Dreamtime- 2 David Bowie

May 16, 2002

I was at the Cavalier Diner in a town close to mine. There weren’t many people at it. A guy who looked like David Bowie was sitting alone at a table nearby. He started talking to me and then asked me to join him. It really was Bowie.

     I got to spend like 45 minutes with him. We had our lunches also. I don’t remember what his was, but mine was a turkey burger and salad. We talked about music, fashion, food and some other stuff. I wasn’t even feeling nervous. And I wasn’t ashamed to admit which music stars that I enjoy. I wish that I could feel that way in reality.

    After he left, a guy asked me why I hadn’t even asked Bowie for his autograph. I said that I’m not really interested in getting any stars’ autograph. He gave me a look like I was weird because of this. I was simply happy that I got to chat with this music legend.

    I should have asked him what he was doing in this area though. I had been pretty curious about that but forgot to do so. The program ended as I was driving back to my house.

 

June 11, 2002

I was outside of a television studio in NYC. A lot of people were standing there and I didn’t know why so I asked a girl. She said that David Bowie had been a guest on the show and that they were waiting and hoping that he would come out the front door so they would get the chance to see him. I decided to stay there to do the same.

   20 minutes later, he did indeed exit the building this way. The crowd was going semi-crazy. One girl was yelling out that she loves him so much. No one was being pushy or obnoxious though, which is a good thing.

     Bowie did sign some autographs; not sure that the real one would do so. He got really close to me. I wanted to say something to him but my mind was a bit of a blank. I blurted out “I like your jean jacket”, feeling a bit foolish for saying such a thing. He actually responded with a thank you. Would he even wear one of these in reality?

   It was cool seeing him- again. I was just in a holodeck program last month that had him as part of the storyline. I probably could have gotten his autograph this time but wasn’t really interested. A couple of people behind me wondered why I hadn’t tried doing so. I told them that I wasn’t really interested in autographs and that just seeing him was good enough for me.

Music Memories 3

Grade School Music Memories

- We listened to Susan’s Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album during lunchtime one day in the 5^th grade.

-Secret Santa gifts that I received- K-Tel’s Wings of Sound in 6^th and John Cougar’s American Fool in 8^th.

-Our second grade teacher Miss M would sometimes bring in her guitar and play for us and we’d also occasionally sing songs like” Friends Are Like Flowers”.

-Our class sang John Lennon’s” Imagine” during a school assembly/show.

-For an art project in 6^th or 7^th grade we had to pick out an album cover to draw. I chose Grease which at the time I liked but no longer did a few years later.

-A Blondie record, the one with” The Tide is High” on it, was playing at Nancy’s birthday/slumber party.

-The church group did the play Bye, Bye Birdie in the early 1980s. Mom saw this on Broadway when Paul Lynde and Gene Rayburn were in the cast. She has that Playbill.

-We went on 2 trips to the Garden State Arts Center. Both were religious type events- a music group and a play (musical?). Mom got the record of the former.

- 4^th grade plays- My class did Shenandoah; originally it was going to be Oklahoma. Mike’s class did The Sound of Music.  

 

Note- the last 3 photos are from the internet

Music Memories- Part 2

-I still have the 95 top songs of 1983 list from WPLJ. “Hungry Like the Wolf” and” Is There Something I Should Know?” are on it as is “Every Breath You Take” by the Police which is number 1.

-We remember some of tapes that we got from a club in the early 80s.  They were 10 for a penny or a dollar then buy a certain number at regular price. Styx – Kilroy was Here, Toto IV, Asia, Go-Gos – Vacation, David Bowie – Let’s Dance, Kool and the Gang, Def Leppard – Pyromania, Hall and Oates – Voices or H2O, maybe both.

   Mike said that my Duran Duran Rio tape was also from that club but I don’t remember this. I thought that I bought it at a flea market in 1993. It’s strange that my brother would recall this and not me. I must not have listened to it that much in the 80s. Night versions of “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Hold Back the Rain” are on this.

-High School- Jim D was showing some of us his Wham! - Make It Big album before class started one day.

-I still have the Invisible Tour Genesis poster that I got from the picture guys shop at US 1 Flea Market. I had wished that I could go to one of their shows back then

-We listened to a Rick Astley tape for a little while at Cindy’s graduation party in 1988. I think that she said that it was her mom’s. Cindy was into Depeche Mode (and other New wave music that I don’t exactly remember). I didn’t start liking them until the early 1990s.

-In 1989, my roommate and I were singing” Ebony and Ivory” while walking by the river in Pittsburgh. A guy was looking at us as if we were crazy.

-Billy Joel- I listened to his Greatest Hits Vol. 1&2 on my Walkman during the drive to Smithville Village. I think that we stopped there on the way home from a trip to the shore. We listened to some of his 8 tracks at our friends the Prescotts’ house a couple of times.

-We listened to Mark’s Styx Kilroy Was Here tape during the drive home from the shore (AC?) Dad didn’t really care for that.

-I listened to Mellencamp’s Scarecrow on my Walkman during the drive to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. for cousin Kevin’s wedding in 1988.

-Kathy, Mike and I listened to Prince and Hall and Oates records at her house once. Her taste in music change a lot when she started dating her future husband Jeff in the late 1980s. She then liked Aerosmith, Motley Crue and other stuff that he and their college friends were into.

-Dad had an album of wrestling stars performing songs like” Don’t Go Messin’ with a Country Boy” by Hillbilly Jim.

-The first CD that I ever bought was The Unforgettable Nat King Cole in 1994.

 

 

 

Note- The Wrestling album is an internet photo.

Music Memories- Part 1

June 14- Music Memories

-Mom’s Christmas albums- Nat King Cole, Elvis, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Mario Lanza, Kate Smith, and Doris Day. She bought us the Chipmunks but that got old by 1979. Dad had Johnny Cash, which we took from him. I think that he went to one of his concerts- maybe in the late 60s or early 70s.

-Mom went to a Bobby Darin concert. She has the souvenir book. I wonder if she had a crush on him. I think that she had one on Roy Rogers. She has a lot of scrapbook stuff about him, mostly from the 1990s to present. I’m pretty sure that she told us that she actually met him.

-I still have my music/jewelry box that plays Lara’s Theme,” Somewhere My Love”. This was in one of my parent’s favorite movies, Doctor Zhivago. They used it as their wedding song.

-We had a big TV/Stereo cabinet with sliding doors, a space for records on the side, and the record player on top back in the 1970s. Ed had to replace the picture tube a lot on that TV. We kept this in the basement until the late 1980s after getting our new Panasonic TV in 1981 or 1982.

-I was listening to Dad’s little light blue radio in the dark in the cellar. I’m not sure why I didn’t turn on the lights.” The Devil Went Down to Georgia” was on and this was kind of scaring me. I think that I was about 10 years old.

-I remember Mom and Dad being upset the day that they heard about Elvis’ death on the radio.

-America’s Top 40 hosted by Casey Kasem. I think that this was on WPLJ. I’m pretty sure that there was a segment during it called Long Distance Dedication.

- My friend Kelly’s mom loved the music of Barry Manilow.

-I remember listening to The Monkees Greatest Hits album with my cousin Missy at her house in the early 80’s. We played my Lionel Richie Can’t Slow Down tape in Allison’s (her brother’s girlfriend) car when she took us to see Star Trek 3 at the Quakerbridge Mall theater.

-Billy Idol’s” Eyes Without a Face” was playing during the Matterhorn ride that Missy and I were on in Great Adventure.

-My first cassette was a dubbed one of An Evening with John Denver that Aunt Ann gave me.

-My cousin Janice gave me some of her old clothes a few times. Once there was a sleeveless yellow top with a hood that had YES on the front of it but I didn’t know at the time that this is the name of a music group.

-I have a vague memory of watching some variety shows with our parents –“ The Mandrell Sisters”,” Hee-Haw”,” Donny and Marie” and” Sonny and Cher”.

-Should I be embarrassed to admit that we watched “Solid Gold” and “Dance Fever”? Cindy had a crush on the host of the latter.

-I’ve only ever stolen stuff twice in my life. Once it was a pack of gum at Shop Rite. Mom saw this and made me return it. The other time it was 2 pins, Journey and Def Leppard, from U.S. 1 Indoor Flea Market. I wasn’t even overly into them and just liked a few songs by each in the early 80s. I started liking them both more later on in that decade.

                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                     
              
                                              

 

 

These 2 photos are from the internet

 

March 22, 2017- Aging

I looked at my movie ticket from Monday and got upset when I saw that we had been charged the senior citizen price. It is so depressing that the girl, who looked to be in her late teens or early 20s, thought that we looked that old. My brother was upset too.

   When we were her age, we didn’t think that people in their 40s and 50s looked like seniors; they were the age of our parents. I know that I shouldn’t dwell on this incident, but it is hard not to let it get to me.

   I didn’t think that I looked that bad for my age of 47. There is no way that I look even near 60. That girl must need her eyes checked. The senior ticket is still for those of the age of 62 and above, right? Mike said that this is the age for early retirement. I know that 65 is the official government age for social security payments.

   I really hate that the age for the AARP enrollment is now 50. Not that long ago it was 55. I am pretty sure that it must have been 60 at one point, like way back when we were teens. Maybe I am wrong about that. Did Mike tell me that Tony, who is 55, now qualifies for a senior discount on coffee?

   Why did they keep lowering the age for this anyhow? I can kind of see 55 being alright, but definitely not 50. Mom is enrolled in this and we get the AARP magazine. I read it more than she does.

   I had an issue of this with me at the Lady Antebellum concert. I have this bad feeling that the people that I was hanging out with beforehand thought that I must be 50+ when they saw me with it.

   Mike told me that Dad told him last year that I look younger than my age, like 39 or 40. That was nice to hear. Maybe now that I have a few more strands of gray in my hair, Dad might not think that way anymore. I can’t afford hair dye. It is either the anti-aging moisturizers or this; I choose the latter.

   I saw an article on line about which celebrities have aged well. To me, this sounds like they are saying that if you haven’t, then you are not attractive looking anymore. The media can be so cruel. I am getting really sick of all the commercials and ads that promote anti- aging procedures and products. Many of these are super expensive and for the well-to-do.

   I can barely afford my Oil of Olay products. I am sure that one day I won’t even be able to keep these in my budget. Grandma Next Door used to use their moisturizer and had nice skin even when she was older which is why I stuck with this brand for the past few years. I have tried so many different ones throughout the years.

   God must be so displeased with me for sometimes thinking that old people are kind of scary and creepy looking. I don’t remember when I started having such awful thoughts.

   My brother’s negative comments about people’s appearance has increased over the past few years. Maybe this has had a bad effect my viewpoint. I always feel terrible about all the unkind thoughts that I have. I constantly worry that God will not forgive me for this.

 

Dreamland

February 25, 2012- Cute Doggie

We were living in our old apartment. Grandma next door was visiting us. In this reality, she got along well with Mom. It was the early 90s. Grandma never had a stroke and my parents were still together. Dad was working at GM- he never took the buyout like in the real world. He’d be able to retire in a couple of years. He wasn’t a control freak here either.

   We had our Buffy spaniel. She was healthy and a few years old. I was surprised and a little disappointed that Ginger wasn’t a part of this; she’s hardly in these holodeck programs.

   Grandma’s friend Ellie gave her an adorable beagle puppy. I was playing with him in the living room. She had just gotten him the day before. Grandma hadn’t given him a name yet. She said that she was going to give him to us and that we could choose the name. She was the one who had given Ginger her name.

   This doggie seemed to like me a lot. I was having trouble coming up with a name for him though. Mike was trying to help me. He suggested the name Eli- as in Manning of the Giants. I laughed and said “What about Peyton?”  I forget what team his brother plays for- Colts?

   The time line was strange here- even though it was the early 90s stuff from the present day was part of the program.

   Other names mentioned-Skippy, Scooter, Buddy, Rex and Simon (as in Le Bon of Duran Duran).Mike tried singing “The Reflex” then. None of them were sounding right for this puppy.

   Buffy was a little jealous of him at first but then they were playing together. Buffy had her tennis ball and the beagle was trying to get it away from her. As I watched them, I was smiling on the inside.

   That’s when I was thinking about Snoopy of the Peanuts cartoon. Why hadn’t I thought to name him after this famous beagle much sooner? Mike agreed on this name and also said that he should have thought of this too.

   Grandma was talking to Mom about having us over for dinner the next evening- she’d be making stuffed cabbage. Yummy! Mike asked if she’d make potato pancakes too. He loves her recipe for this and wishes that he had it.

  Dad got home from work about 40 minutes later. He treated Buffy and Snoopy nicely. I found out that Ginger had lived a few years longer in this reality. She had died of a weak heart which is also sad but not as terrible as Dad never paying to find out what was causing her sickness and just having her put to sleep in reality.

    My brother and I listened to an afternoon Yankees game on the radio. He wasn’t even teasing me about Mattingly which was good. And he wasn’t throwing a fit when they lost like the real Mike would do.

   The next morning, we took our doggies for a walk around town. It was a lovely June day. I did wonder why neither of us was working or going to school but nobody seemed to think that this was strange. Maybe we were both on vacation. These details weren’t really a part of the program though.

     Mike and I were in our late teens, which also were off in the time line by like 2-3 years. We should have been in our early 20s. This storyline was interesting and I was glad that I got to be with the ideal version of my family.

    I went outside after grandma’s delicious dinner; I was only in her yard for about 35 seconds when the scenery suddenly started changing. I was standing on the deck in our yard in our current apartment back on Earth where I had been before I had been transported to the holodeck.

 

                 

 

 
                                   
                                                                            Buffy
                                   
                                                                           Ginger  

Our Grandparents- Part 3

Our Grandfathers

Mike and I never really knew them because they both died before we were even born. The only thing that I know about Dad’s father is that he is in the NJ Boxing Hall of Fame. I don’t know when his parents got divorced. I think that it was when Dad was a teenager.

   Mom’s father was a volunteer policeman in our town. He built the cabinets in our basement and the enclosed front porch where we kept the refrigerator. He died in 1967, a year before our parents got married. I’m almost certain that mom told us that he could have been a professional baseball player. We certainly did not inherit any athletic abilities from our grandfathers.

 

 

                                       

                                                             Dad' father- Boxing Photo

                    
                             Mom's father with Shu Shu and Prince                   Police Nightstick
 

 

 

Our Grandparents-Part 2

Grandma-at-the-Farm

Mike and I always thought of mom’s mother as Grandma-at-the-Farm even when she moved to the house in Bordentown in the early 80s. The land owners had only given her and her brother Charlie either a month or 6 weeks to move. They wanted to redo that house for a relative – their son? She had moved in with her 2 brothers after letting Mom and Dad have her apartment in our town after they were married in 1968.

   I really wish that we had gotten the chance to see her and Aunt Ann’s family more. We’d go to her house for Thanksgiving and to Aunt Ann’s place for our second Christmas. Sometimes we’d visit them all in the summertime. They didn’t visit us that much mainly because Dad didn’t like them doing so. That is just so heartless and unfair.

   Grandma (and also Aunt Ann) tried teaching me to crochet. She even got me a set of hooks in the early 80s. I still have them. I could only do the single loop stitch. I made a little blanket for my stuffed animals.  I didn’t stick with this for that long, however. Mom tried teaching me to knit but I could never get the hang of it. I guess that I didn’t inherit their crafting abilities.

   I still have the 2 latch hook rugs- spring/summer and fall trees- and the blanket and pillow set that Grandma made for me. She did the latter for Mike too. I could never get rid of these and the other handmade items from her and Aunt Ann.

   She prepared nearly the entire Thanksgiving dinner which was delicious, esp. the pumpkin and apple pies. I remember how much she used to like English muffins with strawberry jam which I do also. There were always mini York Peppermint Patties in the candy dish at her house. I think that she liked Fritos too. I have a vague memory of that, as well as her canning vegetables and fruits in Ball jars.

   She got me into 2 mystery authors that she greatly enjoyed – Earle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason) and Agatha Christie. I always preferred that authors’ detective Poirot over Miss Marple. Aunt Ann introduced me to others of that genre- Martha Grimes, Margaret Truman, PD James, Elizabeth George, Reginald Hill, and Lillian Jackson Braun.

   Grandma had very beautiful Christmas cactuses. I am pretty sure that Aunt Ann got these after she died. She gave me a cactus but I accidentally killed it by over watering it which I felt very bad about.

   She helped me study my state capitals in 4^thgrade one of the few times that she was visiting us for a few days. This really helped me to remember them even more than if I had done so on my own.

   Her favorite perfume was Jean Nate and she collected cardinals, some of which mom has now.  We would get her both these as gifts. We have a few of her kitchen items too, like a cast iron skillet.

    I found the photo albums of her pictures of Germany when I was looking through mom’s totes a couple of years ago. I can’t believe that I had never seen them before this. Maybe I had but it was a long time ago and I forgot.

   She used to go bowling with her brothers. I was talking to mom about this one day and she told me that her sister, sister-in-law, nephew and even mom would also go with them sometimes. They had a pool table at their house. I remember her brothers playing this but not her but mom said that she did too.

   Mom and I both used to like playing the card game Solitaire and also doing those circle- a- word puzzles just as Grandma used to do. I wish that I could recall more about Grandma-at-the-Farm; maybe if Dad had let us visit her more then I’d have more vivid memories of her now.

 

                                                             1986- 80th Birthday Party

                                            
                                                                   Crochet hook set
                                                
                                                                   My Doll Blanket
                                    

 

                                                               Handmade Snowmen

                                                                Christmas Cactuses

                                                                      Poinsettia

                                                                  Germany-1960s