random memories

I love what Mad's been doing with her decluttering: blogging her mementoes and sometimes throwing the actual object away. I was looking for bad high school poems to post but I think I must have packed my notebooks up and put them in storage back when we thought we were going to sell our house and move. I did, however, find some old memories.

My 21st birthday sucked. I was recovering from a minor but painful surgery, one of my new kittens had died, my boyfriend had suddenly stopped speaking to me, and my parents were hosting a family reunion (my birthday's on Boxing Day). I survived, and by the New Year I think I was mostly past my pity party.

In March, I noticed my friends were whispering around me and conversations would sometimes stop suddenly when I came in the room. I was kind of concerned, but didn't know what to do about it, until one day I came home from classes and there was a party going on. "Surprise!! Happy 21 and a quarter birthday!!!" my friends yelled.

It was great. They gave me funny gifts (including the pink chicken featured in this old post) and the kids' sunglasses pictured here.



After I opened my gifts, we started off on a barhopping treasure hunt with clues and everything. Last night I found some of the clues:








(remember the CIJ hats and egg story I told a while back?)

* * *

I also found the poster



that set off the chain of events that took me to the Harbourfront Writers' Festival Tribute to Al Purdy in October 1996


(Hey look! It's Swee'pea's grasping fingers trying to get hold of the ticket WAY after his bedtime!)

and later, interview him at his home in Sydney in the summer of 1997. All of which I described more than a year ago AND included a link to my favourite poem of all time, "Necropsy of Love." Judging by the number of googlers coming here looking for Al Purdy and "Necropsy of Love" this fall, I think he must be on a few syllabuses.