say, January or February, then I’d definitely rather be forced to spend a month there than never set foot in the state again. I think one of the coldest nights I’ve ever experienced came in Minnesota when I had to cover a basketball game between Northwestern and the University of Minnesota in the middle of January. It was like a –50-degree wind chill or something crazy like that. So I didn’t like that much. But most of the other times I’ve spent in Minnesota have been wonderful. I remember spending a really fun couple of days there a few years ago when the full lineup of Golden Smog played at the 400 Bar. And I went to a college friend’s wedding in Minneapolis once and had a great time. I think it was on that trip that I first tried a fried cheese curd. It was at the Mall of America. I was skeptical, but it was really good! I’d be sad never to get a chance to have one again. (I know they make them other places, but I’d miss that nostalgia factor.)

4. Please make up an aphorism, a la Poor Richard's Almanack, to impart some wisdom.

Here’s two that I recently learned firsthand:

1. He that driveth behind a tractor-trailer on a foggy night ought not be in a fog.

2. Good friends, good food and a good roll down a hill make getting older much more tolerable.

Multimedia supporting that last statement can be found elsewhere on this blog, if you know where to look. By the way, I just realized I forgot to ask Paul the traditional opening question for all the interviews. I'm hereby christening him Ppaul, entitling him to answer five questions instead of four, and I'll post his additional answer sometime soon.