Wednesday, June 21, 2017

DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Here are the answers to the queries I posted yesterday in TIP TUESDAY: STUCK ON PHRASES.

a day that will live in infamy--Franklin Roosevelt 
military industrial complex--Dwight Eisenhower
dirty tricks--Richard Nixon
grassy knoll--John Kennedy
Don't cry for me, Argentina--George H.W. Bush

The phrase from Bush is the one that none of you knew. Here's the complete quotation:

“You cannot be president of the United States if you don’t have faith. Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial and the Civil War and all that stuff. You can’t be. And we are blessed. So don’t feel sorry for — don’t cry for me, Argentina. Message: I care.”
President George Bush, Sr., speaking to employees of an insurance company during the 1992 New Hampshire primary  (source: 20 of the most ludicrous political quotes of all time--you might enjoy clicking on the link; it includes Bill Clinton's words about the definition of is).

Now, as for "there is no there there," yes, it was written by Gertrude Stein in her autobiography when she recalled her childhood in Oakland, California. Although it has come to mean a lack of substance or truthfulness, Stein most likely meant that when she visited the home of her youth, nothing was the same. 

Recently, I Googled images of homes that I lived in as a child. I agree with Ms. Stein. Those houses are nothing like the way I remember them. Nothing of me is in those properties.


Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

35 comments:

  1. I have never thought of Googling my childhood homes. I am going to do it right now!

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    1. It's interesting. I also Googled homes I've lived in as an adult. I can't believe how much they sell for now.

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  2. How fun to know Argentina was an all around "gotcha!"

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    1. I was surprised no one remembered it. It's always stuck in my head, but a lot of worthless knowledge runs around in my brain.

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  3. Oh Goddess, they're going to revoke my Lesbian Nation membership card for not recognizing that quotation by Gertrude Stein. They're going to, so to speak, "have a cow."

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    1. I am a citizen of the United States. Therefore, I have weapons (a BB gun, but no BBs--I'll get some). I'll fight to the death to keep anyone from taking your Lesbian card.

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  4. hmm, that's interesting about the Argentina phrase. Never heard that one before, other than the song.
    Re: going back home: yeah, I think that is the case. There's no going back. Things change. Nothing stays the same. I so want to go see my grandparents house in Pennsylvania where I spent a lot of time as a child. I have such fond memories of that old homestead but I bet it's all modernized now. I would probably be disappointed if I saw it now.

    Michele at Angels Bark

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    1. I'm shocked by how small our houses were. I don't know how so many of us lived in them, especially with only one bathroom.

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  5. I was chatting with some friends last night about the eternal nature of change. I think it's exciting and wonderful...most of the time, but there are moments when we pause and look back and realize there's no returning. You know, your title is one of the first songs I became a pro with in voice lessons many, many years ago. =)

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    1. It's a beautiful song. I'd love to hear you sing it.

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  6. The two houses I lived in growing up are gone. One, the property is in weeds and the neighborhood is now slums of Atlanta. The other, is a parking lot or a demolition business. My elementary and high school (we didn't have middle schools in GA at the time)), Navy boot camp (Sand Diego NTC), my ship sunk during an exercise in Vietnam, my undergrad college gone (relocated to another state), the apartments my starter-wife and I lived in when we first married are gone, my first house is gone, and the company I worked for so long is gone, but relocated in another part of Atlanta. So, for me there is no there there either.

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    1. So you understand. I do, too. So much of my life has been erased.

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  7. "Stein most likely meant that when she visited the home of her youth, nothing was the same." That reminds me of a song from my own childhood, "Tar and Cement" I never knew the name of it until relatively recently. I looked for this song for years.

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    1. I listened to it. It's a beautiful, sad song.

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  8. Ah, NOW I remember the Bush quote! He gave us so many unintended funny lines ...

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  9. I wrote a scene in my book (Psst, I'm working on the sequel) in which I revisit the apt I lived in with Justin. There was "there there," but "there" was different there. Not enough time had passed, I think, for there to be no there there. I didn't know Gertrude Stein was from there.
    Love.

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    1. I didn't know she was from Oakland until I looked up the information on the quotation. I knew it was Stein, and I knew what it meant. I think of her more as an expat living in Paris. I have no there there or anywhere except where I am at this minute.

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  10. All I could think of once I read the title of the post was the song, you know what song

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  11. Oops, I got the two Bushes confused! I thought that quote was from the son :) I know them apart if I see them, honest!

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    1. They've both said so many strange things that it's easy to confuse them. They mangle the English language, but they are not stupid people.

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  12. You share the most interesting things!

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  13. But still no nothing burger explanation? You know what, don't explain it. I'm not going to Google it, I don't want the explanation. I'm going to strive to forget ever reading it. Also, I loved it when George H.W. Bush sang that song from Evita. He has a strikingly beautiful timbre. Remember that concert when Madonna brought him on stage during the second encore on her Truth or Dare tour? He really made the most of his post-presidency.

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    1. George H.W. continues to sing Don't Cry For Me, Argentina for his nurses every time he's hospitalized. They hear him start and say, Oh, Lordy, the president is here again. Nothing burger began with Ted Cruz.

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  14. I googled the street I used to live on in Whittier California and it didn't look familiar at all. I can't believe GW said that. No, wait. I can.

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    1. Remember, it's GHW. The very old one. The street I lived on from age 8 to 18 doesn't look the same at all.

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  15. Hi Janie,

    Very interesting post and QUOTES... Learned something new today. Thanks!

    I visited a childhood home a few years back and it was SOOOOOO different. Barely recognized it. There used to be a HUGE pine tree if front, plus a lovely wisteria tree on the corner. All gone now. Looks so generic and blah... Sad really.

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    1. The house we lived in until I was eight years old had a huge willow tree in front of it. We used to play under the tree. When we visited about a year later, we couldn't believe that the new owners had cut down that tree.

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  16. Read the 20 quotes. Those are funny, and occasionally terrifying. I am glad there was a Quayle quote included. Quaylisms are precious.

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