Item: Me: “Do people look for their specific lip marks when they come back?” Informant: “Oh god no, it would be impossible to find them.” In the informant’s ballet company, when a member was doing their last performance of a show (as in, your last ever Nutcracker performance), it was tradition to put on bright… Continue Reading »
Item: “The first time I remember one staying lit the whole night I was like… blown away, I ran inside and got my parents.” Families take time just before Christmas to set up paper bags full of sand and a candle along sidewalks, driveways, and streets throughout the town. They are called luminaries, and setting… Continue Reading »
Item: “Yep I like it. I get asked to repeat it all the time though like when I order stuff like coffee.” A friend’s family has maintained a naming lineage for several generations. They possess in the family a large scroll with a family tree dating back to the 1500s. It began with Thor the… Continue Reading »
Item: “There was no way we were going to see what made the sound, we were way to scared.” The informant went to an elementary school that had a wooden structure in the middle of the playground that held all of the playground equipment. The structure was a bit ominous looking, with a pointed roof… Continue Reading »
Item: The informant’s great grandmother, a well-loved Argentinian woman, passed away when he was very young — at an age where he could only speak a little bit. He and his mother’s side of the family called her “Abuela Bastón”, or Grandma Walking Stick, for the distinct sound of her moving around with her trusty… Continue Reading »