Drawer Cleaning and Evoked Memories or the Lack Thereof; A Mystery Card; GENIE and Compuserve; "In the Flesh"; The Adaption to my Generation; Outside

I'm sure most everyone has a drawer or box or cabinet which winds up as the default location for letters, cards, old bills, receipts, etc.

Actually, I've got several. When I moved, everything was in such a state that I moved the two chests in my old living room into my new living room as is. At the old house, I made no attempt to sort through the drawers.

In this living room, a couple of times, I've stuck my hand into a drawer, glanced at what I had and put it back. The letters and cards go back because they bring with them a flood of memories. And frequently, I'm not prepared to deal with them. Especially in this case, since some of the material is from people I knew who died of AIDS.

A slight diversion. Any time I think of dipping into something that opens up memories, I remember the wonderful lines from Dylan Thomas' "A Child's Christmas in Wales."

"All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find. In goes my hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea, and out come Mrs. Prothero and the firemen."

Sunday, I actually opened a drawer and sat down with a pile of envelopes. First off, I quickly discovered that a number of the envelopes contained very explicit gay photos. Not exactly the kind you'd send through the mail as is. Some poor Baptist postal carrier might have a hizzy fit.

A number were old holiday cards that have no emotional connection; these, at least, I was able to throw out.

The oddest was a card from someone who is a total, total blank. The stamps were not cancelled, so I don't have a sense of the date. The name rings no bell. The return address is a complete puzzle - Flushing, NY.

There is a reference to the need to hook his computer up to GENIE again. That helps some. Before the web, there were a number of general service forums that offered users the chance to meet and chat on-line. (Text only usually at 300 baud.) The two I remember were GENIE, and Compuserve.

The use of the term GENIE dates it to the mid or late 80s. Usually after I mull on something for awhile, a murky scene will appear. But not in this case. It's a total gravity sink.

Something I found amusing.

From the "Readings and Talks" section of the "Goings on About Town" part of the August 21 issue of "The New Yorker."

["The erotic-literature reading series hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel, the author of the Village Voice's "Lusty Lady" column presents Marie Lyn Bernard, Lily Burana, Shari Goldhagen, Riain Grey, Shane Luitjens, Lisa Montanarelli, and Caridad Pineiro. Candy and mini cupcakes will be distributed.']

Somehow I discovered a fascinating site, The Adaption to my Generation ++ c 7 11 23.

Jonathan Keller started on 1998 October 01 taking and posting to the web a single photo of his face each day. Very Warholian.

If you read the Q&A section, he mentions a gap from 1999-09-29 to 2000-05-26. The reason was "I was in Antarctica, working as a janitor. I didn't know if they would have appropriate computer facilities to continue the project. There was a weight limit for the amount of stuff we could bring down with us."

My outside efforts today were confined to cutting up a defunct garbage container. The pieces then going into a non-defunct garbage container. One of the hardest things to get rid of is an unwanted garbage container.

Late this afternoon, I went back to where I'd worked yesterday and began cutting away at the branches so they would fit into the garbage containers. I was surprised at how much I got done.

I'm going to have to be more careful about working for extended periods in the current heat. Several times, I've come inside, and it took hours to cool down.

PAX!