Set The Wayback Machine to 1971 Sherman
October 3, 1971:
"Today I got this diary, hotpants, transistor radio and a record. We went bowling tonight."
Yes, this was the first amazing entry in my new Five Year Diary - a gift I received that day for my 11th birthday.
What prose!
What emotion!
What riveting details!
Not.
To be fair though, it was hard to fit in anything comprehensible into that book; each page was split into five sections, allowing only four short lines available to record each day's experiences. And with my blocky handwriting, I was forced to be succinct or use unintelligible shorthand terms to chronicle my daily exploits. I am still scratching my head at a few of them...
Yes, I failed miserably to create a coherent history of my daily goings on, as only about 10% of the little book is filled in.
A definite pattern is there though. It seems I would faithfully pencil in an entry for weeks on end and then a slew of blank pages would follow until the next block of recordings emerged months later.
I now remember this was because I kept losing then rediscovering that Damn Tiny Key©. I had to hide it from my older brother and sometimes I hid it so well, I forgot where the heck I put it.
Like in 1972. My last entry was April 4th. Then nothing until July 3rd:
"Today I finally found my key to the diary. I was really relieved to find it."
So relieved, it seems, that I didn't write another word until January 1st, 1973.
(And I don't know why I didn't just use a paper clip to pry it open; that so-called "lock" was the lamest device ever invented.)
Thirty-or-so years later, I opened up that book again for blog fodder a laugh and the memories swept back. I was surprised to find photos of friends, artwork, newspaper clippings and even a rose petal pressed inside. Even though they are short, those scribbles still make me smile, sad, or plain embarrassed.
"I met a hunky guy today..."
"Hunky????" (note to self: DON'T show that part to hubby or daughter...)
How I wish I had been more diligent in recording my activities.
I wonder if thirty-or-so years from now, I'll still be able to read my blog and smile, be sad or plain embarassed about this time of my life.
Although these runs of days without a new post is deja vu all over again.
Except I can't blame my absence for the lack of a Damn Tiny Key©.
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Holy cow... there simply HAS to be a picture of you in hot pants. You're holding out Maureen, I know it.
So how old were you when you started noticing "hunky" guys?
LOL!!! Well, I don't know if I have a picture (not that I'm going to make an actual effort to look), but I WILL say they were black velvet and had a bib.... scary, eh?
And my "Hunky Guy" entry was dated 1972... so that would have made me all of 12. Gad. I must have been quite the hormonal pre-teen in hot pants...
Hot Pants???? I would pay good money to see a picture of you in those back then.
Har! Don't hold yer breath....
;)
It's a pity your younger self didn't have more to say - you could have filled weeks of blog posts with very little effort.
I know I would have.
Rol: Well, I DO have some choice entries I am saving for future posts, as a matter of fact...
Wow, at first when I saw the picture of the white book with the script reading "Diary" that it actually said "Scary". Scary indeed! I still remember my first diary entry in 2nd grade: "I have a crush on Randy Carlyle of the Winnipeg Jets" (which surely I didn't but I thought that diaries were only for writing about secret crushes). Scott promptly popped open that little lock without any stupid little key and teased me about it for years to come.
Hah! Yeah, I can see Scott doing that. We will definitely have to chastise him for invading your privacy when you all come here this summer...
And Ashley: I just looked at the photo of the diary again... you're right! It DOES look like "Scary"!!!
Maureen, I think I had the same diary (in green) with that same dang tiny key!!!! I wonder where the heck it is though ... but I do remember trying to fit all the important things of the day into tiny script...then locking it and putting it under my bed.
Hot pants... hmmm, are those the equivalent of overalls? As they certainly weren't hot on me. I had about a dozen pair when I was about 12 years old... that was what I was "known" for. Ugh.
Don't show it to hubby or daughter, but share it with the world wide web! You crack me up!
My daughter's third grade teacher makes them write in their journal every morning. I love it! She will cherish having it when she grows up. I wish I had kept mine. Then I could've told the world of my love for Chachi.
HOW funny!!! I wish I had been better at keeping that stuff. I'd love to look back on it. I totally remember the teeny tiny miniscule keys they came with. A blog works better for me....and it doubles as my baby book. I know, I know....mother of the year. ;)
You need to look into some retro-active royalties, with your shorthand, you could be the Mother of modern day text messaging!
Boy, that diary thing brought back memories and I did the same thing too. And so did my DD. LOL Maybe's it's normal.
I had a diary when I was that age and my older sister secretly read it and made fun of me. Nothing was sacred at out house! Oh, piffle! I wish I had it now.
Hey Karen Meg: Very cool that you had the same one! Hotpants are actually very, very short shorts... usually came with a bib like overalls (back in the 70's). Anyway, you really had to be careful when you bent over...
Momo Fali: Yeah, daughter had teachers that made them do Journals as well... and yes, I have kept them for her. I think she'll love to read it in the future!
Ann(ie): I know what you mean about the blog and baby book... it is a good way to record things! I just hope we can still read them years from now.
NukeDad: Ha! Never thought of that... too bad I never invented BRB or OMG...
Aimeslee: I think a lot of girls (and even some guys, eh Jeff?) had Diaries or Journals. It's whether they KEEP them that's rare...
Irene: Aw, that sucks about your sister! Wish she had kept one too so you could return the "favor". I guess we all take a risk when writing things down...
Crap. I STILL use the word Hunky.
That's bad, isn't it!?
I love it!! And the "hunky" guys reference :) I wish I had held on to my diaries..or...perhaps not...
When I think Hunky Guy, 1970's I think Lou Ferrigno. Hahaha! Hulk smash blog! I wish I kept a journal in my childhood. I would love to see my thoughts and match them with those of my sons to see how similar we were.
What no pics of the hot pants ?
Day Dreamer: You sound like me... "Crap" and "Hunky"... yes, be afraid. Be very afraid!
Toners: I think we need to make a "Hunky" greeting card... don't you?? Maybe for Father's Day.
Busy Dad: Ah, Hulk.... "don't make me mad; you wouldn't want to see when I'm mad..." Just remember, keep any journals your son may do so he can see them and laugh in the future.
Worker Mommy: I don't think so, but I'm afraid to look...
OMG this made me laugh - I have a diary from when I was about 10 and every entry details what I had for lunch and dinner and whether I liked it...I should have been a chef I guess...
Hey Maureen, there's a little something over on my blog for you :)
Toners!!! Aw, thank you so much! I will pick it up tonight and add it to my bling page. Very cool, you are too kind.
No desire to see your hot pants.
I've got most of the journals I kept since I was about 11. I'm not as great at writing in them as I should be (surprise surprise), and I still have a journal (I haven't written in a while, but I did a lot when I was pregnant with P). I don't have the one from my senior year in high school. I LITERALLY burned it---I DON'T want to remember that guy! :-(
Come visit!
Hookin' Angel :-)
Hot pants on an 11 year old... that's just wrong! LOL!
I came across an old journal of sorts that I kept of the trips I went on with my family as a pre-teen. It consisted of dates and names of places we stayed... that's it! No comments, nothing. Just place names and dates. My mom thought it was classic "me" though!
I also thought it hilarious that you wrote "DON'T show that part to hubby or daughter..." on the WORLD WIDE WEB! Too funny!
Funny!!!!!!!!
I can't help thinking things will have changed so much that in 30 years we won't even be able to get to our blogs though. Maybe they'll still be around, or maybe they'll have gone the way of floppy disks...
OMG! I totally had the same exact diary, but with a red cover. And I think I wrote in it a total of four times because I lost the key too. I never was a big diary writer. I think I was always scared someone would find it and read it. Funny, now I have a blog that does that same thing and I broadcast my secrets to the entire Internet. I must have turned a leaf somewhere.
Hey Allison: Great that you kept your journals! They must be fun to read now... thanks for stopping by!
Phoenix5: Yeah, but I STILL didn't share the REST of the "hunky" story with the WWW (at least, not YET...) ;) Love your recounting of statistics when you were younger... that's a riot!
Jill: That's what I'm thinking too... but since I backup my posts on Word, hopefully I'll still be able to read word processor documents in the future???
VP: A red cover? Cool! Someone else had a green one... they must have been very popular. And the key issue; I always wanted to just keep it with the darn thing, but having an older brother sent that idea out the window fast. Yeah, and now look at us. We must not have such juicy tales to tell if we're willing to broadcast it to the world, eh?
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