Revisiting 2016 (Part 3)

OK, it's time to conclude cleaning out the time capsule marked "Calendar Year 2016." Here's the final collection of running observations and snapshots from this eclectic collection of everyday ephemera dating to the last full year of the Obama administration...

1. We were involved in the York County 4-H Alpaca Club, so I reckon that one of its associated events is how I came across this delightful and ridiculous flyer for a "Galactic Genetic Gathering of Alpacas" in Iowa. 

2. I kept so many yellow receipts from the York Emporium, and I will continue to hold onto them. They're great for tucking away inside books.

3.  An empty wrapper for key lime Creamy Coconut Patties from Anastasia Confections.  

4. A menu for Masa Bistro, one of our favorite York-area restaurants back in the day.

5. There was a little blank notebook in the time capsule with the note "Log the stories you find in this box." I guess I'm blogging as my way of logging. I'll use the notebook to document something else.  

6. On the back of this business card, I wrote "Funniest card I picked up on drive to FL." (I was on a road trip to visit Dad.)

7. A movie ticket stub for Star Trek Beyond, the last movie I watched in a theater with Mom.

8. A printout from the website I Waited 96 Years! ... The website still exists and includes this message as of today: "In the weeks before the 2016 election, this website featured 186 women, ages 96 to 105, who were eager to elect Hillary Clinton. These women were born before the 19th Amendment and were, for the first time, voting for a woman for president of the United States. ... Then, in 2020, we followed up with a few of the (now) centenarians when the female presidential candidates suspended their campaigns. And in 2024, we gathered reflections from one inspiring 106-year-old. At this critical and challenging moment, our nation needs these women’s voices and wisdom more than ever."  

9. A copy of LNP | LancasterOnline's Trending section that leads with an article about Little Free Libraries. The article is still online.

10. A printout of an email sent to me with the subject line "The Troubles," in which one of my former Penn State University journalism professors, discussing the Penn State child sex abuse scandal, tells me "You make incisive comments on Twitter. Keep up the good work."

Speaking of Twitter...

11. ...Not all of my comments were incisive, although the sentiment about Philip Seymour Hoffman still stands.

Also speaking of Twitter...

12. ... This is pretty darn funny. I had mentioned 2016's Pokémon Go phenomenon in Part 1. This also marks the first appearance of a Bulbasaur on Papergreat.

13. A brochure for the Long's Park Summer Music Series in Lancaster.

14. An editorial cartoon, relevant then and now, that I printed and saved.  

15. A Powerball ticket that wasn't a winner. Jackpot was $142 million.

16. A business card for Too Many Books in Roanoke, Virginia. On the back, I wrote "This store had a big friendly black poodle. And some books." The bookstore is still in business. Last August, a Yelp reviewer wrote: "Talk about charming! The store is two floors and has a lovely collection of history/non-fiction upstairs and fiction downstairs. ... I found several names/titles that were new to me and felt like I was prowling around my Pop-pop's basement the whole time. Magical!"

17. Finally, there's a sealed envelope inside the box. A time capsule within a time capsule. "Random old photos of unknown, unrelated folks," the front of the envelope states. I don't have the energy right now, so look for exploration of this one in a future post, maybe.

Revisiting 2016 (Part 2)

Well, this has been (another) horrible week. TGIF. I finally have a few moments to get back to the time capsule marked "Calendar Year 2016." Here are some more observations and quickie photos, while most of the nearly-decade-old ephemera heads for the trash can ...

1. I'm leading off again with something disturbing and, in this instance, too insensitive to amplify with a photo. But it's historically relevant. I kept a homemade "editorial cartoon" and typed message that was mailed to me in my capacity as sports editor. It's an angry commentary from a Lancaster County octogenarian on the "taking a knee" protests at NFL games originated by Colin Kaepernick. In saving the letter then, I added a post-it note on the front stating "Sigh..." There's a vividly clear line from conservatives' reactions to peaceful attempts to raise awareness of racial injustice in America then and our deeply divided, splitting-at-the-seams nation today.

2. Ashar's order form for York County 4-H coffee cake sales.

3. The last birthday card I ever received from Mom. The front states "If cats could talk, and give a crap, they'd wish you a happy birthday." I can barely imagine what Mom's reaction would be to our household of two dozen cats today.

4. An odd sized card for Steinman Park in downtown Lancaster and LNP Media Group Inc.  

5. Part of the box for a Chandler Bing Funk Pop! RIP, Matthew Perry.

6. More printouts of LNP | LancasterOnline sports planning budgets.

7. A flyer for a Halloween sale at Comix Connection on White Street in York.

8. A printout of an email from a student in Arizona (ha!) who was "wandering" about a summer internship "oppertunities" at LNP that would allow him to "get my feet wet in the door." I truly don't mean to make fun, but if you're looking to work in journalism, for heaven's sake, please proof your queries before you send them out.

9. Who remembers Bana al-Abed? She was the young Syrian whose social media account on Twitter (when it was called that) helped to raise global awareness of the terrors for civilians during the Battle of Aleppo. There remain questions about who was actually handling the social media account at that time, but I don't think that changes the importance of the humanitarian message. A book titled Dear World was published in 2017. I found an interview from 2021, when Bana was an 11-year-old living in Turkey but still clearly experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. And then I checked and found that Bana is still posting on X! (I wish she'd come over to the Bluesky.) On December 31, 2024, she wrote: "Dear friends, As we step into this new year, my heart is filled with hope and gratitude. I am overjoyed to see that the Syrian people, once forced to flee their homeland, can now return to their country, no longer running from war but walking back to the place they call home. For those still in Syria, I celebrate with you the peace that is beginning to take root, allowing families to live without fear. Children, once robbed of their childhood, can now play freely, dream of a brighter future, and receive the education they deserve. I truly believe that this year holds the promise of better days ahead. May it be a year of healing, unity, and prosperity, where peace prevails and the shadows of war are left behind. Wishing all of us a year of peace, love and new beginnings. #Syria #Aleppo"

And then there was this post on January 10:

10. An empty bag of Knorr's Cheesy Cheddar. We still go through a lot of it.

11. A map and other items for Panic at the Ballpark, a Halloween walkthrough house of horrors at what was then called PeoplesBank Park in York. Ashar was one of the actors. Here's what I wrote in the footnote of an October 2016 post: "Ashar, now 16½, is working as one of the scary performers this month at a horror attraction called Panic at the Ballpark in York's downtown baseball stadium. From the brochure: 'York's professional baseball stadium, PeoplesBank Park, become[s] a terrifying den of horrors as a force of vengeance and evil wreaks havoc on fans of the great American pastime.' The different areas are called Head Basher's Hideout, The Dismemberment Shop and Dead Man's Play Land. An obsessed police officer, using his fingers as a gun, runs around trying to catch an evil, undead ballplayer."

I'll have to finish this off in a Part 3 soon.

Revisiting 2016 (Part 1)

Due to some meddling by the cats, I had to skip around in the time capsule openings and expedite the box marked "Calendar Year 2016." So, these are items that are between eight and nine years old at this point. 2016 was one of the biggest turning point years of the 21st century, so it will be interesting to see what's inside. And I'm also hoping that I can "Resimplify Me" most of it into the trash bin.

Here are some comments and lots of quickie photos as I go...

1. I have no idea what this means but it's a really, really, REALLY bad start, being the first item pulled. I no longer have any recollection of the story, if any, behind the post/illustration mismatch. I'm sure it was amusing at the time. Now it just makes me more depressed.  (I'm "Printernet Guy," so there are going to be many printouts of tweets, emails and webpages. And consider this your trigger warning for more Trump content ahead.)

2. A $127 receipt for Mr. Bill from the Dover Area Animal Hospital.

3. An illustration of a Pigeon-Man by Wendy Xu.

4. A printout of the Wikipedia page for the Mannequin Challenge, which peaked in the second half of 2016 and included the Dallas Cowboys, Ellen DeGeneres, Adele and Hillary Clinton. Sure.

5. There's ephemera from one of the trips we made to Steel City Comic Con in Pittsburgh. Stars of "The Walking Dead" were the big attraction. I also remember how incredibly sad it was to see the now late John Heard standing there, mostly alone, at his signing table. He was a hell of an actor. ... This April, the Steel City event will include Luis Guzman. I would totally get him to sign some stuff from his Paul Thomas Anderson films, maybe with the phrase "Sports and milk."

6. I thought this might be the drawing of Mr. Bird I used for Papergreat that year. But I guess not. I drew Mr. Bird a lot. 

7. I took my job as chief cook for Christmas Family Dinner 2016 very seriously.

8. Yes, I saved ice cream lids, too.

9. The ridiculous levels of planning that went into being a sports editor. Also, to be very, very clear, I was not reminding myself to email someone a b*mb threat. I'm guessing there was an athletic event that was either delayed or postponed due a stupid, irresponsible threat being called in, and we had to update our plans accordingly.

10. Pokémon Go debuted in the summer of 2016 and, as I'm sure many of you recall, it was bonkers seeing all of the people walking around in public with their smartphones held out in front of them. I played the part of social observer.

11. A very painful printout from The Onion and one that is still very relevant on February 16, 2025, as The Associated Press faces a White House ban for refusing to acknowledge the name "Gulf of America."

12. Maybe my favorite tweet of all time. It appears that @sarahk343 and their account are gone from Twitter. Good for them. That's why I print things out.

12. Brexit headlines from Drudge Report. Sigh.

TO BE CONTINUED