Chapter 1: Section 2: Page 18: Line 141 (246)

 "Yeahp," Penny grinned, "they gave me the Tzigane—just brought the old tub in here from Eugene, got her berthed down past that little grove of trees there, nobody worse for wear."

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"Yeahp"
I guess this is how we're supposed to say "Yep!" in Oregon? Like how all the Maine residents in Stephen King books say, "Ayuh." The only problem is I'll have to figure out exactly how to say it so people know I'm not just saying "Yep!"

"the Tzigane"
A "tzigane" is an Eastern European Romani person, particularly from Hungary. I already pointed out how the name of their club, "Bindlestiffs," could possibly be an offensive term and now they're basically calling their wandering ship the Gypsy. It's possible the crew are all Romani in which case the name is fine. The earliest documented mention of Roma in Oregon is from papers in 1893! The story, you might not be surprised to hear, is about a missing girl who was presumed kidnapped by a passing group of Romani. With no evidence, of course! But my guess, since they're ascensionaries, is that they're probably just a bunch of white protestants who think it's cute to play as traveling bindlestiffs and wandering Romani. Or, as we would have said in the 70s because they were two of the most popular Halloween costumes (because they were so easy to pull off), hobos and gypsies. But we wouldn't say that anymore! I mean, I wouldn't. I won't pretend Conservatives don't exist. They're not going to give up their casually racist and offensive terms unless we pull them from their cold dead hands! Hint, hint!

"Eugene"
This is where all the hippies live in Oregon. It's where the University of Oregon is located. Their mascot is the duck. That's pretty lame even when you consider the other big Oregon University's mascot is a beaver. Portland State's mascot is the Viking which seems more like a football mascot (probably because it's also a professional one!) although it feels a bit racist in the 21st century. Not racist like calling your football team the Redskins! But racist like celebrating European white heritage!
    A truck I was driving on a road trip with my cousin once broke down in Eugene and I was lucky that my step-grandfather lived there so he could pick us up until help came to get us back to Portland. He was the father of an ex-mayor of Portland who totally cheats at Scattergories. I don't want to name him because knowing he cheats at that game could hurt his reputation. But you might also know him as the Portlandia mayor's assistant!

"that little grove of trees"
That's where the man with the camera and the naked lady ran off to! I wonder if Penny saw them doing it!

"nobody worse for the wear"
I think she saw the Inconvenience's terrible landing and is breaking Darby's balls here.

Chapter 1: Section 2: Page 18: Line 140 (245)

 The Bindlestiffs were known and respected for granting the loquacious sex membership on a strictly equal footing with boys, including full opportunities for promotion.

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"the loquacious sex"
Weird to think how women got the stereotype of talking a lot when men have tried to keep women's voices silent for most of history. I suppose in that environment, where you never want to hear a woman's opinion on any topic, any amount of speaking seems like too much. Maybe men have gotten the reputation for not being so talkative because most of the stuff they want to say is crass and disgusting which is why they only say it in the locker room where only other crass and disgusting creatures are hanging out.
    I'll tell you this about locker rooms: anybody who says something like "that's just locker room talk!" is a disgusting, vile monster of a human being. As a male, I've spent way more time in locker rooms than I would have liked and being in those locker rooms was always torturous. If a guy thinks it's somehow "out of bounds" to criticize a person for "locker room talk," that guy is telling on himself. If he enjoys being in a locker room with all of those other monsters, he himself is a monster. Being in a locker room as a fat kid in junior high were the worst moments of my life and all guys who think "locker room talk" is okay can get fucked. They're sociopaths if they think the person they are in the locker room isn't their true self. Who you are when you think nobody will judge you is exactly who you are. When you're out of the locker room, you're in your secret identity.

See how much I just talked there! Okay, sure, it was writing. But it's basically the same thing! I want to "talk" so much that I've written over 4000 blog entries on my other blog! Although if we were face to face, I probably wouldn't have much to say and you would think, "As a male, he's not very loquacious." I would really hope you enjoyed carrying conversations.

If the Bindlestiffs were known for gender equality then the standard among aeronauts was not that. I guess I didn't expect anything different, it being 1893 and all. But I still do hope one of the Chums winds up being a girl in drag.

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 Darby, recognizing them as members of Bindlestiffs of the Blue A.C., a club of ascensionaries from Oregon, with whom the Chums of Chance had often flown on joint manœuvres, broke into a welcoming smile, especially for Miss Penelope ("Penny") Black, whose elfin appearance disguised an intrepid spirit and unfaltering will, and on whom he had had a "case" for as long as he could remember.

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"Bindlestiffs of the Blue A.C."
I'm fairly certain the "A.C." just stands for "aeronautics club" even though I really wanted it to stand for "antichrist" or "amazing Christ," seeing as how this club is made up of ascensionaries. I think that's something like "missionaries who descend upon you like vultures from the air." "Bindlestiff" is probably a derogatory term by now but it basically means a tramp or a hobo. You know, somebody who carries a bindle. These guys are just tramps of the air, flying around getting into trouble stealing pies from windowsills and destroying primitive cultures with their love of Christ.

"from Oregon"
I'm not from Oregon but I'm kind of from Oregon since Oregon was where my alcoholic father geographicked to after divorcing my mom when I was two. So I spent the odd weekend or two up there growing up. Now I live here. It's exactly the kind of place an aeronautics club called the Bindlestiffs of the Blue would be from. Except they wouldn't be espousing Christ's teachings now. Now they'd be spreading Marx's words and their balloon's gondola would be full of chickens.

"Miss Penelope ("Penny") Black"
This is the first knowingly female aeronaut! I bet Darby isn't the only aeronaut with a crush on her. Part of the reason men think women have their pick of any man they want is because so much gatekeeping is done on various hobbies and occupations. If you only allow one or two women into your club of dozens of men, the men are going to swarm all over the woman as a potential partner. And when she refuses them all, it isn't because she's some prude or cold hearted person. It's probably because the guy she's attracted to isn't attracted to her which means she's in the same boat as all the men attracted to her who she isn't attracted to! If you want more opportunities to meet a woman whom you're attracted to who is also attracted to you, let more women into your spaces! Or, better yet, get into hobbies or occupations that are typically considered feminine by society! Or, and this is a revolutionary idea, if you're a heterosexual man, maybe don't treat every member of the opposite sex as simply an opportunity to get laid!
    Why did I go on that rant? Who knows?! What I really wanted to say was that Penelope is a great name for a dame from 1893! And her surname of "Black" probably means something too! Like, "black" is the color of a moonless night so it's the opposite of "day" which we're apparently "against." It's the absence of light and light is (or will be?) an important theme in this book!

"elfin appearance"
This either means she's short or tall, depending on what kind of elves Pynchon is talking about. Probably short since this moment is pre-Tolkien (not pre-Tolkien existing since he was born a year previously! But definitely pre-Lord of the Rings which he didn't write until way after he was one year old). It also means she's cute, probably. If she were ugly, she'd probably be described as "goblinesque" or "troll-like."
    Being tiny and demure would also explain why her look "disguised an intrepid spirit and unfaltering will." I hope "intrepid spirit" and "unfaltering will" are euphemisms for "horny like a goat in spring."

Chapter 1: Section 2: Page 18: Lines 132-133 (237-238)

 Into the firelight emerged two boys and a girl, carrying picnic baskets and wearing flight uniforms of indigo mohair brilliantine with scarlet pinstripes, and headgear which had failed to achieve the simpler geometry of the well-known Shriner fez, being far more ornate and, even for its era, arguably not in the best of taste. There was an oversized spike, for example, coming out the top, German style, and a number of plumes dyed a pale eclipse green.

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I bet those picnic baskets are full of valuables nicked from campsites without dogs where aeronauts have already collapsed into sleep around their campfires. I don't trust these new kids at all!

Here's what the Bindlestiffs of the Blue A.C. might look like according to the Non-Certified Spouse, Kendal:

And here's an early draft of Penelope Black before she decided the hats weren't the same material as the uniforms.

I hope I can get Kendal to imagine all the fashion descriptions throughout the book! The only issue is that drawing takes much longer than my crappy analysis and I'm already going to spend over ten years doing this project! So in the future, I'll just add her art later and re-share the link to the entry when it's ready.