Sunday, July 14th, 1974

Debbie's birthday. No card or anything from me this year. Oh, well. It's been almost 5 years since she moved.

Basically a bad day although I discovered that my crush on Linda is bigger than ever. I intend to write her again tomorrow.

I heard the Beatles Top 20 hits on WSAI tonight.

NOTES: WSAI AM had been the big Cincinnati Beatles station during the early days of Beatlemania and more or less carried that reputation with it for years afterwards. DJ Dusty Rhodes was their biggest booster but he was by that point on another station. Oddly enough, he's still around. Although he became a successful politician over the years, he has almost always maintained a presence on the air locally.  


Since my first ever Beatles record was the single of THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD in 1970--their very last release before the breakup--I spent most of the seventies trying to get hold of all their music--released and unreleased. By this point in 2012, I honestly think I've at least heard 90% of everything they ever did when someone had a tape recorder on. As McCartney once put it when asked his opinion of the heavily bootlegged material, there was a REASON they didn't release it. What they DID put out was the GOOD stuff.


As far as Debbie, it would be another couple of years (!) before I finally quit carrying the torch (after seeing her one last time. Check my 1976 Journal for that story). Would most likely have happened much sooner if I had ever had another girlfriend to replace her but that just never happened so I pined away from time to time when I wasn't busy fantasizing romantically about Linda Blair.


Come to think of it, today would be Debbie's birthday yet again. Wherever she is, I hope if she remembers me at all that she realizes I was just a poor, lovesick schoolboy. Happy birthday, Debbie.

Saturday, July 13th, 1974

Doug bought the Bruce Lee book and another one from me. Then we caught the bus for the long ride out to Tri-County and saw HERBIE RIDES AGAIN. I think it may be Stefanie's best movie!

At the Shopping Center, we saw a karate demonstration with the star of a new movie. Not much. Stopping at Fountain on the way back, I got the new SPEC with great stuff on Linda! Even a poster. I put it on my wall naturally.

We got back downtown about 8 and home by 8:30.

My LB scrapbook is getting overcrowded. I've decided to dedicate my next one (which I may need as early as next week) to her, also. I need to write her again, too.

Stayed up late to watch STAR TREK.

NOTES: Doug and I were best friends in 5th, 6th and 7th grades, simultaneous with Terry, but for some reason, he and I never went to movies together. In fact, I think this may have been the only one we saw together. We actually caught an early afternoon matinee but, as with before, the multiple buses made it an all-day trip. Especially since the buses had an abbreviated schedule on Sundays. Nowadays, if my son, now 15 as I was then, were to be gone for hours and hours and take multiple buses, I'd freak out all day!

Friday, July 12th, 1974

IT.

Saw Clint Eastwood on with Dinah Shore.

I got a letter from Dynapubs about FLASHBACK.

I made out a list of books to try to sell to someone. Not OBS.

I watched HERBIE DAY AT DISNEYLAND celebrating the Disney premiere of the new movie I hope to be seeing tomorrow. I hope to go with Doug but if not, maybe Terry.

I also watched Marlo's first special and William Friedkin's first film on TV.

NOTES: HERBIE DAY AT DISNEYLAND was shameless, blatant promotion but they really made  a big deal out of it. As you can see, it even had its own publicity stills!


EXORCIST director Friedkin's first theatrical feature as a director was GOOD TIMES, a surreal 1967 vehicle for Sonny and Cher. Not as bad as its reputation and, in a way, a preview of their style of humor as seen just a few years later on their hit variety series. 


FLASHBACK was a series of facsimile reprints of classic Golden Age comic books that featured full color covers and murky, black and white scans of the original color pages for the interiors. They weren't great but they were all we had at the time when it came to reading complete comics from the forties without paying a lot.

Thursday, July 11th, 1974

I got some new books including the long-awaited PLANET OF THE APES. I got one old book at OBS. They had very few, probably because Terry cleaned them out yesterday.

We went out to the Zoo today. I took my camera but I don't think I got any good shots.

I think I saw Jim Scott downtown this afternoon!

I didn't finish work 'til after 9 o'clock.

I'm thinking of starting a fan club for that girl at The Madison since she looks so much like Linda Blair!

It's too late for me to send Debbie a birthday card now. Guess that just shows that she really is completely out of my life now. I'm growing older.

NOTES: Jim Scott was my favorite DJ on WSAI AM. Had been since I first discovered radio in 1969. It's not that small of a town and I went through a period where I hung around with radio folks and yet it would be 34 years before i would casually run into Jim Scott again and that was at the Airport. I didn't say anything to him because someone else had recognized him and was monopolizing his time. I didn't want to ruin his moment.


Jim has weathered the changes in radio and still holds forth with a successful (if long unlistenable) show today in the Cincinnati market..

Wednesday, July 10th, 1974

The day after. It's still hard to believe. My stomach caused me to lose some sleep. I got up at about 4:30 in the morning.

Mom had to go to work for a few hours today.

I had to help George again and I'm getting tired of it.

The man came and fixed our window.

It rained all day and temperatures were up, ruining our plans to go to the Zoo. Probably tomorrow.

I think I'll have to write Linda again soon. Next week.

I've been drinking too many soft drinks again lately. I really am going to have to cut down.

Saturday is Debbie's birthday. I should send her a  card.

Terry called and said he got about $1.20 worth of old comics. Just called to brag I think. I've been involved in other things lately like movies and Linda but I hope I can get really involved in fandom and build a great collection.

NOTES: I never did get involved in comics fandom very much. My natural shyness, I suppose. Over time, I did make my mark though, winning the COMICS INTERVIEW 100 Trivia Quiz in 1991 and, with the coming of the Web, becoming acquainted with many of the folks who WERE actually heavily involved in fandom in the seventies. 


I wish I HAD cut back on Cokes. From time to time I did but not really. Never for very long. Today, alone, I believe I've had four. They've screwed up my weight, my teeth and other aspects of my health over the years. I should still cut back more but I've given up so much in recent years...Sigh...

Tuesday, July 9th, 1974

E-DAY! Mom and Dad did my work for me and Terry and I met his mother and off we went! We went into the theater and saw...THE EXORCIST. There was even a girl that resembled Linda working the concession stand!

The picture began. I was prepared to be scared some but...nothing. I'd sit through the picture a million times though to see the scenes of Linda before the possession! Oh, they were marvelous!

There were a LOT of people there! I doubt it'll make my number one spot for the year but it will definitely be in the Top Ten. Oh, I can't get over it! After six solid months of wanting it, I, Steven Paul Thompson, saw THE EXORCIST! At last!

I took a bath before I went and washed my hair like I was going to meet a girl. My girl! Linda!

The closest thing I got to a scare was a stomach ache from the Pepsi I drank.

On the way home, we ran into Doug's mother and sister.

The baby was here for another visit when I got home.

NOTES: I get a lot of praise for my honesty in posting this blog exactly as it happened but I have to say that nothing I've posted has embarrassed me...until this. Yeesh, I had it bad!

Monday, July 8th, 1974

Terry called early and said we'd surely get to see THE EXORCIST tonight. All the rest of the day I was joyful. Then at 5 when he was supposed to call and tell me what time he was picking me up, he called to say something had come up. I should have known.  Says now it'll probably be tomorrow. He'd better be right. I remain hopeful.

Mom gave me some strawberry incense that Phyllis had brought me last week. She'd forgotten about it. It was the first time I'd ever burned incense. At first, I couldn't smell a thing. Finally the smell came out after several hours. I got a headache.

NOTES: Well, what do you know? I skipped ahead and saw that it WAS Terry's mother who ended up taking us. In MY memory it was my own mother! But that's tomorrow's story...finally!


Apparently Phyllis presumed that all teenagers burned incense. It was a popular thing to do in the seventies, partially to disguise the smell of less legal items,  but I had never done it. If I recall correctly, since I had no incense burner, I stuck it in a Pepsi bottle! I did get it from time to time after that although never regularly.