Posts Tagged ‘family’

don’t forget about the squidger

Posted: August 10, 2021 in Humorous Bits, Traskland
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Word came down today that my nephew was admitted to the University of Cambridge. He will begin his studies in the fall. As a statement of fact, he is officially further along than I was at 18. Heck, he is further along than I am now. Okay, I realize his accomplishment is not about me, but I simply want to assuage any uneasiness he may have harbored about a direct comparison to his New Jersey uncle. I imagine this was his predominant concern over the past several months as he awaited news of his acceptance. How could it not be? Well, the results are in and you are on it like a car bonnet. Rest easy, good nephew.

Cambridge is, as you know, one’s of the world’s most British universities. Founded over 550 years before the United States was even a gleam in a suspicious Plantagenet’s eye, they have been in the education biz for a long, long time. Not University of Bologna long, but definitely longer than (more…)

car talk

Posted: May 6, 2012 in Traskland
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When I was growing up my family always had plenty of cars. Not new ones. God forbid. I can only recall one new car during my youth, a blue Chevy Impala. Maybe my sister, who actually has a memory, can clarify this. Aside from that glaring exception we were a sort of urban Island of Misfit Cars. My dad knew a lot of people anxious to sell cars, often for $1. It was illegal to (more…)

family tree

Posted: April 30, 2012 in Humorous Bits
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The Trask Avenue family has a long history. We share with you some of those who came before us.

Traskulus? Who knows?

Traskulus Bargainus (285-330)
Traskulus Bargainus was a noted tapestry merchant in Rome during reign of Constantine I. He became widely famous for promoting the use of advertising slogans to popularize subpar and shoddy merchandise. He is alleged to have invented the concept of selling overstocked items at largely discounted prices by invoking the phrase “Everything Must Go!” However, several significant scholars claim the original phrase was actually “Everything must go before the nasty centurion bastards crash through my door and steal my goodies for the greedy Emperor”. Traskulus was commonly known to Roman citizens of the era as “Crazy Trasky”. (more…)

the gift that keeps on giving

Posted: December 20, 2011 in Observations and Commentary
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Did you ever notice when you reach a certain age it’s much more common for a name to drop off your holiday card list rather than make its way onto it? I find my list shrinks every year, if only by tiny increments. It’s a curious thing. There was a time everyone, and I mean everyone, who occupied space in my life at that moment received a card. I guess simply knowing that many people was (more…)

threads

Posted: November 25, 2011 in Photography, Traskland
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Among the items my aunt left to the family when she died in 1982 was a small, leather bound ringed notebook simply titled “Family Data”. Over the years she researched and (more…)

family dissected, city style

Posted: November 4, 2011 in Humorous Bits
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A little while back several crackerjack bloggers shared clever and amusing posts which equated states to family and other assorted characters. I believe it started with the delightful H.E. Ellis riffing on her stomping grounds of New England. Then the smart and prolific BrainRants blanketed both the West Coast and Midwest with pithy observations. (I said prolific, didn’t I?) The engaging sandylikeabeach quickly followed with a wonderful breakdown of the multiple personalities contained within her home state of Florida. If I’ve neglected to mention the contributions of other social observers who joined in, I apologize. They say memory is the first thing to go and, all things considered, it could be (more…)