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14 July 2007

Yesterday I was really depressed [More:]It was a tough day for me: two of my tenants, two guys who were formerly lovers who no longer live together got into a fistfight and one's mom got in the middle to try and break it up and got hurt, the ongoing morass that is America, cleaning out--four years after his death--my grandfather's house. All these things just were tough, some physically, some emotionally.

In cleaning out the house, I came across a ton of Houston newspapers, mostly from World War II and World War I. Scanning the bullet points (which read like the ticker on Fox News, nothing ever changes, does it?) from a paper dated 1918, I saw "Woman screaming on deck throws baby into German U-boat, which explodes". I didn't have time to read the article the, I just showed it to my mom and questioned how we could ever consider ourselves different from the fanatics against whom we are struggling today.

I had been close to tears most of yesterday because of these events.

This morning, with my coffee, I decide to read this nearly 90 year old newspaper, and specifically the article about the crazy woman.

Turns out, the British ship had been torpedoed by the submarine, and quickly began to abandon ship, but one person hastily devised a plan to strike back.

Y'see, the "woman" was actually a male soldier who found time to put himself in drag. The "baby" was a bomb. The "woman" acted hysterically to get close enough to throw the "baby" down into the hold of the U-boat and BOOM. U-boat sinks.

The "woman" was awarded the Victorian Cross.

War is still horrific, but actually reading the story rather than the bombastic bullet points -- the words "woman" and "baby" did not have quotation marks in the bullet points, but did in the article -- cheered me up quite a bit, which makes me feel a little odd, but there you go. War is hell, but sometimes can be amusing with nearly a century's worth of distance.

This morning I called my mom and told her to turn off Fox News and start reading the paper, so she'll stop calling me in the middle of the night to tell me things like Arafat died of AIDS.
Also? Lenin was apparently spelled "Lenine" back in the day.
posted by WolfDaddy 14 July | 08:19
What are you going to do with the old newspapers, WolfDaddy? Is there a local museum or archive that might be interested in them? Or a school?
posted by essexjan 14 July | 08:31
WolfDaddy, that is tough.

I've inadvertently come across newspaper articles online that describe a tragic killing or some other terrible accident that is depressing.

Hope you're feeling better and thanks for sharing the baby bomb story. I liked it.
posted by LoriFLA 14 July | 09:53
Wow what a time capsule. ((((wolfDaddy))))
posted by chewatadistance 14 July | 10:26
I've got something upstairs that should cheer you up just a liddle, sweetums.
posted by taz 14 July | 10:49
Glad you're feeling betterish.

And yeah, definitely preserve those newspapers. That is so cool that you found stuff like that.
posted by CitrusFreak12 14 July | 11:08
Sorry you had such a rough day, WolfDaddy. Very interesting story, though, about the "baby"/bomb... it would make a great poem or personal essay, along with the details/memories of cleaning out your grandfather's house, if you were into such things.
posted by Pips 14 July | 11:44
I don't know what I'm going to do with the papers but keep them. I'm actually going to take them to my local comic book shop since I figure they know all about how to preserve stuff printed on paper. :-)

Also? I just got TVersity working on my PSP! woot!

If what's upstairs is hot, male, and has a toddy for me taz, I'm on the next plane to Greece baby. What shall I bring YOU?
posted by WolfDaddy 14 July | 11:51
maybe we'll share... the toddy. :)
posted by taz 14 July | 11:55
Oh, and pips, I'm definitely going to write something about all the "toys in the attic" we found. Two of which were studio portraits of my great-grandfathers, taken between 40 and 50 years ago (they both died when I was about 2 years old).

The cool thing? They're both wearing my glasses. I still don't have a picture of *me* wearing them, but soon.

Please to enjoy this self-link I once wrote about my Nanny
posted by WolfDaddy 14 July | 12:22
Big Dog || get your "awwwww" on.

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