Archive for Letter-writers
Pinworms, Pinocchio, and puppet shows. “a notice server, the most mealy mouthed ever encountered, noticing that we had three days to ‘quit’ the premises. […] they had awakened our landlady at eleven the night before to tell her that ‘they’ had sold her house”
Explanation of a drawing by me, discussion of what Jay and I were up to, some gardening thoughts, and a detailed discussion of Peter’s recent work changes, especially his drama-filled salary negotiations. “Niel asked the Board of Directors for the extra raise [for Peter], and they refused...on account of the Chairman of the Board was in a personal conflict with Niel and was refusing all his requests across the board that evening. So Niel raged and ranted, and next day both of them (Niel and Peter) turned in their resignations.”
In which Peter is unhappy about his work situation. “even though on the surface, mine seems like a very beautiful job (and is in some ways), yet there are many other hidden factors which are leading me to seek another position.”
Assorted updates: What Jay and I want to be when we grow up; a visit from Uncle Paul; Peter helps a suicidal man change his life; how Marcy’s garden is going; Peter plans to get a graduate degree in Psych. “Joaquin will be in the orchestra too, after he’s finished being a refrigerator truck.”
Five undated notes, mostly involving art by Jed and Jay, with descriptions. “This is a give-away machine. If anybody wants to give away something, you put it in here.”
Six more brief letters (some with art) from Jed and Jay to George and Helen. “This is a good machine. It’s a plug-in good machine. It does lots of good things for you when you’re real lazy.”
Two pieces of art by Jay, with descriptions transcribed by Marcy. “His name is Groinka haffa hoofa pap. Nobody can see what he’s doing because there’s so much paint.”
Peter explains why he doesn’t write often, and talks about my new school, and talks about his plan to set up an altar in our home with which to pay respect to our ancestors. “I hope you will understand that this is done not in the spirit of lighting candles and paying a priest to pray somebody out of purgatory, but rather in the spirit of putting flowers on someone's grave.”
The flyer for Hearthlight (the foster home), plus a thank-you letter for a large number of Christmas presents, including one particularly well-liked one. “I won’t thank you for the Cat In The Hat—you wouldn’t either, after 50 readings or so—but Joaquin does, profusely.”
Marcy has a day of many spilled items, and writes about laundry and about human reactions to surprises and Halloween costumes, among other things. “part of me loves to be angry. Adrenalin all stirred up, emotions at a high pitch, real, real feelings, alert, senses keyed up[…]. It really feels good to be functioning at this level — all systems go, just almost maximum but no overload, and afterwards an almost post-sexual feeling of good will and contentment.”