I am on a mission! I want to help my friend, a 75-year-old man in Chicago who is heartbroken because he hasn't seen his lifelong best friend, Jack Holt, in years.
Jack (or John) Holt would also be about 75 today. About 12 years ago, Jack moved from 6938 W. Medill in Chicago to the San Diego area to be with his sister, Joan Holt, and his mother, Mrs. Arthur Holt (unsure of her first name). Joan Holt is retired from working from the San Diego County district attorney. Mrs. Arthur Holt, who would be in her 90s now, worked for the Sec. of State's office in Illinois. Last my neighbor knew, Jack Holt had never married or had children.
This is all the information I have about the family. My friend doesn't have a computer and is struggling with loneliness and other emotions related to aging. He misses his friend, who he describes as being "like a brother," and it would mean the world to get to talk to him again after all these years.
For younger generations like mine (I'm 31), staying in touch or finding "old friends" is no sweat. We use Facebook and cell phones and don't bat an eyelash. But my friend has no computer and no way of tracking down his "brother" at a time in his life where reconnecting would mean so much.
If you have any info or suggestions that might help me find Jack Holt or his family, I will greatly appreciate it -- and you'll make a huge difference in someone's life.
Thanks!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
New year, new writing!
OK, so the NaNoWriMo plan didn't pan out perfectly. I did write a few thousand words and come up with an outline for a future book, though. Better than nothing. :)
And what's way better? Monday I start an 8-week online writing workshop led by one of my favorite authors and inspirations, Ariel Gore. You may remember her from the motivating and generally cool-chick interview she gave me this time a couple years ago: Ariel interview Pt. 1 and Pt. 2. I've been writing up a storm just at the thought of the workshop. I'll let y'all know how it goes.
In other news, the Hidden Mitten was in the studio last week recording a new EP (YAY!!!!) and I'm also getting the Silver Lining Writers Group back together for the new year. Woohoo! It feels awesome to end '08 and start '09 on a creative note. A studio diary will be coming soon from me, and in the meantime, here's the scoop on writing group from my Facebook post:
So, in 2007 I had this superfun writers group going with various friends. We got together every month or so to drink, hang out, and either talk about writing -- or not talk about writing, depending on mood. It was open to anyone with an interest in writing, so we had everyone from those with a published book to those who prided themselves on writing kickass e-mails. If one of us needed to vent about writer's block or a torturous freelance assignment, we did (and we drank). If one of us was celebrating seeing their article in print or book in stores, we did (and we drank). Those were good, inspiring, camaraderie-infused times.
Then I got a full-time job. Projects like finishing my book, writing on my blog, printing my 'zine, and getting the writer's group together fell tragically but understandably by the wayside. To that I say: NO MORE! Many members have asked when we're meeting again, and I shall put it off no more. Break out the whiskey and put on your best Hemingway pants -- for as the new year looms, Silver Lining Writers Group returns! Woohoo!
WHEN: 6 p.m. (or as soon as you can get there) Monday, January 19
WHERE: Hopleaf Bar, 5148 N. Clark http://www.hopleaf.com/
WHAT ELSE: For new-year's inspiration, we'll head to the Neo-Futurariam for the 8 p.m. show of my favorite theater production ever, That's Weird, Grandma. The show is cheap ($9), short (1 hr.), and unforgettably different and hilarious every time. (The Barrel of Monkeys troupe works with Chicago Public School kids, who write short sketches that the adult actors perform in the show.) If kids can write, we can write -- right?! :)http://www.barrelofmonkeys.org/
HOW: New people are always welcome! You can come for the meeting and the show, or one or the other. You can bring friends. You can dance on the bar. Bring it on. (And if you do, I'll definitely regale you with the infamous story of "salsa sock," which was born after a particularly whiskey-fueled meeting at (may it rest in peace) Pontiac Cafe. Just comment and RSVP so I know how many seats to grab at the Hopleaf.
Happy new year and happy writing and reading to everyone!
LOVE & LIT,
Erin :)
And what's way better? Monday I start an 8-week online writing workshop led by one of my favorite authors and inspirations, Ariel Gore. You may remember her from the motivating and generally cool-chick interview she gave me this time a couple years ago: Ariel interview Pt. 1 and Pt. 2. I've been writing up a storm just at the thought of the workshop. I'll let y'all know how it goes.
In other news, the Hidden Mitten was in the studio last week recording a new EP (YAY!!!!) and I'm also getting the Silver Lining Writers Group back together for the new year. Woohoo! It feels awesome to end '08 and start '09 on a creative note. A studio diary will be coming soon from me, and in the meantime, here's the scoop on writing group from my Facebook post:
So, in 2007 I had this superfun writers group going with various friends. We got together every month or so to drink, hang out, and either talk about writing -- or not talk about writing, depending on mood. It was open to anyone with an interest in writing, so we had everyone from those with a published book to those who prided themselves on writing kickass e-mails. If one of us needed to vent about writer's block or a torturous freelance assignment, we did (and we drank). If one of us was celebrating seeing their article in print or book in stores, we did (and we drank). Those were good, inspiring, camaraderie-infused times.
Then I got a full-time job. Projects like finishing my book, writing on my blog, printing my 'zine, and getting the writer's group together fell tragically but understandably by the wayside. To that I say: NO MORE! Many members have asked when we're meeting again, and I shall put it off no more. Break out the whiskey and put on your best Hemingway pants -- for as the new year looms, Silver Lining Writers Group returns! Woohoo!
WHEN: 6 p.m. (or as soon as you can get there) Monday, January 19
WHERE: Hopleaf Bar, 5148 N. Clark http://www.hopleaf.com/
WHAT ELSE: For new-year's inspiration, we'll head to the Neo-Futurariam for the 8 p.m. show of my favorite theater production ever, That's Weird, Grandma. The show is cheap ($9), short (1 hr.), and unforgettably different and hilarious every time. (The Barrel of Monkeys troupe works with Chicago Public School kids, who write short sketches that the adult actors perform in the show.) If kids can write, we can write -- right?! :)http://www.barrelofmonkeys.org/
HOW: New people are always welcome! You can come for the meeting and the show, or one or the other. You can bring friends. You can dance on the bar. Bring it on. (And if you do, I'll definitely regale you with the infamous story of "salsa sock," which was born after a particularly whiskey-fueled meeting at (may it rest in peace) Pontiac Cafe. Just comment and RSVP so I know how many seats to grab at the Hopleaf.
Happy new year and happy writing and reading to everyone!
LOVE & LIT,
Erin :)
Saturday, November 1, 2008
NaNoWriMo 2008!
It's Nov. 1 and I'm embarking on a new project: National Novel Writing Month (AKA NaNoWriMo). This means I'm going to try to write the first draft of a manuscript in one month. Yikes! Scary! But hopefully it will be just the kick in the pants I need to write more. I look back on the time when I had time to write on this blog or my Myspace blog every day, and it blows my mind all the memories and stories I was getting down on "paper." The habit of writing really is a huge part of the process, and I'm crossing my fingers it comes back to me like riding a bike (though you may know the story of how I didn't learn to ride 'til I was 19, so that old adage doesn't quite work here).
ANYWAY. Wish me luck! I'm hoping to post every day to keep track of my word count. 50,000 in a month is the NaNoWriMo goal. Here goes nothin' - or hopefully, somethin'!
LOVE & STORIES,
Erin
ANYWAY. Wish me luck! I'm hoping to post every day to keep track of my word count. 50,000 in a month is the NaNoWriMo goal. Here goes nothin' - or hopefully, somethin'!
LOVE & STORIES,
Erin
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Silver Lining zine: You're Looking at Country, pt. 2
We rejoin Silver Lining contributing writer Jennifer Levin in her love of country music. You can catch pt. 1 in the previous post. - Erin
Who says who gets to listen to what? Well…though we were not religious, my parents called the principal in protest when I was made to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful” in elementary school, and when I was 10, on a family camping trip through Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, they warned me daily not to tell anyone we were Jewish. In retrospect, this level of “Jewish damage” is out of proportion to the sporadic and relatively tame anti-Semitism I actually encountered growing up, but…at a company Christmas party three years ago, jealous of the two-stepping couples on the dance floor, I asked a co-worker to teach me. “Don’t be silly,” she laughed, gulping water and grabbing her girlfriend by the hand, “Jews don’t have to know how to two-step.”
I was appalled, yet felt the need to defend myself to her in my head, angrily listing the CDs currently in rotation in my car: Jimmie Rodgers, Gillian Welch, Iris DeMent, the Carter Family, Allison Krauss and Union Station — who did she think she was? I had nothing to prove. And still…
Last August, I put off going to the Santa Fe Bluegrass Festival for the first two-and-a-half days, citing housework and other obligations. But on Sunday evening William and I finally headed for the rodeo grounds, where I knew that anyone with any street cred would recognize me as an interloper.
“Everyone’s so old-timey,” I said, and though no one had even looked at me, “I feel Jewish.”
“Jewish is like the oldest of the old-timey,” said William.
We settled into the main performance tent just in time to hear the band play Del McCoury’s “I Feel the Blues Moving In,” one of my all-time favorite songs. Knowing the lyrics to the first song I heard eased my anxiety. I let the music take over and forgot to feel like an outsider. The only thing required of me was an unending tolerance for the music. Turns out, I really can listen to it forever.
The Bluegrass Festival was a turning point for me, and we’ll be going for all three days this year. I can no longer deny who I am. However, I still need two-stepping lessons and I’d also like to learn to clog and yodel. In return, I can teach you how to make potato latkes and pineapple noodle kugel.
Who says who gets to listen to what? Well…though we were not religious, my parents called the principal in protest when I was made to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful” in elementary school, and when I was 10, on a family camping trip through Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, they warned me daily not to tell anyone we were Jewish. In retrospect, this level of “Jewish damage” is out of proportion to the sporadic and relatively tame anti-Semitism I actually encountered growing up, but…at a company Christmas party three years ago, jealous of the two-stepping couples on the dance floor, I asked a co-worker to teach me. “Don’t be silly,” she laughed, gulping water and grabbing her girlfriend by the hand, “Jews don’t have to know how to two-step.”
I was appalled, yet felt the need to defend myself to her in my head, angrily listing the CDs currently in rotation in my car: Jimmie Rodgers, Gillian Welch, Iris DeMent, the Carter Family, Allison Krauss and Union Station — who did she think she was? I had nothing to prove. And still…
Last August, I put off going to the Santa Fe Bluegrass Festival for the first two-and-a-half days, citing housework and other obligations. But on Sunday evening William and I finally headed for the rodeo grounds, where I knew that anyone with any street cred would recognize me as an interloper.
“Everyone’s so old-timey,” I said, and though no one had even looked at me, “I feel Jewish.”
“Jewish is like the oldest of the old-timey,” said William.
We settled into the main performance tent just in time to hear the band play Del McCoury’s “I Feel the Blues Moving In,” one of my all-time favorite songs. Knowing the lyrics to the first song I heard eased my anxiety. I let the music take over and forgot to feel like an outsider. The only thing required of me was an unending tolerance for the music. Turns out, I really can listen to it forever.
The Bluegrass Festival was a turning point for me, and we’ll be going for all three days this year. I can no longer deny who I am. However, I still need two-stepping lessons and I’d also like to learn to clog and yodel. In return, I can teach you how to make potato latkes and pineapple noodle kugel.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Silver Lining zine: You're Looking at Country by Jennifer Levin
Today's Silver Lining contributor, the lovely Jennifer Levin, comes to us from Santa Fe, NM, by way of Chicago, where she once struggled with being Jewish, Midwestern, AND a fan of Country & Western music all at once. Read on! - Erin
When I was nine I wanted to be Tom Sawyer. I wore overalls, went barefoot, and to the dismay of my family and classmates, attempted to learn the harmonica. That I was a girl living in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago in 1984 didn’t dampen my desire to exist in the 1840s. Eventually, however, I grew breasts and could no longer convince myself of the fantasy.
In high school, though I shaved off most of my hair and wore combat boots, I preferred Pasty Cline to Siouxsie Sioux. In college, my affinity for the Waterboys inspired my roommate to forbid me from choosing the music anymore, because the Waterboys picking made her feel “too white.” And when I grew up and got a job and started listening to bluegrass in my office, co-workers leaned in to ask how someone like me had ever been exposed to country music.
“Someone like me” means “Jew from Chicago.” And though I would classify what I listen to as many things — bluegrass, high lonesome, rockabilly, twang, Western swing, classic country, alt-country — it is, indeed, country.
This country-love began about six years ago when my boyfriend William came home with the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou and changed my life. Everything about this “old-timey” music was right for me — I told William I could listen to “I’ll Fly Away” forever. And yet, the curiosity my new musical pursuits provoked in others gave me pause. Who was I to sing along with a church song about going to heaven?
Was I being ridiculous?
(Was she? Was Jennifer being ridiculous? More tomorrow, when "You're Looking at Country" concludes. Can't wait! - Erin)
When I was nine I wanted to be Tom Sawyer. I wore overalls, went barefoot, and to the dismay of my family and classmates, attempted to learn the harmonica. That I was a girl living in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago in 1984 didn’t dampen my desire to exist in the 1840s. Eventually, however, I grew breasts and could no longer convince myself of the fantasy.
In high school, though I shaved off most of my hair and wore combat boots, I preferred Pasty Cline to Siouxsie Sioux. In college, my affinity for the Waterboys inspired my roommate to forbid me from choosing the music anymore, because the Waterboys picking made her feel “too white.” And when I grew up and got a job and started listening to bluegrass in my office, co-workers leaned in to ask how someone like me had ever been exposed to country music.
“Someone like me” means “Jew from Chicago.” And though I would classify what I listen to as many things — bluegrass, high lonesome, rockabilly, twang, Western swing, classic country, alt-country — it is, indeed, country.
This country-love began about six years ago when my boyfriend William came home with the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou and changed my life. Everything about this “old-timey” music was right for me — I told William I could listen to “I’ll Fly Away” forever. And yet, the curiosity my new musical pursuits provoked in others gave me pause. Who was I to sing along with a church song about going to heaven?
Was I being ridiculous?
(Was she? Was Jennifer being ridiculous? More tomorrow, when "You're Looking at Country" concludes. Can't wait! - Erin)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Trade in Celebrity Obsession for Community Service
A friend in Oklahoma's blog this morning really inspired me. My heart aches right now over all the things it made me think about. Thankfully, I'm an optimist and I truly believe it's not too late to save our society from becoming a cesspool. But we all need to do our part to turn this freaking ship around. A link to his blog plus my response and call to action are now on the Open Books blog.
L&G,
e
P.S. -- After you read the blogs, I hope those in Chicago will suck it up and sign up to help Open Books with our Big Move. We can't do the bulk of our work until we get our books moved and sorted. They are used in critical community service programs and are sold to pay for all the literacy work we do. We desperately need people for the early Public Storage shifts, 7 - 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 2-3. Just this once, get up early on a weekend. Then you can skip the gym and eat all your want at Super Bowl parties as a reward.
L&G,
e
P.S. -- After you read the blogs, I hope those in Chicago will suck it up and sign up to help Open Books with our Big Move. We can't do the bulk of our work until we get our books moved and sorted. They are used in critical community service programs and are sold to pay for all the literacy work we do. We desperately need people for the early Public Storage shifts, 7 - 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 2-3. Just this once, get up early on a weekend. Then you can skip the gym and eat all your want at Super Bowl parties as a reward.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Silver Lining zine: Favorite Questions #3
Three favorite questions for . . .
Jim Hall, Chicago, IL, 28
1. What's one BOOK that has made your life better?
The Brother's Karamazov because it's impossible to fee sorry for yourself when faced with a Dostoevsky character.
2. What's one ALBUM that has made your life better?
June of '44. Four Great Points. It proved to me that the music I wanted to listen to was out there, and that if I listened well enough, I could find it, and maybe make it myself.
3. What's one way you can take lemons and make lemonade?
I'm finding out just how productive I can be without constant internet access.
Jim Hall, Chicago, IL, 28
1. What's one BOOK that has made your life better?
The Brother's Karamazov because it's impossible to fee sorry for yourself when faced with a Dostoevsky character.
2. What's one ALBUM that has made your life better?
June of '44. Four Great Points. It proved to me that the music I wanted to listen to was out there, and that if I listened well enough, I could find it, and maybe make it myself.
3. What's one way you can take lemons and make lemonade?
I'm finding out just how productive I can be without constant internet access.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
