Great story! That crew sounds like a bunch of fun (I'm a huge square ;-) I vaguely remember all that right ear/left ear stuff from the 80's, but I can't remember which ear meant what? Was is different in the US? I got my ears pierced in the mall at one of those kiosks when I was a kid. Then I did a bunch more myself later on (5 in each ear). Those have all closed up, though. And I'm incredibly hard to offend, so you won't get complaints from me! Your wife is lovely :-)
It's hard to believe she's so old now. (I mean, I'm 65!) But, she hasn't changed too much. Having it in the correct ear meant more then than it does now. In fact, now it doesn't mean anything. Funny how things change.
Love this. I have the tiniest earlobes ever. My ears were pierced in 5th grade by a doctor. (A friend of my dad’s-- back then they had professional courtesy. My dad was a pathologist. I guess the only time dad could reciprocate was if someone needed an autopsy.) The doc had to pierce at a slant. To this day I have to wear super light weight earrings. If lobe implants were a thing I’d be tempted. Keep the mill stories coming. Would love to hear more about the grittier days in Vancouver. I miss the pace of the 70s. Congrats on 40 years of marriage. Hubby and I are at 31. 👍
Good work, Ben. Hope the millenials are reading it. If they start losing their brownies over it by getting offended, don't worry. At least some will open their eyes and see the world is round, and not flat.
Apr 28, 2023·edited Apr 28, 2023Liked by Ben Woestenburg
Agree with Ehud. The earring story is the juice. I love it. I didn’t get my own pierced until I was in my sixties—my daughter already had several holes by the time I did it. (We did her first ones when she was a baby.) I was so excited about mine I posted pictures on Insta and FB. I’ve always worn dangling earrings, and finally I didn’t have to worry about losing them (clip and screw-ones) in movie theatres when it got too cold and I pulled my outer sweater off. Your wife is gorgeous, by the way!
My ears aren't pierced and the only thing that offends me in writing is bad writing (ever noticed that truly hateful/despicable people write like shit?). So we're cool. You're writing a book right? Even if you don't remember all the things you did when you were high, what you recall makes a hell of a story.
Stories about the mill were never intended to be anything. There's no cohesion. I don't know what to do with them. But I do know how it ends...I already wrote that.
They could be a series of stories connected through the characters, possibly with multiple narrators. Together they make a picture of life in Vancouver at a particular time, something between a novel and a collection, like Sam Shepard's Motel Chronicles - You come out of it with a feel more than a narrative.
And everything leading up to that is before. I can still write them out, I guess, and let people read them, but there's so much tragedy; there's a lot of humour there as well--endless, priceless, rollicking, humour.
Love most of your writing. Not very particular about the Camelot/King Arthur stuff...But, overall; you're a hoot having a hook. It's good to relate with the 'SALT'; to laugh with the Mill Workers, and their pretty little fijian wives in a dimension of the past reminding me of a 'Mulligan Stew Campfire party with my ex's Alcoholic Uncle Mark, the youngest of 18 Catholic kids, everybody called Rat, which I refused to do. Something about the tone.
Odd.
Knew from the moment I read your first line a few weeks ago...You had been partier back in the day. Also, grasped the psyche just enough to know you were attuned to the interior world and could express it with both truth and wit...A gift not all possess.
GLAD TO SEE THE PIC OF YOUR LITTLE LADY CELEBRATING SURVIVAL...You're a lucky one and both you and your wife have every reason to laugh as she is in that pic. To look and sound so happy means you've both been blessed and bring the joy to all around you including us in here.
Would subscribe...However, pretty impossible at this time. Got hacked and can't use electronics to purchase anything for a time. Need to track down the problem and can't risk another pain in the electronic rump. PEACE AND JOY!!! God Bless! 🌞
Wow, thanks for that. Yeah, I had me some fun. Sorry about the King Arthur and more about the hacking. I went through that about two months ago. What a hassle. I will write about the mill, but that's not what this started out as. I'm committed to my Arthur story. But it's not going to be like any other Arthur story you may have come across. Maybe we'll see each other in the next months?
NO, really...Really enjoy and like almost all your writing. It's humorous, sharp witted with a harmonious turn of phrase with the rare use of a vocabulary beyond 3rd Grade. You've had some ed-u-ca-tion and are not simply a MILLWORKER. Just something about that particular period piece of usual literature involving Camelot...Just never appealed to me. But, I do read it and it is for us grown-ups. The narrative is fresh and snappy...Maybe, honest and insightful while quirky is a more accurate assessment.
Plan to be back to read and subscribe. Working with the bank and found some goof in CA trying to get to money; so, see ya in the 'Funny Papers'.
Wow man, thank you so much! I hate to tell you I only have grade 12. No college or university. I had a couple of teachers that made an impression on me, and started me on my way. I was curious and spent time in the library. I like to study history and I like to write about it.
SELF-EDUCATION IS EDUCATION...You've learned a lot on your own and that's a good thing.
Me...Too much education; now early-retired Psychologist and went to school while married with three kids...All brainiacs LIKING TO PARTY...Although, not quite as you. I run the Family Farm and a Home School in the middle of Amish Country with a Farm Co-op, now. Society is changing quick...Increased the garden and tripled the herds and flocks for food to feed everybody around.
It's a community endeavor. Fri. Night is my FUN NIGHT at the end of long weeks. We 'NIGHT OWLS' must get some Zz-zzz, too. Catch Ya On the Rebound.
Ben. Take out all your intro and extro and you've got a great story! I would redo this and call it "They Pierced My Ear" or something like that. Maybe your commentary add below the story. 40 years at the mill? There's a world of stories in that.
If I end up making something out of it I will, but for the moment it has to stay in so that anyone coming along understands what's going on and what to expect.
Great story! That crew sounds like a bunch of fun (I'm a huge square ;-) I vaguely remember all that right ear/left ear stuff from the 80's, but I can't remember which ear meant what? Was is different in the US? I got my ears pierced in the mall at one of those kiosks when I was a kid. Then I did a bunch more myself later on (5 in each ear). Those have all closed up, though. And I'm incredibly hard to offend, so you won't get complaints from me! Your wife is lovely :-)
It's hard to believe she's so old now. (I mean, I'm 65!) But, she hasn't changed too much. Having it in the correct ear meant more then than it does now. In fact, now it doesn't mean anything. Funny how things change.
Love this. I have the tiniest earlobes ever. My ears were pierced in 5th grade by a doctor. (A friend of my dad’s-- back then they had professional courtesy. My dad was a pathologist. I guess the only time dad could reciprocate was if someone needed an autopsy.) The doc had to pierce at a slant. To this day I have to wear super light weight earrings. If lobe implants were a thing I’d be tempted. Keep the mill stories coming. Would love to hear more about the grittier days in Vancouver. I miss the pace of the 70s. Congrats on 40 years of marriage. Hubby and I are at 31. 👍
Good work, Ben. Hope the millenials are reading it. If they start losing their brownies over it by getting offended, don't worry. At least some will open their eyes and see the world is round, and not flat.
Agree with Ehud. The earring story is the juice. I love it. I didn’t get my own pierced until I was in my sixties—my daughter already had several holes by the time I did it. (We did her first ones when she was a baby.) I was so excited about mine I posted pictures on Insta and FB. I’ve always worn dangling earrings, and finally I didn’t have to worry about losing them (clip and screw-ones) in movie theatres when it got too cold and I pulled my outer sweater off. Your wife is gorgeous, by the way!
She's a handful!
My ears aren't pierced and the only thing that offends me in writing is bad writing (ever noticed that truly hateful/despicable people write like shit?). So we're cool. You're writing a book right? Even if you don't remember all the things you did when you were high, what you recall makes a hell of a story.
Stories about the mill were never intended to be anything. There's no cohesion. I don't know what to do with them. But I do know how it ends...I already wrote that.
They could be a series of stories connected through the characters, possibly with multiple narrators. Together they make a picture of life in Vancouver at a particular time, something between a novel and a collection, like Sam Shepard's Motel Chronicles - You come out of it with a feel more than a narrative.
The thing about the mill...this is how it ends https://benwoestenburg.substack.com/p/it-was-an-accident-steve
And everything leading up to that is before. I can still write them out, I guess, and let people read them, but there's so much tragedy; there's a lot of humour there as well--endless, priceless, rollicking, humour.
I read the end piece. It's extraordinary, Ben. Thank you for sharing.
Love most of your writing. Not very particular about the Camelot/King Arthur stuff...But, overall; you're a hoot having a hook. It's good to relate with the 'SALT'; to laugh with the Mill Workers, and their pretty little fijian wives in a dimension of the past reminding me of a 'Mulligan Stew Campfire party with my ex's Alcoholic Uncle Mark, the youngest of 18 Catholic kids, everybody called Rat, which I refused to do. Something about the tone.
Odd.
Knew from the moment I read your first line a few weeks ago...You had been partier back in the day. Also, grasped the psyche just enough to know you were attuned to the interior world and could express it with both truth and wit...A gift not all possess.
GLAD TO SEE THE PIC OF YOUR LITTLE LADY CELEBRATING SURVIVAL...You're a lucky one and both you and your wife have every reason to laugh as she is in that pic. To look and sound so happy means you've both been blessed and bring the joy to all around you including us in here.
Would subscribe...However, pretty impossible at this time. Got hacked and can't use electronics to purchase anything for a time. Need to track down the problem and can't risk another pain in the electronic rump. PEACE AND JOY!!! God Bless! 🌞
Wow, thanks for that. Yeah, I had me some fun. Sorry about the King Arthur and more about the hacking. I went through that about two months ago. What a hassle. I will write about the mill, but that's not what this started out as. I'm committed to my Arthur story. But it's not going to be like any other Arthur story you may have come across. Maybe we'll see each other in the next months?
NO, really...Really enjoy and like almost all your writing. It's humorous, sharp witted with a harmonious turn of phrase with the rare use of a vocabulary beyond 3rd Grade. You've had some ed-u-ca-tion and are not simply a MILLWORKER. Just something about that particular period piece of usual literature involving Camelot...Just never appealed to me. But, I do read it and it is for us grown-ups. The narrative is fresh and snappy...Maybe, honest and insightful while quirky is a more accurate assessment.
Plan to be back to read and subscribe. Working with the bank and found some goof in CA trying to get to money; so, see ya in the 'Funny Papers'.
Wow man, thank you so much! I hate to tell you I only have grade 12. No college or university. I had a couple of teachers that made an impression on me, and started me on my way. I was curious and spent time in the library. I like to study history and I like to write about it.
SELF-EDUCATION IS EDUCATION...You've learned a lot on your own and that's a good thing.
Me...Too much education; now early-retired Psychologist and went to school while married with three kids...All brainiacs LIKING TO PARTY...Although, not quite as you. I run the Family Farm and a Home School in the middle of Amish Country with a Farm Co-op, now. Society is changing quick...Increased the garden and tripled the herds and flocks for food to feed everybody around.
It's a community endeavor. Fri. Night is my FUN NIGHT at the end of long weeks. We 'NIGHT OWLS' must get some Zz-zzz, too. Catch Ya On the Rebound.
Ben. Take out all your intro and extro and you've got a great story! I would redo this and call it "They Pierced My Ear" or something like that. Maybe your commentary add below the story. 40 years at the mill? There's a world of stories in that.
If I end up making something out of it I will, but for the moment it has to stay in so that anyone coming along understands what's going on and what to expect.
I understand. But there's no end to that, is there?
This is the only way to tell you about that... https://benwoestenburg.substack.com/p/it-was-an-accident-steve
I felt crushed reading this. Be well Ben.