My secret diary 1973 September (ii) - birthdays and bad tempers

Sept 8th (Sat) 
Went into town with dad and Norma. Got new school skirt and also rubber gloves for chemistry. Norma got a cassette recorder and some rollers. OK day. Ju phoned and suggested going to Royton Club. It was a boring couple singing and then Jerry came over to chat Julie up.

Sept 9th
Been in a rotten mood all day. Slept over at Ju's last night and came all the way home with no shoes on. Auntie May visited - ok. I think I've become more restless since the holiday. I wish I could go back to that campsite again, to Franz and Simple Simon. I'm in love with Jean-Pierre. No kidding.

Sept 10th
Well. School  might be harder work in the sixth form, but it's not as frightening now we don't have Miss Hatch. Went up town after school to look for pressy for Norma, met Norma, put an end to pressy search!! Not much to write. Oh - S is not coming back to school because of her 'O' levels. I wish she were.

Sept 11th (Tue)
Not much to write and anyway I don't feel like writing. Went swimming (at school). Had a double art lesson. OK at school except F is hanging about a bit and she is irritating me.

Sept 12th
After school went into town with Ju to get Norma's present. Got her a Melanie cassette (Candles in the Rain), a paint box and sketch pad. I'm v tired.

Sept 13th
Norma's b'day. She was pleased with pressy. Mum was getting at Kate for some reason (Kate couldn't afford pressy yet) Doing a lot of work at school. Seem to be permanently tired. Me and Ju and S and C are going to dance at the Plough on Saturday I think. Goodnight. Peace and Happiness.

Sept 14th (Fri)
Very tired, but made a prefect at school, so it made up for it I guess. Nearly lost my other contact lens in assembly (got replacement yesterday). S volunteered me to give a talk on Hinduism in R.I. Good grief!! I'm tired, I'm tired, so much work to do.

Sept 15th
Spent day doing homework and going up town with mum. At night me and Ju and R, F and C went to new disco called 'Looking Glass' at Plough Inn. It was really well done up inside - like Alice in Wonderland - music grotty - all Tamla - After I slept over at Ju's. A bit annoyed because she wouldn't stay over here.

Sept 16th (Sun)
We spent a while at Ju's eating and faffing then we set off late for Carol's - she'd invited us for tea. Really good time - listening to records etc, talking. It was fun. Really interesting. I like C.

Sept 17th
Don't feel like taking. too tired. Going on course about computers* I think. Nowt else to say. Bye.

Sept 18th
I think I'm going to cry, don't kno why. Just feel depressed, sick and tired. Keep getting a headache. While on holiday we heard that big fun complex on Isle of White, 'Summerland' burnt down. 49 killed. 3 10 year old kids have been fined £3 each for breaking in.

Sept 19th (Wed)
Been in a rotten stinking mood all day, feel a bit better now. Not much to say. Being a prefect hasn't done much yet. Dum de dum de dum.

Sept 20th
After school went to visit old infant headmistress, Mrs Harrison - good to see her. was surprised to find that she went to Hulme as well. She taught Miss Ashton. She's lovely still. I remember her giving me a prize and smelling of apple pie.

There is Mrs Harrison on the right of this photo. She was married to the other teacher, Mr Harrison. This was infant school, 1966. I'm on the second row, third from the right, with the fetching bow in my hair.


*Commentary
Sept 17 - When I say I am going on a computer course here, bear in mind this is 1973, when computers were big enough to occupy whole rooms, like wardrobes lining the walls. Dad was very keen that I went on this - which was a special course for those doing maths 'A' level, and it was with boy sixth formers! Dad thought that the future was computers and learning Russian. He was not far off the mark. The course was learning to programme using Fortran. is this computer language still about? I don't know. I came away with ticker tape and clueless. This is my memory of it. We'll see what I say about it in my diary entry.

My secret diary 1973 September (i) Paris, then the chemistry lab

Sept 1st (Sat)
In Paris by about 11 o'clock. We did a bit of fussing and faffing and by 2pm we were on metro. I liked going underground to the Champs Elysee and we walked up. Shoes £32! Dresses £132!! Saw Arc dr Triomphe and grave of unknown warrior  Lovely. Got permanent fire. Also Tour Eiffel and we met 3 French blokes.

Sept 2
After Paris last night we drove to Calais and got a ferry at about 10.30am. Not much to say - had a rough crossing. I like ferries but felt a bit sick. Drove all way up to home. Glad to be home. I love my family. Julie got all her 'O' levels. Good, good, good.

Sept 3 (Mon)
Very boring and depressing day. I wish I were back in Spain at Camping Giverola Pola. Simple Simon. Oh God I'm in love with someone I'll never see again! S failed her chem, poor thing. E's done well gor 4 grade 1s.

Sept 4th
Done hardly owt today. Went to dentist (Mr Aron) in afternoon and he gave me a new brace. Coming back I saw a hippy type playing guitar outside of cathedral. I wanted to join him but I'm a coward - it's got to change. I walked from the station in bare feet.

Sept 5th
Went to visit Ju this morning. Had dinner there (her ear's bad). After went to laundry to visit them*. Then up town - new pair of school shoes. 6th former tomorrow - how about that? Saw C in town. Got 7 'O' levels. I'm glad for her.

Sept 6th (Thur)
Well. Went back to school. In sixth form now.Miss Rogerson is form mistress in chem lab. Doing Maths, Biol and Chem for 'A' level'. D only got 4 'O' levels - she's not coming back. IP got 7 grade 1s, C got 4 grade 1s, SP got 6 grade 1s, K got 5 like me*. Great to see everyone again.

Sept 7th
Another mucked up day. Miss Crabtree* still hasn't sorted our timetables out and so Ju doesn't know what she's doing, neither does S. Went to ??, the jewellers about a job that Stella promised me - nothing doing. Stella left. Annoyed. Posted letter to Sian and Sarah.

*Commentary
Sept 5 - Ju and I worked in the hospital laundry to raise money to go on holiday - it was hot, hard work - respect to those who did it full time.
Sept 6 - sometimes I claim not to be a competitive person, but clearly this is a weighing up of everyone and comparing them to my performance. My grown up me is a little embarrassed with my teenage me. Maybe I'm still like that. Oh dear.
Sept 7 - Miss Crabtree was our headmistress. She was a bit like the Queen. Sian and Sarah were girls we had met on holiday in Spain.

My secret diary 1973 August (iii) - new pals, 'O' level results and trouble with boys

Hello
it's been a whole year since I transcribed any of my diary entries from my teenage years. Sorry about that. Life sometimes gets in the way of blogging. Anyway, I find myself now transcribing the diary a nice round 40 years in the future. I pick up where I left off. I am on holiday in Spain with my best pal Julie and her family. I was desperate for a love affair. Julie gives her permission for me to reproduce all this.

August 20 (Mon)
Julie spent day with Mike and I tagged on behind. Had canelone for dinner and wine. At night I wore orange nightie-dress and felt elegant. Met Belgian lad and arranged to meet him at 2pm tomorrow.

August 21
Feel very, very annoyed with Ju. Spent morning mucking about the caravan. In afternoon I went to tell the Belgian boys not going. Ju and Mike came. Watched tennis. I went for dinner on my own! We were going to Tossa in evening. Italian fellas.

August 22
Ju's dad and Uncle Alan came home. Ju spent day with Mike. He's nice but I guess I'm jealous. We made friends with English girls  Suzanne and Sara. Went up to the disco late - some French people had party and they were all dressed up! Went for midnight swim.

August 23 (Thurs)
Ju went to Tossa with Mike. I went swimming with Suzanne - out to the rocks. Weather cooler. Beautiful. Solitary etc. Proud of myself. Actually had quite a nice day. Went out at night and met Rudi Bavarian and friends again. Ok.

August 24
no entry

August 25 (Sat)
Went into Tossa with Rudi, Klaus, French Jackie etc. Had a lovely time. Looked around shops and generally mucked about then went for a meal and I drank out of one of those Spanish things. I was drunk. Good time.

August 26
Today we met 4 weird English blokes. me, Ju and sara went to have a 'party' with them on the beach, but we couldn't stay long. One of them was stone drunk. Next day (Mon) Sara went home and after so did the 4 blokes. They came to beach to say bye bye. (Here I inserted an extra small sheet) We saw Jonathan  Alan, Pete and Tony off. They've got a wonderful railway ticket - cost £33 but takes them around Europe for a month (if under 21). They hitched it away from camp. they were really nice, weird blokes (about 17 or 18, at school).

August 27 (Mon)
Must say having beautiful weather in sunny Spain! Just had another bloomin' storm!! The awning is constantly flooded!! It makes the water mucky, too. All our friends have gone home now, except a few. Germans and English. Oh! Simple Simon!*

August 28
Dull weather in morning but brightened up later on. We went to sunbathe and there was another thunderstorm. Went to caravan and had letter from Norma - contained 'O' level results. Oh! I didn't want to open them. I was so nervous! Would you believe it?!

I got 8!! 5 grade 1s and 3 grade 3s! (Here I added in an extra small sheet of paper) Oh, I'm so happy - 8 'O' levels - it's a beautiful feeling - we went round telling everyone on the camp - even foreigners. We told Gerard (Rudi's German friend) - and he was so pleased for me - (he told me I was so kleine for such grosse results!!). Me and Ju bought some champagne - oh and I was crying, then we went out and sat with English and Germans - 3 glasses of ber and the Germans bought us some wine. We met more English - stayed out till 1.45am. Ju's dad was v. angry.

August 29
Storms, storms and storms again. Sorry, can't remember very well. Oh! at night me and Ju had another 'last night' bloody Spaniards kept pestering us, so we ran down. Ju's dad grabbed one of them and started thumping them - I was frightened. Polizia came too! Oh Good grief!

August 30 (Thur)
Spent day packing. Glad we're going because it would be embarrassing to see the Spaniards again after last night. Said goodbye to everyone, got them to sign a bottle, drank wine on beach.

Goodbye to Sara, Sian and Mark. Set off. Slept in car at night.

August 31
Still travelling. Very little to write because spent all day travelling through France. Made it to about 20 miles out of Paris by nightfall. There were some rows and tempers.

*Commentary
Aug 27 - Simple Simon was a nickname I had given to a French Boy that I was admiring from afar and had convinced myself i was in love with. Thin, long-haired, guitar-playing.

Annie Proulx - Just finished reading ....

Fine Just the Way It Is by Annie Proulx

9/10

I don't like short stories much, unless they are written by Annie Proulx.
In a book like this, not every story is going to be a gem, but the ones that are are overwhelmingly fine.

Please, please, please read some of these Wyoming stories. Read 'Them Old Cowboy Songs', and it'll break your heart. Read 'Testimony of the Donkey' and, like me, you will never know how it ends. Read 'Tits-Up in a Ditch' and you will break your heart again, and you will know exactly in which circumstances you can apply this phrase in your own life - though I hope you never have to.

Annie earned 9/10 on the back of these three stories and one other.

But do I want to visit Wyoming? Yes, I do. Just like her other masterpieces, 'The Shipping News' and 'That Ol' Ace in the Hole' made me want to see Newfoundland and the Texas Panhandle.

I love Annie Proulx, but I'm not sure I would want her round for dinner. She sees too much and understands too much. A wise woman.

David Mitchell - Just finished reading ....

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

8/10

This reminded me of Julian Barnes' 'History of the world in 10 1/2 chapters'. Why? Not sure - it feels like a momentous book that has a lot to say to us, but I think it might need to be read again to catch all the cleverness. It is a clever book. It's big and made up of several stories, that interlink with each other. I feel that I shouldn't say more than that for fear of giving too much away - but I was taken from the story of a sea-faring lawyer in the 1800s to the fate of a cloned fast-food waitress in a world dominated by multinational brand names to a post-apocalyptic future with tribal warfare.

Bit post-modern (well, a lot, actually) - I think the author cleverly makes reference to what he has done on page 463, where he is describing the work of a composer of music - I'm paraphrasing, so as to describe the book - 'in the first half of the book each story is interrupted by its successor: in the second, each interruption is recontinued in order. Revolutionary or gimmicky? Shan't know until it's finished.'

I wouldn't call it revolutionary or gimmicky - but it is a clever way to deliver a book's narratives.

It took me ages to read, though - partly because sometimes it's hard to find the time, but also, it was stodgy at times.

Alderman, Comyns and Cook - read recently in the car

These are some audio-stories that I have recently listened to in the car as I trudge or zoom up and down the motorway to and from work each day.

You may recall from other posts, that I can't listen to anything too exciting or complex, because I can't not have accidents and concentrate at the same time. So, I tend to choose my story CDs from our local library using a system that is roughly alphabetical, tends to favour female authors, de-selects murder mysteries and modern chick-lit.

I often end up with poor Rosie Tralee who has left poverty in Ireland and ends up being a maid in a cruel household in Liverpool but then her luck changes and she ends up owning a department store. There are a surprising number of books that follow this kind of plot.

Whisper of Life by Gloria Cook is one of those books. But in this, Katie who is poor and working class and therefore ill-treated by her family is taken under the wings of a nice middle-class family, so that's alright then. There are 4 or 5 deaths and a kidnapping in a remarkably short space of time. But she gets engaged to a nice man, and the deaths are all people we don't like, so that's alright then, too. The best bit of this audio-book is the person who reads the story, who tries to do post-war upper middle class accents and the accents of the Devonshire hoi-polloi who litter their streets. Made me laugh out loud! No score for this one.

Naomi Alderman's book, 'Disobedience' is an interesting study of what it might be like to rebel against one's Jewish up-bringing and community. So, I learned a lot about the Jewish culture in Hendon and the story was 5/10. I found the characters a bit hard to believe in.

Barbara Comyn's book was called 'The Vet's Daughter', so I assumed that she would be treated cruelly, run away and then find her way to riches, through marriage, in America. But actually, it was a good book. The story had been triggered by a newspaper cutting (Victorian, I think) about a young woman who performed a magical display of levitating above the ground in a London park, and was trampled to death in the consequent crowd surge. 6/10

My secret diary 1973 August (ii) Beware - sulky teenager on holiday.

August 8th
Ju seems sad about her gran dying. It must be hard to take on board. At night went dancing. Dutch sat with us and then 2 French blokes. I didn't like any of them much. I wanted my Franz. He goes home tomorrow. See yellow paper*

August 9th Thur
Spent most of day with Franz on beach. Ju stayed at caravan. It can't be love - I've only known him 3 or 4 days - but he's nice. Wanted to know if I had slept with English fellas. I didn't give a straight answer. I'm a bit of a liar. Well, I don't know. He went. I didn't cry. Stayed in tonight.

August 10th
Did absolutely nothing all day. Didn't even sunbathe on beach or swim or anything. Got annoyed with Ju. We had 2 rows*. Cleared the air a bit. Getting brown now. Ju spent a lot of time talking to Italians across the road.

August 11th Sat
Ju wanted me to go to Tossa with Valent and Paolo and Hermano - I didn't want to go. Had a row. She went and I stayed home with Auntie Margaret - okay.

August 12th
Today Valentino etc went to Tossa for bull fights, so Ju has been bored. We were both bored. Did nothing.

August 13th
In morning we cleared the caravan up, and in affy we drove to Barcelona airport to collect Ju's mum. Ju's mum and aunt M started going on at me to go to Tossa, but I don't want to go. Me and Ju went to top - good dancing.

August 14th
Behind with diary. A lazy day. We swam and sun-bathed and did daft things. Ju spent time with Valentino.

August 15th
Can't remember much. Valentino went home and Ju cried her eyes out. I think he was annoyed with her last night because me and her danced with 2 arty types. Sat with 2 English drips at night.

August 16th Thur
Oh1 I've seen this gorgeous bloke - we've nicknamed him 'Simple Simon' - he's French and beautiful. He's got long hair and a tash and he's small. He plays the guitar.

August 17th
I'm sorry - I just can't remember exactly - oh! I bought a new bikini - there's a shop on the campsite. Cost 380 pesetas - £2 something.

August 18th
I can't remember much but I do know I'm miserable. Had another row with Ju. Wrote postcard to SQ. I'm in love with Simple Simon. I mean it.

August 19th
Oh dear. I got a bit drunk at night. We were having a laugh on beach with a few people, including nice Bavarian called Rudi. I was sick twice. I lost a contact lens in the sand.*

*Commentary
Aug 8 - sorry - no yellow paper in diary!
Aug 10 - I guess it doesn't take too much reading between the lines to understand this sulky grumpy teenager. I wanted a boyfriend, and I wanted to be able to spend time on my own with him, but if Julie wanted to be with a boy, and this excluded me, then I got cross. Sorry Ju!
Aug 19 - Julie and I recall this episode well. Being drunk, I decided that a sure-fire way of finding the contact lens (it being dark) would be to draw a big circle in the sand around where I thought the lost lens to be. The next morning we went back but, of course, the circle n the sand, and the contact lens, were nowhere to be found. I spent the rest of the holiday squinting short-sightedly through one eye, because vanity would not permit me to wear glasses.