Sunday, December 15th, 1974

A big day. The second Sunday in a row where I saw no movie! Doug saw DRAGON yesterday.

IT.

I put up my silver Christmas tree this morning. It's really pretty. It's in my room.

I saw another good NANNY & THE PROFESSOR.

I made two new comics folders this afternoon.

Found out YOUNG FRANK is rated PG.

My poster paper was warped so I forewent any work on my stars poster this week.

I read  a little of my EARTHQUAKE book.

Some dumb doctor says that THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK could corrupt people. Proves to me how crazy HE is!

Watched both Bing and Bob in specials on TV tonight. There was a UFO special on Channel 2 out of Dayton.

I heard my favorite Helen Reddy song on the radio tonight for the first time all year--"Oh, so peaceful here!"

Didn't write a word on my TREK story but did a lot of research and came up with some new ideas. Gave Terry a few art tips for it, too. I sure hope I finish it on time.

NOTES: NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR was a sitcom in the classic mode that had aired a couple of years earlier but stayed around in reruns for a while. A favorite of both my wife's and mine, a few years ago, I picked it up on DVD-R for her. For a while, I was Facebook friends with star Juliet Mills.

Saturday, December 14th, 1974

A bad beginning. Got my glasses fixed, though...somewhat.  I still don't feel like they're perfect.

Terry's mother drove us over the river and dropped us off at the bus stop. We caught bus # 17 to UC and got off when we thought we saw it. We were right. After wandering aimlessly for a while, we asked a guy how to get to Tangeman Center and he told us and we found it. Man, it's really beautiful up there. I may consider going there rather than Indiana University.

A lot of the same Trek fans were there but even more. There was a door prize but we didn't win. We all got Spock business cards. We discussed the fanzine and they want me to call them when I finish the STAR TREK story I started last year. We also discussed the trip. It would be about a hundred bucks each. With  a little work, I could afford it but I'd have to miss a few school days. That won't go over well. I think maybe Mom and dad might agree. Oh, it would be marvelous!

NOTES: I remember us being overwhelmed by how big The University of Cincinnati was! At that time, I had hoped to attend the Indiana University because I had discovered they taught a course on comic book history. I had even sent away for flyers a year or so before. Who knows if they were still teaching it by the time I would have actually needed it? If I'm correct, it was being taught by Michael Uslan who went on to not only write comics himself but also to produce the BATMAN movie franchise starting with the Michael Keaton films. As I ended up not going anywhere, the thoughts were moot and, in retrospect, a bit sad.

The STAR TREK fan stuff never really went anywhere or if it did, they quit contacting Terry and myself, perhaps deciding we were too young. Never saw a fanzine, never made the trip. Never heard from them again, sadly. But I kept the Spock business card! See above.

Friday, December 13th, 1974

Another good Friday the 13th!

Got the new TBG and saw where BATMAN's Chief O'Hara died last week and Otto Binder died in October.

I found out in THE HOLMESPUN that I made the B Honor Roll. That was the day's only real bummer. I had expected to make the A Honor Roll.

Got about five bucks worth of stuff over the river.

I'll have to get my glasses fixed tomorrow. They're just too tight.

Maybe I should invite Debbie to see THE TOWERING INFERNO with me since it's going to be at the new cinemas near where she lives. I doubt it. I'd be afraid of being turned down.

NOTES: Friday the 13 has always brought good luck to me. Still does. Even if nothing good happens on a Friday the 13th, nothing bad does at least.

Hard to believe that five bucks worth of stuff was a LOT in those days.

Actor Stafford Repp played Chief O'Hara, a character originally unique to the TV series. Otto Binder was a longtime comic book writer known for his stories of the original Captain Marvel and later for the various Superman family of titles. 

Not Debbie again. I'm so embarrassed.

Thursday, December 12th, 1974

In Gym today, we played basketball and somehow I scored my first two points! A great Gym day!

We were in Lab in Spanish.

After school, I picked up my new glasses. They're a bit too tight even though he fixed 'em five times.

I picked up another paperback, EARTHQUAKE.

Terry called. he got another letter from the STAR TREK people. Seems there's another meeting this Saturday at UC. It's supposed to be about the chartering of the bus to the February Convention. Mom says I can't go but I'm still hoping to convince her.

NOTES: Note that when I was doing well in it --which was rare--Gym wasn't such a bad class after all.

During that period, I picked up a lot of novelizations, novels written based on the movie's screenplay rather than the other way around. The ones for spectacles such as EARTHQUAKE were particularly poorly done as they couldn't convey that spectacle on the printed page...especially in this case with Universal's new Sensurround feature. 

Wednesday, December 11th, 1974

Back to school. Readjusting was easier than I expected. Was like I had never even been off yesterday. Gym again tomorrow. Too bad.

I drew caricatures of all my teachers. Four out of the seven were surprisingly really very good! Wouldn't show them to the teachers, though.

Today for the first time in ages, I missed a window seat on the bus home. I did get to sit by a cute girl, though!

ENTER THE DRAGON has returned again. In fact, it's the only good thing currently on except for a few other re-releases I've already seen, too.

I ran out of tape on Monday! My work is beginning to pile up!

I played some more Christmas songs. Saw Andy's Christmas special tonight as well as Tony Orlando and Flip Wilson.

NOTES: Growing up, Andy Williams' Christmas specials were as much a tradition as Bing Crosby's. I believe by this point though that Andy had already split with his wife, the soon to be infamous Claudine Longet, and that they only got to back together on these specials "for the children." Andy died in 2012.

Tuesday, December 10th, 1974

Today I did end up staying home. I felt a bit better than yesterday but my head was stopped up worse. While talking with Mom, I kept trying to think of excuses why I should stay home. I guess she knew what I was doing but she gave me the money to see the doctor. Mrs. P had called the doctor to see her husband and I was going to see him, too, while he was here only he never came. I started taking the penicillin pills he gave me last time and felt a little better so I didn't even end up going this afternoon.

This afternoon, the Dean of Boys called. I almost didn't recognize his name at first. Wanted to know where I was and sounded a bit skeptical when I told him I was sick. I felt bad because I almost feel good enough to go in by afternoon.

Finished YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. It was funny but if the movie is like the book it would have to be rated R.

Mom hurt her ankle at work.

Mrs. P called to ask if what she was seeing across the street looked like a fire to me. It did but someone seemed to have put it out even as I watched out the windows.

NOTES: I really hadn't ever had any interaction to speak of with the Dean of Boys. That's why I hadn't recognized his name when he called. Apparently no one, myself included, had remembered to call me in sick that morning. Oops.

Monday, December 9th, 1974

Just a month today from my birthday.

Some good, some bad, today. It snowed again. I almost didn't go to school because of my cold but really wanted to see THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE and I also had a Spanish test. Turned out BADGE isn't 'til next week and the test is tomorrow.

I did have a Geometry test and in English we had a hilarious discussion of prostitution throughout history. In actual history class, we acted out historical figures and I was assigned Cardinal Richelieu, enemy of the Musketeers, played by Charlton Heston in the film.

I missed the first bus back and had to wait in the cold for the next one.

I started reading my new paperbacks. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN was better than TRIAL OF BILLY JACK.

NOTES: Heston, as an actor, had always made a great hero but in Richard Lester's THREE MUSKETEERS (and its later sequel), he gave a fine, nuanced performance as the real life Cardinal  Richelieu.