Jerry's sister Linda and her husband Tom went on a multi-week cruise that set off from the East Coast of the USA and ended up in Sydney, Australia (with stops along the way). Upon leaving Sydney, they spent a few days in Singapore before arriving here to spend a month in Southern Spain. They arrived, of course, bearing gifts. I mentioned the Godiva chocolate (click here) — two bars for me and two for San Geraldo, which (I'll admit now) became four bars for me (and, no, I didn't ask permission). And, in case you're wondering, Godiva chocolate is the perfect topping for peanut butter on rice crackers.Linda and Tom also brought us a funny, charming, and heart-warming dish towel from New Zealand. Kiwis (the birds; not the fruit; and not the people of New Zealand who are known as kiwis) displaying their pride in all the colors of the "gay rainbow." I love it. It's so much better than one of those T-shirts that reads, "My sister went to New Zealand and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
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| RAINBOW KIWIS. |
Speaking of which (lousy T-shirts): More than 30 years ago, San Geraldo and I were traveling somewhere and I decided to buy my mother a souvenir T-shirt. I thought it was very clever. She thought it was worth a polite smile before she tucked it away in a dresser drawer where it has remained ever since.
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| I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE DOWAGER DUCHESS WON'T WEAR THIS SHIRT. (WELL, OK, THE LETTERING ISN'T VERY ELEGANT.) |
My sister Dale and I usually bought better gifts for the family when we traveled (well, at least Dale usually did). I took pictures of a couple of the items gathering dust back in Brooklyn. We bought them for The Kid Brother and I don't think he was any more excited than the Dowager Duchess was about the [lousy] T-shirt. He left them behind when he moved out in 1987. The ingrate!
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| PISA, 1974: PURCHASED BY ME FOR THE KID BROTHER. |
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| SEVILLA, 1970: PURCHASED BY SISTER DALE FOR THE KID BROTHER. (WHERE SAN GERALDO AND I LIVED MORE THAN 40 YEARS LATER.) |
By the way, when I met San Geraldo 32+ years ago, I was wearing an old pair of Fiorucci jeans, a green ribbed T-shirt (that cost $1.99 at Macy's), and green suede sneakers. He was wearing Calvin Klein jeans, a maroon(ish) polo shirt, and brown leather casual shoes. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in August. Ah, yes, remember it well.
Mitchell, This towel is great and multicoloured I would like to get it.Definitely is nice.
ReplyDeleteGosia:
DeleteI love the towel. It would make a great shirt, don't you think?
If you are a gifted person probably yes.
DeleteMitchell, always enjoy your posts because they are colourful, comedic, and I enjoy 'reading between the lines'.
ReplyDeleteHow nice that you remember what you wore when you met San Geraldo!......right down to the colour of the shoes!!
Got me thinking about what Ron and I were wearing.......other than the speedoes we had on in the pool.....who knows!!lol
Jim:
DeleteThanks for reading between the lines (well for everything else, as well). Those green suede shoes were very casual/cool. Funny; I recently bought a pair of tan suede ones very similar. As for what you wearing other than those Speedos... Smiles?
Love that towel... and the stories behind the gifts. I have no idea what either Bill or I was wearing the night we met.... but I do remember his friend from NM had a scorpion belt buckle that I coveted.
ReplyDeleteSharon:
DeleteYou married Bill to get closer to that belt buckle, didn't you!
Love the rainbow kiwis.
ReplyDeleteStephen:
DeleteSo do I. It's not easy to do that kind of design without making them too "precious." And great color blending, too.
The way you described your mother and the T-shirt was hilarious. At least she still has it.
ReplyDeleteSusie:
DeleteI'm thinking of taking it for my own the next time I visit.
"Ah, yes, remember it well." I'm sure you do. There was a pop song about thirty years ago that mentioned the Fiorucci label. Won't quite come to my mind. The tea towel is great.
ReplyDeleteAndrew:
DeleteKlaus Nomi! I had forgotten about him. I found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdbBBZE-b4Y
Think I prefer Marlene's.
Deletelove the towel....so vibrant..
ReplyDeletemike:
DeleteIt really is fun.
I love the dish towel - I do have to say though that stuffed bull with the spears sticking out of him is a bit much :)
ReplyDeleteCheapchick:
DeleteYou can still buy those bulls around here. Ugh. My sister bought it when she was 19. By the time she was 21, she was appalled by it.
Oh I wish I had seen that t-shirt!
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to give my Mo one and she would have worn it ... only around the house, by herself, but .....
Bob:
DeleteThe Duchess won't even wear it around the house... by herself... What if someone were to come to the door? But she has for years called Jerry her son-in-law and talks proudly of us both, so I'll give her a pass on the T-shirt.
I'll take your recollection as accurate of what you and S.G. were wearing all those years ago - as long as you don't claim that he was singing Russian songs!
ReplyDeleteRaybeard:
DeleteDid you know that San Geraldo has an undergraduate degree in Russian Studies? He COULD have been singing Russian songs. I know for a fact he used some Russian words that first day.
I want that fabric for a shirt!
ReplyDeleteSpo:
DeleteI'll bet you could find it... or buy a bunch of dish towels. It would make a GREAT Spo Shirt!