#My1970sDiary — racial arguments and softball
April 14, 1972-75
“Ted and I got into a racial arguement (sic) again. But we made up & are planning to get married.” Folks, I have no idea what this is about, though I DID marry someone named Ted. …
#My1970sDiary — Hot dogs, jump rope, and Godspell
April 13, 1972-75
“Well nothing really exciting happened, except it was hot dog day.” You know your life is pretty tame when hot dogs are the highlight.
Got first place in jump rope! Went to see a Donald Duck “film” (fancier than just a movie)…
#My1970sDiary — Torpedos
April 12, 1972-75
My dad was an electrical engineer on the Mark 46 submarine torpedo program at Bendix Corp. In 1973 he went to Washington state to do a test.
He worked out of a facility in Sylmar, CA, that included a deep indoor pool for testing sonar and electronics.
#My1970sDiary — Jim!
April 11, 1972-75
I still haven’t figured out how to spell “choir.” But in 1975, that’s exactly where I am — in chior/choir. “I was joking around with everybody except Jim, who was trying to be funny.” He was trying to be funny or was it me? Prolly both…
#My1970sDiary — So Much CAL-chure
April 10, 1972-75
Lots of music, movies and live performances! Singing the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun,” (makes me think of the old Crocker bank ad), then seeing “The Sting” — Hollywood at its best — and later hearing from the legendary Michael York…
Weekly recap of #My1970sDiary! I list all the things I fail at, I “hardly” look at Jim, and I FINALLY mention Vietnam.
#My1970sDiary — Nerf Fights
April 9, 1972-75
Church + nerf ball fights sounds very typical. Meantime, our dogs are not doing well. Hazel — the dachshund mutt — can’t walk. And “I’m finally teaching Horace not to bite.”
I can be dishonest, especially as I get older…
#My1970sDiary — “I acted really dazed.”
April 7, 1972-75
In 1975, at rehearsal (for what?), “we’re acting stoned & I acted really dazed and (follow the arrow down) it was funny.” Unfortunately, I’m also so white because I…
#My1970sDiary — “Don’t feel too good.”
April 6, 1972-75
I’m sick. A ventriloquist comes in third. I bring submarine sandwiches to cotillion. “God may test us, but never too much.”
#My1970sDiary — Vietnam
April 5, 1972-75
My first reference to the war in Vietnam. In my usual succinct style devoid of any reaction or context, I simply write in 1975 that “they’ve been bringing the Vietnamese orphans over.” Moving on! it rained! “What a day for a wedding.”…
#My1970sDiary — “Proud Mary”
April 4, 1972-75
Geez. Treasurer in student council. Girl Scouts. Prepping to perform “Proud Mary” for the talent show (can’t imagine the rendition a couple of preteen suburban girls would belt out). Throwing away some poster I made and then ruined…
#My1970sDiary — “The guy got mad”
April 3, 1972-75
Miss Ham was my super cool 6th grade teacher who wore go-go boots. She reached out to me about a decade ago when I filled in on KFI and sent me the kindest note.
Northern Ireland’s “troubles” were a big deal during this era…
#My1970sDiary — The Academy Awards Streaker
April 2, 1972-75
The only day worth noting is in 1974, when I “didn’t do so hot” in dancing BUT Ted walked home with me from school. Most importantly, “There was a streaker on the Academy Awards!” youtu.be/EWBc-ir6IFM?...
#My1970sDiary — “Foxy”
April 1, 1972,73,74,75
My younger brother got in a fight in 1974, and everyone was cheering for him. “Weird.” It WAS weird. Very out of character. He was super chill. Someone must’ve crossed a line.
Other than that, Ted calls me “foxy” (not the Ted I married…
#My1970sDiary — My (redacted) birthday!
Mar 31, 1973, 74, 75
Sorry for redacting so much. There was a lot of family turmoil at the time. We all loved each other, but it’s weird reading about the drama I had buried deep in my memory banks and thought was forgotten.
Meantime, it’s my birthday!…
#My1970sDiary — Major redactions
Mar 30, 1973,74,75
“They were going to sing happy birthday to me in chorus but forgot.” Super sad trombone. (My birthday is tomorrow.)
Tennis is bad. “Bells are Ringing” is good. More Sizzler’s! And then I black out the rest because…
#My1970sDiary — More Mama, More Steinbeck
March 29, 1973,74,75
It’s my mom’s birthday. She would’ve been 100 today, and though we had an often contentious time of it when I was growing up, we had a great relationship after I became a mother. She helped me A LOT raising my children…
#My1970sDiary — “Today was a lucky day”
March 28, 1973,74,75
I considered myself lucky to get 105 out of 100 on Algebra and an A+ in history. However, in a turn of events that will surprise no one, I only achieved a C+ in Floor Exercise. My Olympic dreams are slipping away…
#My1970sDiary
March 27, 1973,74,75 — Up in the Air, Junior Birdman
Wow, I haven’t thought about that song in decades, but my English teacher, the late, great Mr. Crathorne, is singing that song and “acting weird.”
More family drama is blacked out, but I keep in the part…
#My1970sDiary — I FROZE
March 26, 1973,74,75
I redact a big chunk of private family business to protect the living and the dead.
There’s David (“so cute!”) and Dennis (“took a picture of me”), and in typical over-the-top teenage girl fashion, I FROZE at Magic Mountain, and “even now…
#My1970sDiary — Color me Orange
March 25, 1973,74,75
Miracles can happen! But that doesn’t stop someone from enacting revenge when you teepee their car, as one of my brothers learns (Jeff teepee’d Terry’s car, and Terry returned the favor… using honey)…
#my1970sdiary A junior high sit-in over a streaker being suspended! A teacher makes me sit in baby powder! Older boy Jim is blowing me off! It’s the weekly recap of my embarrassing #1970s diary! VERY analog. Before Meta could harm children.
#My1970sDiary — Missing out on “Truth or Dare”
Mar 24, 1973,74,75
In ‘75, it’s “Easter vacation,” as we used to call it. But “what a bore,” since I’m grounded (not doing the ironing carries a stiff penalty). I miss a party Tami throws for Deanna where she invites boys & they play “Truth or Dare.”
#My1970sDiary — in which I diss Robert Redford’s movie. And Ryan O’Neal’s.
March 23, 1973,74,75
Junior high students are mean. Carol (last name redacted) wrote a big paragraph on the chalkboard about how much she didn’t like our choir teacher…
#My1970sDiary
March 22, 1973,74,75
Apparently, like Timothee Chalamet, I don’t care for opera, because Hansel and Gretel “would probably been better if it was a play.” Other than that, I get a “D” on a test, my friend Mary visits and we have a blast acting silly…
#My1970sDiary
March 21, 1973,74,75
I’m so upset that Jim ignored me that I confess it all to another boy.
BUT WAIT.
WHAT?
In 1974, in 8th grade, Mr. “A” (who?) “tried to make me sit in some baby powder.” What the… why? To be fair, I could be obnoxious and disrespectful…
#My1970sDiary
March 20, 1973,74,75
Kinda rough.
I miss out on Disneyland because it’s raining. I only get the EASIEST problem wrong on my algebra test. And after insisting that I don’t Iike Jim anymore, I ask him if he’d like me to walk with him. He blows me off. Then…
#My1970sDiary
March 19, 1973,74,75 — how many times do I mention Jim?
My favorite entry is 1974 in jr high where I name a streaker (redacted) who got suspended, and then students staged a sit in “because they thought it wasn’t fair.”
In 1975 I hope Jim notices I’m ignoring him!…
#My1970sDiary
March 17, 1973,74,75
As an 11-year-old, I see a movie at the University of Redlands — my sister was a student there — about The Rapture. This is VERY 1970s. #TheLateGreatPlanetEarth. I’m also getting a puppy, whom I will name Horace, because I thought that was …
#My1970sDiary
March 16, 1973,74,75
Let’s cut to the chase in 1975. “I DON’T THINK I LIKE JIM!!!” Haven’t we heard this before?
More interesting is 1973. I’d gone to bed with my hair in pin curls (like it’s 1935). Apparently “My hair turned out good and Steve said hi to me…
