Third Time’s (Not) A Charm…
Friday, January 22, 2021
I had a very crappy end to an otherwise decent Friday. I had decided craft a handwritten letter for Mr. Claiborne but then figured, why not type it directly into this blog? I was slightly annoyed that I had not copied or taken a screen shot of what I had typed in the Contact Box on his website but that irritation was nothing compared to the utter frustration I would soon experience.
I started a new blog entry and typed what I considered to be a clear and succinct (a real feat for me) letter. I felt I could decide whether to bother handwriting it or just printing out what I had typed in the blog…and I was leaning toward the latter. I’d deal with it tomorrow. As I moved the mouse to the upper left hand corner to save my draft, I happened to notice –out of the lower right corner of my right eye – a symbol. It was not a good symbol at all: a sphere meant to be a globe with a slash across it. I had seen it before. I had been here before. I watched, helpless, as a blue circle kept spinning round and round and round. I had lost internet connectivity. There is no auto-save. I could not scroll down the screen to at least take a picture of my writing. Taking a screenshot would only reveal the first three sentences of text. I tried opening the site in a new tab to see if it has somehow magically saved. Nope. I sent one of my classically dramtic telegram messages, complete with a long row of expressive emoticons and poor OG came up to try to troubleshoot and fix the problem. He was unsuccessful. The writing was gone.
This is why I feel like I just need to handwrite things from now on and then go through the process of typing it up. More work but greater safety. I feel like I am often the person who goes through this. I sometimes feel like I am the only sucker who experiences such things. But I know that isn’t true. I want to believe that you’ve been there too. I talked to myself: It’s only words. I can find them again, in one order or another.
I tried to let it go and made a feeble attempt to pat myself on the back: I had managed to scan 90 slides. I read some of the Tugboat book. Let it go and just take care of it tomorrow. So what did I do? I opened a Word doc and typed a new (third) letter. Whoever came up with the phrase, “Third Time’s a Charm” was smoking something.
Dear Mr. Claiborne:
I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones in good health. My name is Ena Onami. I attempted to contact you via your website Contact Form but perhaps you did not receive it. I am reaching out to you because I am working on something that is very important to me, a project that my late uncle Leonard Winston Harris began back in the early 1980’s. Lenny was a freelance photographer who lived and worked in New York City and he started to create a photo essay on New York tugboats and the men who worked on them. He took thousands of photographs and had gotten to the stage of selecting several and organizing them into 9 chapters. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1990, before he was able to finish his work. Among the possessions that my dad (his older brother) inherited was a binder with a selection of printed slides that Lenny had organized. Among the images were words, chapters of writing. And the writer listed is: Jan Stacy. The writing is poignant and moving.
I know that there is more than one Jan Stacy but I have a strong feeling that your stepbrother is the author. I was sorry to hear about his passing. He died young, as did my uncle. I wonder: did he ever mention a Len Harris or a project he was working on that involved tugboats in New York? I am determined to complete the project in one form or another and would love to include the words as well the images, as they really do complement one another. However, I cannot and will not include any of Jan Stacy’s writing without the blessing of his kin. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I do hope to hear back from you.
Be well. Sincerely, Ena
