Monday, February 18th, 1974

IT again. Me and dad went to Aunt Rosie's for the 3rd year in a row on this Presidents day. This afternoon, we really were ready to finally see THE EXORCIST only to find out the bus wasn't running because of the holiday. So we went to see MAGNUM FORCE downtown instead. Back to the old grind tomorrow.

NOTES: Not sure why I didn't mention it here but I'm assuming it's the reason we went to Aunt Rosies--Today was my dad's birthday. Rosie's birthday was Feb. 22nd and my Dad's was Feb. 18th so we often kind of celebrated together. 


Apparently my mother had to work, holiday or no holiday. She worked in a factory and they might not have recognized the still-new holiday of Presidents Day. 


If my dad were still alive in 2012, he would be 102 years old today, the same age as my wife's late GRANDFather, born on the exact same date in the same year. 


The picture shows my Dad and myself 7 years beyond 1974, once again at Aunt Rosie's house. 

Sunday, February 17th, 1974

Evel made a good jump!

My deal came through with Terry so I sent most of the rest of the day reading.

The chances of my seeing THE EXORCIST tomorrow are now very slim but I'll still probably see some movie tomorrow. There's a chance Linda B might be on THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW tomorrow, also!

NOTES: Mike Douglas, like Merv Griffin, was an ex-big band singer turned talk show host. Unlike Griffin and Carson and most other talk shows, however, Mike prided himself on welcoming the new as well as the tried and true. He wasn't himself "hip" per se...but it was like he knew it when he saw it. I enjoyed THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW immensely during the seventies. In more recent years, Rosie O'Donnell has called Mike's show the biggest influence on her own talk show.


The image of Mike seen here, by Richard Amsel, was one of my all-time favorite TV GUIDE covers.

Saturday, February 16th, 1974

I got several new books today but the best news was that I may finally get to see a movie on Monday.Not just any movie but maybe THE EXORCIST! It's kind of slim but...

Also, tomorrow, Evel Knievel jumps!

NOTES: Like many folks in the early seventies, I was seduced by the style of daredevil motorcycle stunt man Evel Knievel, whom I had first "met" when George Hamilton played him in a bio-pic a couple of years earlier. Although he was promoted as a real, old-fashioned hero and even ended up with his own Marvel comic book, in real life, Evel turned out to be quite a schmuck in the long run. Here, he was preparing a jump over some cars or buses or somesuch but later in the year he was planning to jump the Grand FREAKIN' Canyon!! Stay tuned.

Friday, February 15th, 1974

My horoscope said that I had nothing to worry about today and it was right! My exam didn't come today after all and now it looks like it won't be until Tuesday at the earliest.

Also, I negotiated a real good trade with Terry to be finalized on Monday.

NOTES: In the seventies, I was really into astrology. Every day I checked my horoscope in the newspaper and couldn't understand when the morning one sometimes conflicted with the evening one. I was pretty much disillusioned by it all in 1981 when celebrity psychic Joyce Jillson (also the star of the seventies exploitation flick, SUPERCHICK), told me by phone on a local radio talk show that May 21st would be my luckiest day of the year. Come May 21st, I awoke with great hopes...and ended up in the hospital for the first time in my life. With a kidney stone! I was 22 years old and got stuck staying overnight in pain in a ward with five moaning old men. It took nearly six months for the kidney stone to pass, during which time it flared up several times per week and necessitated canceling long-made plans, leaving movies in the middle and generally feeling miserable most of the time. 


It's been explained to me that A) she didn't say it would be GOOD luck or that perhaps B) the lucky part was that it could have been worse if I hadn't gotten to the hospital. Screw that. I know what she meant and she was wrong. Never paid much attention to astrology again.

Thursday, February 14th, 1974

Today was Valentine's Day and I find myself missing any sort of female companionship SO much! But it's over now and I don't have to worry about it anymore until next year.

My biggest worry is a physical exam the ninth graders must take soon. Maybe as early as tomorrow. We'll see.

NOTES: As a young child I used to love it when everyone bought valentines for everyone else in class at school. I saved them for many years! By this point, though, you only gave valentines to who you WANTED to give valentines to. I was, of course, too shy to give anyone a valentine...and of course no one gave me any. In the years since, I made efforts at celebrating the day again but they never worked. When I was managing bookstores in the eighties, I began buying flowers for all the female employees I worked with on Valentines Day. It was much appreciated at first but by the last year I did it, circa 2002, political correctness had ruined so much for everybody. My motives were questioned and the gesture was misinterpreted. I was asked never to do it again. Sigh....


Valentines Day 1974 was also the final birthday for the great comedian Jack Benny who would pass from pancreatic cancer at the end of the year after a brief illness.

Wednesday, February 13th, 1974

Well, that's all I needed. I did IT today in spite of my best intentions and I actually ended up better than I've felt in ages. Maybe that's it and I can finally put it behind me...for now at least.

I finally finished my rewrite today and later Terry told me some mighty interesting things about what's out in Cincinnati right now.

NOTES: A few days before this in 1974, the final astronauts of the Skylab mission returned to Earth and the space station remained empty until it crashed to Earth years later. There were later planned missions and some talk of reusing Skylab for the developing Space Shuttle but in the end, nothing came of it. 


I may not have mentioned it in my Journal but I had been a space buff ever since seeing John Glenn's flight coverage at an early age. I followed the Gemini and Apollo programs and was still enthralled during the Skylab era. Sad to see it end...even though we didn't yet know it WAS the end.


Oh, and I see there is now, in 2012, a music group using the title of my 1974 story, SITUATION SIX.

Tuesday, February 12th, 1974

Not bad. Worked some more on my story rewrite today and had a fair day at school. The weather was beautiful all day long.

NOTES: Well, alrighty then...I swear the year gets more interesting. While we're here, let's take a look at what was topping the music charts.


Barbara Streisand, whom I first discovered with her attempt at a rock single, STONEY END, in 1971, was now back in more familiar territory with what I still feel was the best song she ever recorded--the wistful ballad, THE WAY WE WERE. The movie theme had topped the charts the last week in January and then after a   week's displacement had returned to the number one position on the 10th. This time it would stay for two weeks.


The movie THE WAY WE WERE was, by contrast, extremely dull and forgettable. The song and the recording are gorgeous!