Zeichen Press

Category: Teeth

  • All The Attention

    If only they would stop their playing and look over at me… Why is MY friend even playing with my stupid brother???… Maybe if I wave my arms and jump higher on this strangely super-tall bed in our basement… No, that didn’t work… Hold on… I’ll just climb down and drag over that chalkboard to lay flat on the floor because it looks more like water than the off-brown linoleum… Perfect… Now, I’ll roll over the large black, rubber inner-tube we float on at the lake… Just plop it right on top of the chalkboard… Looking good… Ok… NOW, I’ll climb back up on the bed and jump some more…

    “LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!”

    I hysterically scream, while diving face-first into the center of the inner-tube.Steph&Fran&Balance BeamSo much blood. So many tears. And my friend was sent home??? WHY MOM, WHY?!she brought da noise

  • WRAPPED IN BACON???

    Just imagine this:Fran school photo

    in a Witch or Hobo costume, “Trick or Treat!”

    I was never Wrapped in Bacon like these fancy L.A. kids… Our L.A. rep sent us this:kid wrapped in baconI’m assuming this little person was Trick-or-Treating… But I see no treat bag, nor do I see a 3-ring binder, NOR DO I SEE the latest issue of The Watchtower.

    True story: Since I put my NO SOLICITORS card on the front door, I have had, exactly, zero solicitors. Buy yours today!NoSolicitors

  • Deja Vu

    We bought our house on the Cape in 1982…mom 1982 29 freezer road

    this was the same year that The Go-Go’s penned their masterpiece.

    Coincidence?? I THINK NOT.

    Summers on the Cape were filled with so much adventure! There were trees to climb, sea-creatures to discover, rocks to paint (it’s complicated), and cans to return for 5˘ — imagine returning an ENTIRE BAG of cans. Your very own money to spend on candy at the Barnstable News. I dragged a garbage bag of empty cans up Millway, past the dead bodiescemetery sideto claim my prize. I did not anticipate this being such a great windfall… The Adult behind the counter counted all of my (mostly beer) cans (thanks Uncle Gary!) and the total staggered me.

    “Two dollars and thirty-five cents.”

    I gasped.

    I walked past the wall of candy, right to the freezer full of ice cream treats. One box of six ice cream sandwiches, all for me. ALL FOR ME!!ice cream sandwichI was a girl on a mission: Eat all six, share with no one, and never breathe a word of this to any of my siblings. nat em zak fran andy 2815 west 28thI held the package to my (boyish) chest, and ran until I was sure I was alone. Across the street from the cemetery, and next to an abandoned house, I ripped open the box and started eating. 1…2…3… still going strong… 4… slowing down… 5… Five! Only FIVE! What a failure! 

    I staggered home, and benevolently offered the final sandwich to my little brother. (What a fool he was for not even questioning my backstory!)

    Present day: Southwest Airline’s Boeing 737: 40,000 feet.southwest airplane windowI made these:look at meTHANKTH

  • When I was down beside the sea

    A wooden spade they gave to me

    To dig the sandy shore.

    My holes were empty like a cup.

    In every hole the sea came up,

    Till it could come no more.

    ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

    Back on the Cape again…

    Aren’t the kids so sweet? They have so much fun… Wait… WHAT?! How did I miss that??Shark eats seal with kids

  • Farewell, Old Cards

    Jen made me pull six cards from our line.

    APPARENTLY, “they don’t sell” and don’t “make any money”.

    But since when can you put a price tag on greeting cards??

    Here are the cards, you can buy them from the shop until they are gone forever.

    FOREVER.torturegame-of-telephone-1screwedtired-of-feeling-tightnice-balldial-bThis card was also on the list, but I refused to pull it because I’m not afraid of her.thank-god-we-have-these

  • Winter Preview

    The Winter Walk Home from school included two memorable rituals: Dipping our un-mittened hands in 25˘ Tom Thumb coffee (how old IS she?) and passing by a very high retaining wall.

    The wall held up the yard of our enemies: Two freckle-faced, red-headed brothers. These boys went to a Public School and as if that isn’t bad enough, they took great pleasure in tormenting me.

    I will remind you that this is what I looked like:fran-school-photo

    Why would anyone want to harm such a sweet creature?

    Armed with boulders of snow, poised-and-ready atop the wall — they would wait. Down Vincent Avenue I trudged: snow-pants under my plaid skirt, grease-covered hand-me-down coat, knit cap with sheepskin earflaps.

    Again, why would anyone want to harm such a sweet creature?

    I won’t tell you the ending.

    We had a dusting of snow the other day but I knew better than to break out the snow-pants and knit cap. It was merely a teaser, a preview, an appetizer, an AMUSE-GUEULE.

    Speaking of snow, here’s a new card: each-and-every-snowflake

  • The Grinch and Me

    For your amusement:

    Maniac. (note Paul Westerberg over my left shoulder)My twin.