Blog Archives

Smiles In the Mail

1/26/2021

It's no secret that my mom was well known for her colored envelopes. However, what people may not know is that she didn't just draw on them, she actually painted some of them herself. I found this short video clip that I shot years ago, which shows one of her creative techniques. She put so much love into these envelopes and this clip is simply a joy to watch.

Her envelopes and letters were always so colorful. When my Mom was featured on Humans of New York, I was asked to take a photo of as many letters and envelopes as I could fit into a single picture.

One thing that I didn't mention back then was that in addition to her letters, my Mom loved quotes. She had books filled with them! She would always write thoughtful quotes on the envelopes that she felt were meaningful to the receiver of the letter. Some were uplifting, others a bit more whimsical, and sometimes she even added her own personal flair.

When she would send me letters to New York City, I would hang some of them on the wall for inspiration. Here's a few that I kept. In the one below, you can even see the thumb tack holes.

Right under the quote next to the upside down sticker of the cat, it reads, "This is not upside down. The cats are reading!!" I loved when my mom would add playful elements to her letters like this. She always had a way of being able to make me smile. I hope she knows that.

Silent Film Stars in 2001

1/19/2021

When I was in my early 20's I loved absurdist humor. The television show, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" was one of my favorites. I used to watch VHS tapes of it on repeat and wanted to be just like them.

Before I studied film, I spent some time taking photography classes at OCC, and for many of the assignments, my parents were my main subjects. Inspired by Monty Python, I did an absurdist photo series where my mom and Dad were hit DJs who didn't use records, tapes, or CDs but plastic Fisher Price toy records.

When I moved to NYC to study film, the medium changed, but my parents were still my "go to" actors and I would take the bus home whenever I had to make a new film for class. Within two months of starting film school, I was given an assignment to shoot a film on super 8 film stock, so I wrote a short silent film called, "Fender Gender" for the class. My good friend Tim Austin story-boarded it and was even the director of photography.

"Fender Gender" is still one of the weirdest films I've ever made. It was a bonkers idea that was inspired by one thing: What would it be like if a man was driving his car down the street and he had to pull over because a woman in her bathrobe was vacuuming in the middle of the road? When you watch it, you realize that's not even the weirdest part.

When I told my parents about the idea, there was no hesitation at all. They were always "all in" and so very supportive. Upon completion, I showed the film at my college and the students were really surprised that these actors were my parents. One student even asked where they studied acting!

For a film shoot like this, many mothers would make sure that there is food on set, but for this project, my mom not only kept us fed, but she and my Dad even starred in it. For this week's edition of Ruby Tuesday, watch the new version with music by ragtime piano legend James Scott.

Hair in a Box

1/12/2021

My Mom was great at being thrifty: coupons, discounts, you name it. One of the things that she did to save money when I was growing up was to cut my hair. She didn’t have any formal training but, somehow, she just picked it up. In addition to my hair, she also cut my Dad’s, and - when word got around that she was actually pretty good - she started cutting the hair of whoever came along. One of the regulars was my dear friend and next-door neighbor, Kevin Shannon, who can be seen in the blue shirt sitting next to my Dad.

One day right around my Dad’s birthday, Kevin was getting his haircut. Somehow, that day, he came up with the bright idea of giving the clippings to my Dad as a birthday gift along with a bottle of Elmer’s glue because, as Kevin said, “He really seemed to need it.” My Mom must have thought that this was hilarious because she “ran with it as soon as it left my mouth,” according to Kevin. She even made sure that Kevin’s red hair clippings were neatly placed in a gift box with white tissue paper, the box beautifully wrapped with a red bow on top. Everyone was in on the joke, so we were excited for my Dad to open this gift. When he did, we all burst into laughter, especially my Dad.

Of course, my Mom wanted to document this moment, so we all lined up around the box of hair and smiled for the camera. It was one of those neighborhood happenings that we talked about for years to come and when I asked Kevin about the “hair story” for this week’s blog, it gave us both a good laugh even after all these years.

Let’s Get Married!

1/5/2021

As told by Ray Adams:

Ruby and I had been dating for probably 6 months and started talking about a future together. I had been thinking about proposing because I was going to be leaving Trinidad soon, but she beat me to it. One day she just kind of blurted it out and we decided right then and there to get married.

The plan was for her to come to the states soon after I got discharged from the Marines in June of 65. She didn’t get there until April of the next year though, so we were writing letters back and forth for 9 or 10 months. That was our main form of communication, as talking on the phone was so darn expensive. I was working at General Motors making $3 per hour and to make a call to Trinidad, it cost about a dollar per minute, which was kind of crazy.

In our letters, we made plans for the wedding and talked about what was going on. In January of 1966 we had a huge snow storm in Syracuse with about 5 feet of snow, which even made the news in Trinidad. The papers labeled it the storm of the century. Knowing Ruby, I can’t imagine she was too happy about moving someplace so cold, but she never said anything about it, and ultimately she was very excited to marry me.

This first photo was taken in April of 1966 when they were at the airport right before Ruby was leaving for the states. Ruby is on the right, her mom is in the center and her sister Vicenta is on the left.

She had her wedding gown packed in her luggage and was very concerned that she would have to open her suitcase at some point. I mean, here she is coming to the states on a holiday visa, and who goes on vacation with a wedding dress, right? Fortunately, they never opened her suitcase and she didn’t get into any trouble.

When Ruby arrived, my Dad picked her up at the airport and Ruby said that he was very nice, but actually a little nervous. Until we got married a couple weeks later, we stayed in my mom and Dad’s apartment, in separate bedrooms. My mom insisted on that. She was not a fan of hanky panky.

I’ll save the story of our wedding day for yet another time.

"Ruby Tuesday" is a place for friends and family to share stories about my mother and show how she has impacted their lives.

Blog updates every Tuesday for the full year to celebrate my mom turning 80.

If you'd like to share something, whether it be a story, a photo, a recipe or even a drawing of hers that you kept, please e-mail me or use the contact form. The goal is to get as many voices on here as possible!

Smiles In the Mail

Silent Film Stars in 2001

Hair in a Box

Let’s Get Married!

Archives

Categories