I remember / je me souviens
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For those limbic bursts of nostalgia, invented by Proust, miniaturized by Nicholson Baker, and freeze-dried by Joe Brainard in his I remember and by Georges Perec in his Je me souviens.

But there are no fractions, the world is an integer
Like us, and like us it can neither stand wholly apart nor disappear.
When one is young it seems like a very strange and safe place,
But now that I have changed it feels merely odd, cold
And full of interest.
          --John Ashbery, "A Wave"

Sometimes I sense that to put real confidence in my memory I have to get to the end of all rememberings. That seems to say that I forego remembering. And now that strikes me as an accurate description of what it is to have confidence in one's memory.
          --Stanley Cavell, The Claim of Reason


Monday, February 21, 2011
I remember the clean cut wigs I read about in Time Magazine, worn by hippies in court. I remember being impresses by one photo of a guy who seemed to have notably short hair, but who in fact had very long hair.

posted by William 4:16 AM
. . .
0 comments


I remember "Yes, I remember Adlestrop", and thinking of the poem on train journeys when we stopped at empty, rural stations. I think I read it in a poetry craft book, where the exercise was creative translation or rewriting or something. I misremembered it as being by Ted Hughes, until I saw it again today.

And now it makes me think of the British Library, because so much of the poetry I read was from there, and was like that, all meadowsweet and haycocks and Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Yet, it never felt too foreign, because I grew up with books that were very English from the time I started reading, and all those words were still a familiar (and beloved, because reading was beloved) part of my experience of the world, even if the objects they referred to were not.

posted by sravana 1:41 AM
. . .
0 comments


Monday, February 14, 2011
I remember that money and paper/books are both sacred (and somehow related, Lakshmi & Saraswati). I remember that when I was around five or six, I tore a ten rupee note while trying to stuff it into a piggy bank. This upset me terribly, not for the monetary loss (I had broken toys of greater value before), but because I thought it was sacrilege, worthy of divine punishment. I went into the prayer room and begged forgiveness. I think I glued together the note with cellophane tape, and didn't tell anyone -- not that anybody noticed. A few years later, I was made to stand on a piece of cardboard in school for some logistical reason. This was almost as bad -- I think I prayed all the time I was standing -- but I felt a little less culpable, perhaps because I was older, and because someone else made me do it.

(I'm pretty sure tearing a currency note wouldn't at all affect me spiritually now, but I'd still feel very uncomfortable about standing on paper for an extended time.)

posted by sravana 5:18 PM
. . .
0 comments


Sunday, February 13, 2011
I remember my counselor Julie changing the lyrics to "Ah-ban-ee-bee-oh-boh-eh-beh," which was one of the first songs we learned the steps to in Israeli dance. She sang, "I want to be a polar bear: I want to be a polar bear when I grow up"--and then she would add, under her breath, "As long as Greg is." I loved her sass and her uncool (to us) music (CSNY), her big-hippie style and the fact that she was in love with Greg. I stayed up late to confide in her. She left camp halfway through the summer, sent home for smoking pot.

posted by Rosasharn 9:38 PM
. . .
0 comments


I remember not understanding what tether ball was. I saw an ad for a tether ball kit on a cereal box, and I just had no idea what it was. Every other ball game I knew could be parsed from its elements: baseball, football, handball, basketball. But what was a tether? The word was completely opaque to me. I still have that atavistic reaction when I hear about astronauts tethered to their spacecraft.

posted by William 8:44 AM
. . .
0 comments


Saturday, February 12, 2011
I remember my mother saying it was fine to leave our money on the table with the bill when we ate at a Chinese restaurant once. I assumed everyone was always suspicious of each other, and so of us, and most of me. In stores I tried not to look like the shoplifter I was sure they suspected me of being. But my parents didn't seem sensitive to others' suspicions, an insensitivity I was mildly embarrassed about. I always made sure to tell the ticket-taker at the movies that my father had all our tickets, as though this was a foible of his. They never seemed surprised, though. They'd dealt with other fathers, it was clear.

posted by William 3:26 PM
. . .
0 comments


Friday, February 11, 2011
I remember the photo restoration shop on the East side of Broadway that I would always pass on my way home from the Hotel Bretton Hall. They showed before and after sepia photos, with amazing results. But what I remember about it most was the card in the window, assuring immigrants with tattered photos (I now realize) that: WIR SPRECHEN DEUTSCH / SE HABLA ESPAÑOL and then the same in Cyrillic. I somehow knew that "se" could not mean "we" and I was distressed by the fact that there wasn't a one-to-one correspondence between the assurances on this cardboard Rosetta Stone. I so wanted the Cyrillic, which my grandparents and mother could read, to just fall into place, word for word. But if didn't.

I remember finding a teach-yourself-Russian book at about the same time at our house, when I was eight or nine, and racking my brains over trying to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, but failing. The book was a black hardcover, printed on cheap paper. The lists of letters were set down in columns. But the book didn't give you any exercises, and somehow it was impossible to test yourself. And the photography shop might be able to restore what was lost, but it couldn't give me the Cyrillic I never had.

posted by William 9:12 AM
. . .
0 comments


Saturday, February 05, 2011
I remember that ski lift tickets on your parka jacket, especially after long winter weekends or vacations, were a badge of cool.

posted by William 3:43 PM
. . .
0 comments


Tuesday, February 01, 2011
I remember babysitting for Yitzi and Ashi. I remember when Ashi was a late toddler: how I loved to hear him speak, to name objects for him and get him to repeat the words. I remember pointing to things in their fridge: Broccoli. Orange Juice. Tabasco Sauce. What did he want? Cheerios.

posted by Rosasharn 11:20 AM
. . .
0 comments





RSS

Email contributions here

Stars and Buttons

Kindertrauma -- memories of scary bits of culture from early life

A weblog on memory and technology

Andy Detskas's I remember site

A high school diary from 1983

Spanish Je me souviens site, soliciting contributions

Lovely French Brainard/Perec Je me souviens site

Old NYC Subway maps! Photos of tokens!

Nicole's I remember site

Blog with a monster! (Still another I remember site)

Pepys remembers

Hearsay anecdotes

Three entries inspired by Brainard

Another I remember site

Brainard's Ten Imaginary Still Lifes

Old Bailey Trials

Yesterdayland

Lost NYC Kids' TV

Pinocchio Theory

1911 Britannica

Find of the Week

object not found

Is this you?



ARCHIVES

02/01/2002 - 03/01/2002

 03/01/2002 - 04/01/2002

 04/01/2002 - 05/01/2002

 05/01/2002 - 06/01/2002

 06/01/2002 - 07/01/2002

 07/01/2002 - 08/01/2002

 08/01/2002 - 09/01/2002

 09/01/2002 - 10/01/2002

 10/01/2002 - 11/01/2002

 11/01/2002 - 12/01/2002

 12/01/2002 - 01/01/2003

 01/01/2003 - 02/01/2003

 02/01/2003 - 03/01/2003

 03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003

 04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003

 05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003

 06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003

 07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003

 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003

 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003

 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003

 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003

 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004

 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004

 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004

 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004

 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004

 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004

 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004

 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004

 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004

 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004

 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004

 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004

 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005

 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005

 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005

 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005

 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005

 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005

 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005

 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005

 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005

 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005

 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005

 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005

 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006

 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006

 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006

 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006

 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006

 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006

 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006

 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006

 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006

 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006

 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006

 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006

 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007

 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007

 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007

 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007

 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007

 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007

 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007

 07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007

 08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007

 09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007

 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007

 11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007

 12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008

 01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008

 02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008

 03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008

 04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008

 05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008

 06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008

 07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008

 08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008

 09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008

 10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008

 11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008

 12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009

 01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009

 02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009

 03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009

 04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009

 05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009

 07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009

 08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009

 09/01/2009 - 10/01/2009

 10/01/2009 - 11/01/2009

 11/01/2009 - 12/01/2009

 12/01/2009 - 01/01/2010

 01/01/2010 - 02/01/2010

 02/01/2010 - 03/01/2010

 03/01/2010 - 04/01/2010

 04/01/2010 - 05/01/2010

 05/01/2010 - 06/01/2010

 06/01/2010 - 07/01/2010

 07/01/2010 - 08/01/2010

 08/01/2010 - 09/01/2010

 09/01/2010 - 10/01/2010

 10/01/2010 - 11/01/2010

 11/01/2010 - 12/01/2010

 12/01/2010 - 01/01/2011

 01/01/2011 - 02/01/2011

 02/01/2011 - 03/01/2011

 03/01/2011 - 04/01/2011

 04/01/2011 - 05/01/2011

 05/01/2011 - 06/01/2011

 07/01/2011 - 08/01/2011

 08/01/2011 - 09/01/2011

 09/01/2011 - 10/01/2011

 10/01/2011 - 11/01/2011

 11/01/2011 - 12/01/2011

 12/01/2011 - 01/01/2012

 01/01/2012 - 02/01/2012

 02/01/2012 - 03/01/2012

 03/01/2012 - 04/01/2012

 04/01/2012 - 05/01/2012

 05/01/2012 - 06/01/2012

 06/01/2012 - 07/01/2012

 07/01/2012 - 08/01/2012

 08/01/2012 - 09/01/2012

 09/01/2012 - 10/01/2012

 10/01/2012 - 11/01/2012

 11/01/2012 - 12/01/2012

 12/01/2012 - 01/01/2013

 01/01/2013 - 02/01/2013

 02/01/2013 - 03/01/2013

 03/01/2013 - 04/01/2013

 04/01/2013 - 05/01/2013

 05/01/2013 - 06/01/2013

 06/01/2013 - 07/01/2013

 07/01/2013 - 08/01/2013

 08/01/2013 - 09/01/2013

 09/01/2013 - 10/01/2013

 10/01/2013 - 11/01/2013

 11/01/2013 - 12/01/2013

 12/01/2013 - 01/01/2014

 01/01/2014 - 02/01/2014

 02/01/2014 - 03/01/2014

 03/01/2014 - 04/01/2014

 06/01/2014 - 07/01/2014

 07/01/2014 - 08/01/2014

 08/01/2014 - 09/01/2014

 09/01/2014 - 10/01/2014

 10/01/2014 - 11/01/2014

 12/01/2014 - 01/01/2015

 02/01/2015 - 03/01/2015

 03/01/2015 - 04/01/2015

 04/01/2015 - 05/01/2015

 05/01/2015 - 06/01/2015

 07/01/2015 - 08/01/2015

 08/01/2015 - 09/01/2015

 11/01/2015 - 12/01/2015

 12/01/2015 - 01/01/2016

 01/01/2016 - 02/01/2016

 05/01/2016 - 06/01/2016

 06/01/2016 - 07/01/2016

 07/01/2016 - 08/01/2016

 08/01/2016 - 09/01/2016

 09/01/2016 - 10/01/2016

 11/01/2016 - 12/01/2016

 12/01/2016 - 01/01/2017

 02/01/2017 - 03/01/2017

 03/01/2017 - 04/01/2017

 04/01/2017 - 05/01/2017

 07/01/2017 - 08/01/2017

 09/01/2017 - 10/01/2017

 01/01/2018 - 02/01/2018

 02/01/2018 - 03/01/2018

 03/01/2018 - 04/01/2018

 04/01/2018 - 05/01/2018

 05/01/2018 - 06/01/2018

 07/01/2018 - 08/01/2018

 08/01/2018 - 09/01/2018

 10/01/2018 - 11/01/2018

 11/01/2018 - 12/01/2018

 12/01/2018 - 01/01/2019

 01/01/2019 - 02/01/2019

 03/01/2019 - 04/01/2019

 05/01/2019 - 06/01/2019

 06/01/2019 - 07/01/2019

 07/01/2019 - 08/01/2019

 10/01/2019 - 11/01/2019

 01/01/2020 - 02/01/2020

 03/01/2020 - 04/01/2020

 04/01/2020 - 05/01/2020

 05/01/2020 - 06/01/2020

 06/01/2020 - 07/01/2020

 07/01/2020 - 08/01/2020

 08/01/2020 - 09/01/2020

 09/01/2020 - 10/01/2020

 11/01/2020 - 12/01/2020

 12/01/2020 - 01/01/2021

 02/01/2021 - 03/01/2021

 03/01/2021 - 04/01/2021

 06/01/2021 - 07/01/2021

 07/01/2021 - 08/01/2021

 09/01/2021 - 10/01/2021

 12/01/2021 - 01/01/2022

 03/01/2022 - 04/01/2022

 04/01/2022 - 05/01/2022

 07/01/2022 - 08/01/2022

 08/01/2022 - 09/01/2022

 09/01/2022 - 10/01/2022

 10/01/2022 - 11/01/2022

 12/01/2022 - 01/01/2023

 01/01/2023 - 02/01/2023

 04/01/2023 - 05/01/2023

 05/01/2023 - 06/01/2023

 06/01/2023 - 07/01/2023

 08/01/2023 - 09/01/2023

 11/01/2023 - 12/01/2023

 12/01/2023 - 01/01/2024

 01/01/2024 - 02/01/2024

 02/01/2024 - 03/01/2024

 05/01/2024 - 06/01/2024

 08/01/2024 - 09/01/2024

 09/01/2024 - 10/01/2024

 12/01/2024 - 01/01/2025

 01/01/2025 - 02/01/2025

 HOME




Buy Wordsworth, Proust, Baker@Amazon.com

Buy Joe Brainard's I Remember


Try to buy Georges Perec's Je me souviens


This page is powered by Blogger. Is yours?

. . .