February 14--The Ballet for Trout Fishing in America

[zyzyly]

I got up early this morning and started painting my office. It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. It went well, and with some help from Malida, I was done by noon. I like the color. It is something like "parchment paper", but almost has a green feel to it, but not very green.



Since the carpet is coming out tomorrow, I didn't bother to cover it, and ended up not spilling a drop. For an amateur, it was a pretty neat job. I wouldn't mind doing it again in another 15 years.



I painted these words on one of the walls before I started. It is kind of an inside joke between me and my friends who I was stationed with in Germany back in the 70s. We had gotten into some trouble, and our subversive response was to start writing "Trout Fishing in America" on everything. It comes the title of a book written by Richard Brautigan that my friend Chuck gave me. We had issues with authority figures back then and our commander could never figure out what we were up to with all the Trout Fishing in America stuff. Haha--that was the whole objective.

It ended up being kind of a big thing for us, and we printed up bumper stickers and had a big trout dinner one night. To this day, mention Trout Fishing in America to any of them, and they will know.


“Excuse me, I said. I thought you were a trout stream.
I'm not, she said.”
― Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America

I still have the book that Chuck gave me. I put it in a box the other day when I was moving stuff out of here.

Comments

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

That last picture looks like so much trouble in a small space.

[howeird]

One more book to add to my Kindle list. I know I had heard of it, but if I ever read it I don't remember. Looking at the write-ups on Amazon, I think I would have remembered. Love the title.

[wantedonvoyage.livejournal.com]

Haha, what randomdreams said, 100%!

I love subversive stuff like that, that the Man can't figure out.

[thoughtsbykat.livejournal.com]

The wall color looks nice.
You guys look like trouble. I remember that book.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

I like Trout Fishing in America.

[annie-r.livejournal.com]

I still have my old pb copy of Trout Fishing in America and a few other books by him. They are some of the ones I can't get rid of even if I start culling down my book collection.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

haha so true!

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

I think it was written around 1960 or so. He was a San Francisco writer.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

haha yeah! Now I'm the establishment I tried to subvert!

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

We were mostly harmless, but didn't always follow the rules.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it for years, but maybe when I am putting my books back I will keep it out. That and In Watermelon Sugar.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

I have a hard time getting rid of books. That's why I have so many.

[howeird]

It's available on Kindle. Looks like he escaped from Tacoma, and became a Haight-Ashbury denizen.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it for years, either. Sadly, with the exception of those two and A Confederate General from Big Sur, I found Brautigan's work kind of disappointing.

[odd-dog.livejournal.com]

Just to say I really enjoy reading this journal--I grew up in Elk Grove and your pictures help me when I'm homesick. Also loved this post, as my dad was stationed in Koeln in the 1970s.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

Yes--you are a long way from home. I don't think I take too many Elk Grove pictures other than my favorite spots.

I was stationed close to there when I was in Germany in the 1970s, and saw Pink Floyd in the Festhalle.

I looked at your journal and saw a reference to the Mountain Goats, and that's good enough for me!