Happy baby

Barbara attempts to read to Kent. Kent just plays with her hair.

Barbara is not pleased with this.

Little brothers can ruin the best of big sisters' intentions to improve them.

Christmas of yesteryear, part three

For the final in the mid-century Christmas photos, we have this lovely one of Great Aunt Gladys posing by the tree.

I think she's supposed to look like she's decorating the tree, but she looks more like she's inspecting the ornaments.


This will be the final BrIsaacson photo post for a while -- we're heading to Chicago today to visit my mother for Christmas and then to the MLA convention, conveniently located in the same area. We'll have limited access (and time) over the next week, but we'll try to get one or two in before the new year.

So have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. If you're not celebrating anything at all, enjoy the last full week of 2007

Graduation procession

I meant to post this earlier this week -- it's the photo of the graduation procession. There I am glowingly pale in the midst of things.

Christmas, 1980

Sitting in front of the Christmas tree, being very blonde. Reflective, even (not the navel-gazing kind, either).






This is, by the way, our 100th post. Thought you had a right to know.

Christmas of yesteryear, part two

Uncle Kent at the Christmas tree with a great new toy


(a tree, you might note, has a remarkable level of tinsel. Would Aunt Gladys call it blinged-out?)

Joe Bradley and Joseph Bradley, Sr.

I just love this picture of my dad and his dad.

For those family members just discovering this blog from our Christmas cards, we have a notable lack of pictures from my father's side of the family. If you've got some, please send them our way-- you can scan and email them to us, or just send copies by post.

Of Alligators and Swamp Foxes

Okay, I know-- this has mostly been the Isaacson blog, without the Br, lately. What can I say? Teaching three creative writing workshops and getting my own stuff written and sent out took up more of my time than I thought it would this semester. But now Emily and I are both on break, without a care in the world. Until next week, when we go to Chicago for the Modern Language Association conference and Emily interviews for jobs. But let's not talk about that right now. Now's a time to just chillax. And blog.



As part of our chillaxation, Emily and I decided to go into the Everglades this afternoon-- the nearby Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, to be precise. We hadn't gone on a hike or nature walk in a long, long time, and I'd never seen an alligator out in the wild. So we killed two birds with one stone. Not literally, of course-- I think they would have asked us to leave the park had we done that.




Anyway. Here are some pictures from our excursion. I imagine Emily will put more up lately-- she took close to 90 pictures today. Digital cameras are awesome like that.

Christmas of yesteryear

Barbara enjoying the Christmas tree at Aunt Dorothy's.

This picture is just quintessentially Christmas of the mid-century.

Shameless request for charitable contributions

SJ (who is a student of Bradley's) has a sister. And that sister is running in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training marathon. She needs to continue to raise funds for the entry fee (it's $2400). Those of you who know us well know that this is an important cause for us.

So, go read SJ's post about it and then go give a little for the entry fee.

Graduation video

I'm on youtube now.

Check out the video my dad made of my Ph.D. graduation ceremony, posted at Lindsborger News.

Sing, choir of angels

For Christmas 1981, my Cooper grandparents created homemade cards for everyone. Jonathan is but a few weeks old and apparently rather worthy of imitation.

One big tomato plant

Great Uncle Frank always gardened.

The year of this photo, the garden apparently grew very well. The plant was large enough to merit this photo, which ran in the Atchison Globe.

College memories

Bradley and I will travel to Columbia tomorrow, because I graduate on Friday. That's it. It will be official and I will be completely done with school. No more being a student ever, because I'll be completely and officially done with my Ph.D. And I get to wear the real robes now.

So, in the spirit of endings -- and nostalgia for the simpler days of being an undergrad (ha!) -- I thought I'd share this photo I recently found:




There I am, all fresh-faced and full of excitement as I move into my first college dorm room.

11 years and 45 pounds ago ...

Driving ...

I don't know if Barbara looks frightened about driving or ferocious about it. I'll let you decide.

Baby Kent

My Uncle Kent sitting on my grandmother's lap.

My grandmother who, by the way, always looks glamorous in these old pictures -- even with a newborn.

Puzzle time

I'm doing a puzzle with my Great Aunt Dorothy.

Aunt Dorothy was able to get down on the floor like this well into her 80s. I'm hoping that I have those same genetics (whatever those are ... the floor genes...)

Cooper women

Left to right: Dorothy Leighton(my great-aunt), Josephine Cooper (my great-grandmother), and Gladys Cooper (also my great aunt).

Apparently, whoever was taking the picture was tilting ...

Kiddie car, part 2

I found the complement to the earlier Kiddie Car post.




This is my uncle, Kent Cooper, on the kiddie car.

(to see them together, click here)

Playing Piano

My grandmother, Ruthe Cooper, was my first piano teacher. She taught me how to play a few scales and a few songs. She also suggested that when I started "real" piano lessons, I should take them until I could at least play the Doxology -- that way I'd be able to play most any song people might want to sing at parties (mostly Christmas carols, she imagined).

I took many more years of piano than that -- and I played for all sorts of choirs during and shortly after college.

Oh ... and there's something slightly odd in this picture.

Can you find it?

Tourists

My parents, looking tourist-y, sometime in the mid-1970s.


I think I need that tan pant-suit. I would not look nearly as good in it, but I love it. (I'm a little too lumpy to pull off something like that)

Bradley at sea

The water's just fine, young Bradley seems to be telling us.

Baby BrIsaacsons Become Baptized

Hush. I like the alliteration. I'm worn out and silly right now (even sillier than usual)

We have been incredibly busy this week. I have also been taking my computer with me on days that I teach, so Bradley hasn't had access to the photos we scanned last week. Hence, the relative silence.

Here's Bradley's baptism (1976):

He's with his grandparents, William and Eleanor Cook. And he looks a bit like he might have slept through the baptism.

And here's my baptism (1978):

That's my father and mother on the left; my godmother Pam Mackinem is holding me as my godfather, Walter Mackinem, looks on ... I'm wearing the christening gown worn by my great-grandfather something like 100 years prior to my own baptism. I don't look particularly impressed by that in this picture.

Hmm.

Oh well. Happy December, everyone.

Baby TV (Christmas 1976)

The in-laws have been here all week, and the mother-in-law was kind enough to bring photos to scan in for the blog. I'll let Bradley post most of them and give you some background. But I wanted to get these up both as a moment to show how adorable Bradley was as a baby and as a warning to avoid watching too much TV.

Bradley's first TV:

Let's all say it together, Awww ....

(I vaguely remember those kiddie TV things -- I don't think I had one, but I think I had friends with them)

And here he is after too much TV:

That's right kids, be careful about watching too much TV -- and sitting too close to it.

We're happy to have all sorts of new photos from the Bradley family to share with you, so a big thanks to Ann for the help.

Another Baby Barbara shot

Baby Barbara looks to the left ...

Footie pajamas

Grandma visiting us in Georgetown 1981-ish...

I always look at this picture and wish for footie pajamas. I always liked those ... they'd probably not work very well in south Florida, but still.

Joe Bradley and the Zuckermans, Emily Isaacson and Charlie the Dog

Okay, okay-- I know, I don't update this photo blog as often as Emily does. I'm an ass. But, to be fair, we do have a lot more pictures of Emily's family than of mine. This may change next week, though, if my mother brings photos with her when she comes for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, this first picture is of my dad, Joe Bradley, with Ed Zuckerman and three of his kids in, like, 1986 or 1987, I would guess. We've got the three kids-- Matthew, Billy, and Andy (clockwise from the left), my dad, and Ed.



We also have a picture of Emily with my parents' dog, Charlie. When he's not busy doing lewd things to pillows and stuffed animals, Charlie enjoys ice cream and potato chips. So he's just one of the family, is what I'm trying to say.

Ellen and Carl

Ellen and Carl Isaacson, sometime mid-1950s.




Pic thanks to my dad.

Pigtails

I like the prominence of my pigtails in this one.

The picture is from the playground at Maryville Elementary School in Georgetown, South Carolina (I think).

My, oh my, how blonde a child I was.

Thanksgiving, 1977ish

Since we're approaching Thanksgiving, I thought it appropriate to pull this one out. Left to right -- my dad Carl, my mom Barbara, my grandmother Ruthe, my Aunt Pat and my Uncle Kent.

It's the 70s. That's all I need to say.

Cook wedding photos

Eleanor and William Cook on their wedding day.

At the park in Chicago

When we were small, we made the annual trek to Chicago to see our grandparents. Some photos from the park:

Emily



And a few years later, Jon

Family tombstones

Much of the Cooper family is buried in Doniphan, Kansas. There's not a whole lot to Doniphan -- the cemetery is one of the only things still in the town. But it has a beautiful view and is a peaceful place.



I enjoy cemeteries -- I love seeing the history on the tombstones. What I like about these is the inclusion of my own family's history.

Cook wedding photos

Bradley's grandmother Eleanor on her wedding day.

Aunt Dorothy

This picture shows my great aunt Dorothy (Cooper) Leighton in front of a building (Kansas state capitol, maybe?).

This is one of those typical family pictures -- "Hey, go stand in front of that and I'll take your picture."

This is only slightly less common than the "statue of some guy" pictures in the family albums.

Jon and I had this conversation this summer, while looking at his photos from India and Vietnam: "Who's that a statue of?" "I don't know. Some guy with a statue."

Seriously, it's an affliction.

Happy Halloween

Halloween, 1987 style.

Jon as pirate (who knew you'd be so forward-thinking? Pirates are so big these days!)

Emily as Annie Oakley.

On a side note, I just realized that this picture was taken 20 years ago. I've gone through a lot of Halloween costumes.

Cooper siblings

From left to right -- Gladys, Harold and Dorothy Cooper.

My grandfather was the youngest sibling, but he wasn't yet born when this picture was taken -- the photo's from before 1918, then.

The Coopers lived in Doniphan, Kansas and later moved into Atchison (the "big" town); Doniphan is now just the cemetery, a couple of houses and the Catholic church (with an altar that my great-great grandfather may have built). Atchison is bigger, but it's still a very small town -- It's near St. Joseph, Missouri, but far enough away from St. Joe and Kansas City that they haven't been able to attract any sort of tourism. Not that there's a whole lot to do.

Atchison does have some nice Victorian mansions and a cool train museum, but it's so out of the way that most people don't get to see it.

By the way, I love the giant bow in my Aunt Dorothy's hair.

A final shot for a happy birthday

Happy Birthday, little brother.


I love this shot, because Jon looks so happy with that bottle.

A Portrait series -- Jon X

I'll call this "In profile with clip-on tie"

I particularly like this one.

A portrait series -- Jon IX

Jon looking sporty ... and trying to hide in the hedge.

A portrait series -- Jon VIII

A portrait series -- Jon VII

Grandma's note on the back says "He really is a happy baby."

A portrait series -- Jon VI

Since today is Jon's birthday, I'm going to put up several pictures of him today. In all his little kid adorableness.



Jon in January 1982. Up close and personal.

Warhol on Academic Supercouples, Part 3

Warhol on Academic Supercouples, Part 2

Warhol on Academic Supercouples, Part 1

If you've been anxiously checking this blog for pictures of my side of the family, you've probably been very disappointed lately. You're probably also my mom.

Anyway, even though Emily's the one with all of the stuff going on and work to do, I'm the one who hasn't done his part to keep this blog updated. What can I say? I'm a jerk.

Anyway, I think these next two photos ought to be our authors' photos. What do you think?