So, finding this forum and making a couple posts, along with other events in my life in the recent past, has made me a little melancholy about the old Hingdom Kall. Since most of my memories of attending meetings, going out in service, etc., are from my childhood, they tend to have that effect on me.
I have played the piano for 19 years now. It's my one real passion. I even took lessons from an ex-concert pianist for a while, and most people think I'm very good at it. The first music I ever played, before taking any lessons, was out of Sing Praises To Jehovah. I taught myself to read music that way. Song fourteen was my favorite, "Christian Dedication" or something like that. I seem to remember it being played at assemblies when they did the holy dunking. I wanted to get another copy of the book, but it's rather hard to find on the outside, apparently. My grandmother is still a JW (she mails me WT and Awake! mags every month, it's kind of cute) and I know I could have had her get me a copy, but it somehow seems unscrupulous to go about it that way, since I have no intention whatsoever of becoming a JW again. So, as with all things these days, I looked online. I don't know if anyone has ever tried to get a copy of any JW literature that way, but it's damn hard to find. Even ebay only had a few copies, of indeterminate size. I finally found a 8vo copy (the big one), suitable for using as sheet music, at biblio.com and ordered that. I'm not sure why, maybe I'll play a few of the songs. At any rate, there are worse things I could have done with $11.95. Like put it in the donation box. I'm thinking I could record some of the songs and put them up on youtube. I'm guessing I will get a bunch of comments from JW youtubers (is that allowed?) telling me how awesome I am. I could probably play them with my ass and expect the same. Part of me wants to make a separate youtube account just for that purpose. Maybe I will. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
After thinking about all that, I suddenly remembered the book bag catalog. You know, the one that consisted of paraphernalia just for JW's to aid them in organizing and distributing their various forms of propaganda? I hadn't seen one for about 20 years. I about laughed my ass off when I found it on the internet. Toddler briefcases (sturdy built for the kids that use them)? Matching reddish-pink faux suede with cream leatherette mother and daughter book bags? What is leatherette? Is it like pleather manna from Jehovah? Pioneer portfolios, made for pioneers, by pioneers? Meeting bags and service bags? Isn't one bag enough? I guess it's only natural that such catalogs exist; there evidently is a need for them. If you have not seen the site, it's www.ministryideaz.com.
Does anyone else have any melancholy/non-melancholy memories they would like to share of items/habits peculiar to Jehovah's Witnesses, besides the usual 144,000 things? If so I would like to hear them. Things like that kind of make you go, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Shit! They really were that weird." I seem to remember an unusual abundance of clip-on ties. . .
gloobz