Barrington Smith

still has a blog

Family

Favorite Project of 2013

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This little multi-media art/song was my favorite piece from this year.  The lyrics pay homage to a story I remember my dad telling me when I was a kid, My brother Greg wrote and performed the music.  I made the shoe-box coffin when I was visiting Indiana over the summer and staged the picture in the back yard of my childhood home.  When I think of this, I think of my dad, of working with my brother, of painting and gluing at the kitchen table talking to my mom, digging in the dirt, and remembering that words are fun.

And I loved the way it turned out.

The Funeral of Turtle Ted

Ted Pic2

Sibling Day

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Oh, Sibling Day. This was the first year that, through the power of Facebook, I discovered  it existed, and it still passed before I knew when it was. It was yesterday. Do card companies make cards for this holiday? Answer unknown. According to the ever-helpful Wikipedia it is about 15 years old, and though not … Read more

Vegas, Baby

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This past weekend, Paul and I helped move his parents from Chatsworth–about an hour away from us–to Vegas–five hours away.  His father recently retired.  It was mostly an economic decision. The morning of the move, my mother-in-law stood by the kitchen window, looking out at the garden she had created and maintained for years, and … Read more

Things They Found in the Attic – Part 6

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Letters to my father from novelist John Fowles.   Lyme Regis, December 24th 1967 Dear Gene, Glad to hear that your project is now ‘in the can’ as the movie-makers say.  I should be very happy to read it, if you have a photostat or something you can send. I’ve lost typescripts across the Atlantic, so … Read more

Things They Found in the Attic–Part 5

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This Bible and Signs of Generational AnxietyOld bible. Post cards, newspaper clippings and copied (or written?) poems circa early 1920s. And this random piece of paper with the recounting of a bad dream. I dreamed last night of drinking some poison, perhaps carbolic acid, something that looked like blood, in milk. It seems as though … Read more

Things They Found in the Attic – Part 4

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Grandma’s dance cards. My grandma was born in 1902-ish. She went to three colleges, Purdue University, Indiana University and Michigan…something.  She didn’t graduate from any of them.  My mom thinks they just sent her off to whichever college one of her brothers was attending. She seemed to really enjoy going to college–she had this awesome … Read more

Things They Found in The Attic – Part 3

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Guns.Four old rifles.  The oldest one was from 1896.My brother vaguely remembers learning how to shoot targets once in Boy Scouts.  No one taught me how to shoot anything in Brownies,I don’t recall ever shooting a gun. In fact, I don’t recall ever holding a real gun. But holding a heavy rifle made me wish … Read more