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February 16, 2005 2:30 PM- how random is this?

(photo credit: "Breezy," Jason Kottke)

(NOTE: I have been most remiss in not bringing this to your attention sooner but for all you book lovers out there, please do what you can for The Book Thing. For full details please check out Lizzie's site where she provides all the info. The short version is your contribution ($5 -$10 - $25 will definitely help so don?t put it off thinking it has to be big bucks . . .) will help The Book Thing move to a new site and continue to make the world a better place.)

(NOTE: Though the Gates certainly provoke lots of emotional response and I generally shy away from anything that even remotely smacks of conflict because I am, afterall, a scared bunny pants, I will go on the record as saying I love the Gates, the idea of the Gates, the existence of the Gates and wish that there was so much money spent on art that no one would ever have to argue about where the money would be best spent because we were all spending extravagant sums on art, programs for art, and anything to do with the propagation of art!)

(NOTE: I love Wee ?she had me at hello-- and she is one of my dearest friends and an amazing artist. An AMAZING artist. AMAZING. I just don't have the words so I repeat myself.)

Now, on to the post I sat down to write.

Have you ever asked yourself, wherefore bluepoppy?s attachment to blue and orange? The answer is exceedingly simple: Howard Johnson's.

For the uninitiated, Howard Johnson's was an East Coast chain of restaurants--- a passle of gussied up clam shacks, truth be told. Purveyors of fried clams, onion rings, 27 flavors of ice cream and my beloved frankfurter in a buttered, toasted roll. Oh!

And the d?cor? Turquoise and squash. Aqua and saffron. Or, as I lovingly remember it, blue and orange.

Sister Parish (that?s Mrs. Parish to you and me) did the interior at the behest of her neighbor, Senator Frelinghuysen. Apparently the following is true:

''The place was called Howard Johnson's,'' Mrs. Parish remembered. ''I did what I could. I dressed the waitresses in aqua, did the walls in aqua, made the place mats in aqua. I guess I must have thought it was quite chic, but I haven't done a thing in aqua since.''

But it was chic, Sister. It was! Don't break my heart like that.

There are specific memories of magical events I could share, but I?m off my game in this moment and don?t want to recount them in my current mood. Some other time. Mostly, I just wanted to share the intention behind the choice of color design.

That?s all for now--- back to whatever it was you were doing.



got 2 cents?



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Erica says:
Not that I don't get misty when reminiscing about fried clams -- hell, I get misty over pretty much fried ANYTHING -- and I'm all for civilized discourse about national spending priorities, but what I'm really wondering about is the status of your mom. Have the parent Poppies been reunited?
posted on: February 16

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gatsby says:
gotta give a shout out to the gates. anytime somebody does something positive to make you rethink your surroundings i'm all about it. and the money? you know how much money it costs to put up a parking ramp? what if all that saffron actually makes a positive impact against that grey february sky- color therapy in manahattan seems like a splendid idea.
posted on: February 17

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Gale says:
I'm all for lots of money being spent on art. Lots of clams towards art. Lots of art about clams. Fried, golden, crispy, delicious clams. And art. Mmmmm.
posted on: February 17

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Milly says:
I remember those Howard Johnson's restaurants. I once read an article about the last remaining ones left in the country. The author took a road trip to visit them.
posted on: February 17

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otter says:
O! My favorite childhood treat was getting to go to HJ's and order fried clams. Course my second favorite treat was getting to go to the library and check out the maximum number of books allowed, so I may have a skewed sense of treat :~)
posted on: February 17

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Auntie M says:
Howard Johnson's was only on the East Coast? I loved that place and their chocolate chip ice cream. I also love the concept of the orange gates in NYC. Wish I could see it up close.
posted on: February 17

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