Memory Would Be A Nice Name For A Girl
4/10/2

I was thinking about memories just now. NASA Contact and I were talking [actually email] about stuff and I got me on the subject of what I can remember.

And it just occurred to me that I�ve, today, become an odd part of someone�s permanent collection. But I�ll get to that later.

Arguably, my first ever memory is of being in church with my sister. We were left unattended for a short amount of time and we ran all over the place. I don�t remember being captured or disciplined. But I don�t recall it going on for too long. I could almost draw a picture of the area we were in.

I also remember, slightly, the razor blade incident, which my mother now denies happening. Conveniently, she did tell the story to Aisai and the family in the early 1990s, so Aisai knows I�m not crazy. We had gotten groceries, or Mom had, as I was a babyish toddler person. Mom forgot something and had to go in. I remember the car being a dark colored station wagon, but I don�t think that�s the case since I�ve never seen any pictures of Mom and Dad owning a dark station wagon. But Kelley and I got into the groceries when mom was gone and I cut my face with a razor blade. I, to this day, can�t grow facial hair very well where the cut was. It�s right outside the left side of my goatee from nose level to the edge of my chin, running vertically.

Another first memory is, I think, also at church. I was in one of those �Mother�s Day Out� type daycare thingies and I looked at a newspaper. There was a picture of a kid, a female around four years old, holding a spider. I know now that it was a novelty photo, probably in the Life section. I can even remember the way the photo was framed, with the girl�s head facing the spider on the right side of the picture and her holding the spider, a tarantula I�m guessing, up near her face on the left side of the picture. I can almost remember a blueish background and strong sunlight. The picture upset me greatly since I thought that the spider was hurting the girl. I remember the pretty, medium length haired woman in charge, around 17 to 22 years old, explaining to me at length that the girl wasn�t being hurt. I didn�t understand or was unwilling to accept it, but the lady still explained it to me, calmly.

My college days of godless reveling have removed many of my memories. I remember things based on where I was. And seeing Mountain Gap School can make me remember my childhood very well. We drove by it on Sunday. I can remember snippets, but I can�t get context or place events in chronological order.

One of my most vivid memories of being a kid around 10 was when I was playing over at the school with Matt and I vomited into a storm drain. I told Matt not to tell anyone since my parents wouldn�t let me go to the �Gaporee,� our fall festival at school the next day, if they knew.

I�m only telling you the good things. For some reason, most of my memories that I do remember aren�t too good. Children are cruel and people are selfish.

So, before I get too longwinded and sorrowful, how did I make myself a memorable part of someone�s life?

I�ll call the guy Slammy, since I don�t know his real name.

Ace and me were out in the plant taking pictures of the environmental mini-disaster/inconvenience which has come upon us. I was walking back to my office with the Mavica and BLAM...Slammy slammed The Director�s door really, really loudly. I popped into the air a few feet as Slammy walked past me, but he did look at me, suspended in the air. Mountain Man asked me, �What was that?� And I replied �Him� and pointed at Slammy. I rounded the corner into the hallway and Slammy turned and entered the uncarpeted portion of the lobby on his way out. Princess Fluffy asked me, �What was that?� I pointed with my thumb, over my shoulder and said, �That guy.�

Then he opened the front door and was gone.

For some reason, I think he�ll remember me for saying that.

I asked his supervisor whether he was fired before or after he slammed the door. Turns out he was fired just before. I said, �Well, I guess he wanted to make sure you guys didn�t have any doubt about your decision.�

I shaved my head Monday night. It�s nice to be shorn. The goatee is still as rangy as ever though. I�m afraid to trim it since I do such a bad job.

My headaches have simmered down. They are almost gone completely, though I was feeling a bad one come up after being outside taking pictures in the hot Alabama sun.

Ooh, I love summer. I figure we�ll have our first 90 degree day by the end of the month. Whoo hoo.