I've been trying to make inroads on one of my goals for February today.
Specifically the one about scanning and digitizing an old scrapbook of photos into my computer.
The book is massive(or seems so)and it encompasses the years from 1973-1984.
I've gotten about up to 1980 so far in the scanning and I've downloaded 138 photos and have begun to crop and digitize them.
What's also hindering my progress is that those 1970's years have many negative memories for me. My family life was a mess during those years, so I am reliving some unpleasant stuff. But in the long run, this is good for me psychologically as I am facing feelings I've never worked through.
Making the work go even slowly is the fact that my mother has mislabeled many of the photos during the 1973-1978 years.....mislabeled not once but twice! Years are written and scratched through and written again and some scratched through again! It's a mess.
I know why this happened and it's quite understandable why once you know all the facts, but that's a post for another time. I mention it to just explain why this thing on my To-Do List seems to be slogging on and on and on.
I do want to show you all a funny photo I found today.
My parents made a trip in 1973 to the Kentucky Derby with some of my father's business partners and their wives. They stayed at only the best hotels, ate out at the grand restaurants and generally partied bigtime like 40 year old married couples did back in the day. There were reception parties in the hotel suites and the alcohol flowed freely.
I remember when my mother got her photos developed upon her return home, she showed me the shots she had taken and when she got to this one, I just said, "WTH?!"
My mother said she had gone to someone's suite for a reception the night before the Derby and had struck up a conversation with the tall black man on the left in the photo and then had taken this picture before she left.
Mom had no clue who either of these gentlemen where and we still don't know the name of the guy wearing his wife's Derby Bonnet. Evidently someone had told my mother that the tall man was a famous basketball player and that is why she took the picture.
Even knowing his name, she still really didn't know who he was. But she made sure she wrote down in the scrapbook his name for posterity.
You might know him better from this photo taken quite a few years later and the nickname "A Train".....
Yes, my mother went partying with #53 Artis Gilmore in 1973 when he was in the ABA and a member of the Kentucky Colonels team.
The thought of it just makes me want to giggle......
Go check out Artis' website HERE.
Sluggy
I think these pictures are such an amazing legacy for you and your kids, even if they bring some sad memories. My parents are doing a little bit of genealogy, but almost all of the records and pictures were destroyed during the World War 2. We only have a handful of pictures left. I don't even know what my grandparents looked like :(
ReplyDeleteThat IS a funny picture.
ReplyDeleteA word about cropping--I had some pictures reproduced for a friend, getting them from an elderly neighbor of mine. The photo place cropped them. So, the model T was gone forever as far as the recipients of the copied photos was concerned. Upon seeing them in the photo place, I had them redone.
The same thing happened when I had a picture of my son reporduced. He was thre, sitting on the porch with no shoes and his toes curled under. I had always thought that was sweet...toes, I mean. They did the photo.
My daughter and niece were one-year-old and clinging to a bench in front of Mama's house. Only the babies upon the verge of walking were reproduced. The bench my Daddy made, the front door they had, nothing else existed. For my sake and posterity's sake, I think that keeping all the picture, even the unpretty parts is important. Some day, someone will see an antique in the picture...okay, I could go on. I would hate to see my pictures devoid of family personality.
I treat digital reproductions in two ways. I copy the picture, save it as 'mama1960pic1,' crop it, and save it as 'mama1960pic2.' Okay, you can ignore this comment if you want, just thought I might give you a thought about all the junk we might crop out of a picture.
I know what you mean about depressing and living through stuff. It is the same thing when I look through my wedding album. Sad times.
My sister took possession of all our family photos (and anything else she could get her hands on). She's welcome to them! You're brave for saving the documentation of your childhood.
ReplyDeleteHave you read "Naked" by David Sedaris? If not, you should. It's funny from a dysfunctional childhood perspective. It also happens to be even funnier if you're Greek. Even though you're not Greek, I think you'd enjoy it.
I have never partied with a famous basketball player. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteI'm w/Sonya Ann...I haven't partied w/a famous basketball player either...well yet anyway!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you are doing this even though it is hard. I love looking at old photos!
ReplyDelete