Taking Stock: Fear of Flying

showercurtain.jpg
My new shower curtain.

Now, is this desperate or what? A snapshot of a shower curtain, for heaven’s sake! What next? (Don’t ask!)

Although I bought it before I broke my neck (I think), this shower curtain really does serve as the blazon of my new life. Yes, I know it’s retro, and, no, I don’t pine for the late Fifties. But these scribbles capture an international optimism that was imprinted upon me at an impressionable age. The insouciant mélange of bits of Rome, Paris, London and New York evokes the first whoosh of the jet age.

To paraphrase Talleyrand: those of you who weren’t there can’t imagine how snappy life was!

Fear of Flying.

5 Responses to “Taking Stock: Fear of Flying”

  1. Tony says:

    I have to agree with you on the design. The sense of optimism was wonderful. While I was probably more shaped by the mid 60’s I still remember the effects of the post war era on my early childhood.

  2. George says:

    CAVU, plafond et visibilité illimités. Vous n’avez rien à craindre en volant mon ami. Fly now, soar! No more bad weather.

  3. Nom de plume says:

    Whoosh!

  4. LXIV says:

    Cri du coeur or crise du coeur:

    In regard to your paraphrase of Talleyrand, he also wrote, apropos l’ancien regime:

    “We walked on a carpet of flowers; the carpet covered an abyss.”

    I too, have the optimism inculcated in me as a child born in 1959. It is true that later generations (sigh, there have been more than once since my birth) did not get this optimistic world view in their upbringing. I sometimes wonder if this is good or bad. Have they lower expectations and thus, are happier with the current state of affairs or are they just living the “dumbing down” of America? Am I pining for America’s own lost “ancien regime” and living in the past, or am I realistically living in fear that my generation’s higher standards are being actively eroded by a government whose goals no longer mirror my own?

  5. Kristen says:

    Where did you find this curtain?