My Life and Dreams

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Some More Childhood Memories

These are all photos from the internet

I used the tape recorder to tape songs off of Solid Gold once. Ginger was barking for a bit during one of them. I wish that I still had this tape. From the Crystalite Pets, I had only the elephant.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

August 26, 2012- Duran Duran Concerts- Part 2

The wait for the bus was very long. It wasn’t due to arrive until about 4:45 a.m. I was feeling a bit anxious about socializing with NH girl. We did exchange email addresses but I am nervous about keeping in touch with her.

The bus was about 30 minutes late. I was so tired by then. I did take a short nap. I was thinking about the next bus trip to AC that I would be taking a few hours later. I also was hoping that I would get my “Rio” at that concert.

It was really strange when the bus driver actually said “Does anybody know how to get to New York City?” Was she joking? She was in the final stages of her training. She must have figured out the map instructions. This was the first time that I have ever been on a Greyhound bus.

I got on the line for the NJT bus as soon as we got to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I had about a 45 minute wait.

I hadn’t been in Atlantic City since 1992. My brother and I had taken a bus trip there on his 21^st birthday. I don’t really like gambling and only spent .50 in the casino then.

We went there with our family a few times in the 1980s. Mom and Dad went to a Steve Allen show in one of the casinos. His wife Jayne Meadows was a part of it too. When I recently looked through Mom’s scrapbook, I saw that they had also attended a Tony Bennet concert at Harrah’s. This would be my very first concert in a casino venue.

Well, it turns out that I would not get to see DD that night. An employee came out to the area outside the venue where a small crowd was gathered to inform us that it had been cancelled. We found out the reason for this was Nicks’ illness.

I had observed him through my binoculars the night before and noticed that he did seem to look a bit sick. That’s too bad. I was thinking thank goodness that I had gotten a ticket to that show otherwise I would have missed out on them for this portion of their tour.

My seat here was going to be closer and towards the center so it was disappointing that I would not be closer to DD then.

I felt worse for the poor girl from the Poconos. She was in tears. I tried comforting her. She hadn’t seen them since the late 1980s.

The male employee let some of us into the Hall to buy souvenirs which was good. I got my usual concert book and also a pin for my brother.

I was so tired and didn’t feel like walking all the way back to the bus station. This casino, The Revel, was pretty far from it. I had asked that guy if there was some sort of public transportation and he mentioned the jitneys so I took one of those.

I was relieved when I finally arrived home that night. I was totally exhausted but would still need to get up early the next day for the grocery shopping.

So that was a wasted trip to AC, a place that I wasn’t really that crazy about being at. The ocean really scares me, but for DD I was willing to go anywhere. Yikes, I am so ashamed that I admitted to that.

Total money spent on this trip- $61.00. It was $32.00 for the bus ticket, $2.50 for the jitney, $14.25 for the meal (grilled chicken and a salad) at Johnny Rockets, $9.00 for the cab ride home, and $3.50 for the train ticket.

I had also gotten a bottle of mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks in the mini mall on the Boardwalk. That place has change a lot, many of the stores are more upscale.

There is now a shopping area not that far from the boardwalk but I didn’t look in any of those stores. I was too tired and not in the mood to do so.

I am sure that Sharon will enjoy hearing about my adventures. I always wish that she could join me on them.

Of course, my brother is teasing me about going all the way to CT then AC for two DD shows back-to-back. He must think that I am totally obsessed with them. Honestly, there are fans that go further just to see them. And also ones that go to more than two shows per tour.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

August 26, 2012- Duran Duran Concerts-Part 1

It was so exciting going on a bus trip to the Foxwoods Casino Resort for a DD concert. I have only been to Connecticut once before and that was a long time ago. We went with our family friends, the Prescotts, to celebrate Thanksgiving at their parents/grandparents’ house.

I had wanted to take notes on the regional eateries and stores of the area in that state but I was picturing my brother telling me that this was stupid so I didn’t do so. I wish that I had been able to overpower his bossy voice.

We stopped at the Mohegan Sun to let off some passengers there first. I hadn’t realized that both casinos were nearby. The surroundings are very rural/wooded. I was feeling so relaxed and happy which was nice for a change.

It was a bit spooky and scary when looking out the resort’s window at night though.

I looked in some of the shops at Foxwoods. When I was in the Sanrio one checking out the Hello Kitty stuff, I overheard a couple of girls talking about John’s tattoos. This was my first encounter with DD fans there. I was laughing a little on the inside about this.

I bought a couple of necklaces in a jewelry shop. One was for Sharon for her birthday and another for my mother.

I sat and watched a tennis match- Tsonga vs. Isner- on the screen (no volume though) that was in the sitting area near a gelato place. After the show, I did get a coffee flavored gelato that was delicious.

A girl started talking to me as I was watching this. She was from New Hampshire. I wound up hanging out with her before and after the concert. She let me read then keep her Women’s’ World mags which was nice.

She told me that her friend got her a bottle of Notorious perfume for her birthday because of her being such a big DD fan. I never even heard of such a fragrance.

I got my dinner –a grilled chicken sandwich and orange juice- at Panera. That was the first time that I had been at that eatery. I met up with NH girl at a bench afterwards and ate it there.

Later on, she went on that moving walkway so I joined her. I don’t normally like those things. I was so embarrassed when I tripped and fell towards the end of it.

Her seat was higher up. She asked me if I was going to take photos and I said maybe. I am now wishing that I had taken some. She seemed a bit disappointed that I hadn’t.

I might have done so if the security guy hadn’t told me not to. He thought that I had a big camera in my tote bag but I showed him that it was just my binoculars. I shouldn’t have mentioned that I did have a small camera.

I just had to be a Miss Goody Two Shoes and obey his command. I saw lots of people taking photos during the show and they didn’t get in trouble for this.

Brandy, the girl next to me, seemed impressed that I seemed to know a lot about DD music. The young guy behind me did too; he said that I must be a really big fan of theirs. I am hardly a super fan- it’s not like I know all the words to their songs.

Brandy had a cup of coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts; she told me that she had put booze in it. I never will understand why people feel the need to drink alcohol during such events. Can’t they have fun without it?

It was a good show. My seat was better than I expected. It was row U in the right lower section. I am ashamed to admit that a small part of me was wishing that it could have been to the left. Please, the view of JT was fine from here; I don’t need to always be on his side of the stage.

They didn’t perform “Rio” which was a little disappointing. They did “Union of the Snake” which I had never seen in concert before so that was interesting.

I really wish that I didn’t holler out after Simon said NJ during the show. I never usually do anything that crazy at a concert. I was dancing in place a bit too much which was also embarrassing.

Sunday, June 14, 2020

September 20, 2016- The Mall

We used to like Menlo Mall before they remodeled it and made it more upscale in the early 1990s. There were a lot of shoe stores in it, including The Wild Pair. I got shoes similar to the ones that I saw in Seventeen magazine there. They are Ciao brand and have Velcro instead of laces. I actually still have but don’t wear them.

We also bought 5 nature scene paintings at an Art Gallery store. 4 of these are a set of the seasons. The big one is hanging in our living room and the others were in the hallway but 2 of them got knocked down and the frames broke. This place was near Nathans where we would sometimes eat.

The anchor stores were Bamberger’s which became Macy’s and also Alexander’s. I got my first Swatch at Macy’s in 1983. JC Penney was there too before it moved to the newly built long wing of Woodbridge Center Mall. I had gotten a couple of Christmas pins in that store.

Dad bought me the 1984 Topps Yankees set at a card and collectibles show at this mall. They had a nice candy store at it too.

Woodbridge Center used to have 3 music stores- Sam Goody, Tape World and Musicland. There were 2 bookstores- Waldenbooks and B. Dalton. Anchor stores included Steinbach’s, Orbachs, A&S, Sterns and Fortunoff through the years. The latter was the most recent to close and it’s now a Boscov’s.

They had an iron on transfer t-shirt shop but I don’t remember if we ever bought anything there. We did get some of these down the shore. We liked getting our knick- knacks and some stuffed animals at Little Elegance. I got my ears pierced at the Piercing Pagoda when I was 9 or 10 years old.

I worked at Curtains Up for a year in the late 80s and at A&S for only a couple of months or maybe even less. I was mostly in the Juniors Department fitting room there.

We mainly ate at Wendy’s, Chick Fil-A, or the Ponderosa. The latter was mostly when Aunt Ann, Missy and Grandma would come up to spend the day Christmas shopping with Mom, Mike and I. We always had such fun doing this. One time, Missy’s shoe fell off and landed in the fountain of the lower level.

The coconut haystacks from Joanne’s Nuthouse were delicious. I liked the dark chocolate ones, of course. I’m pretty sure that Mom and Aunt Ann liked the milk chocolate kind. We loved the Swedish fish too.

The malls that we would go to in Aunt Ann territory were Burlington Center, Moorestown and Quakerbridge. I think that the one in PA near Sesame Place is called Oxford Valley. Mom, Aunt Ann, Missy and I went there after staying in that boring theme park for only a little while. We were there as part of a Girl Scout trip. The mall was much more fun.

I’ve also been to a couple of malls in North Jersey with Matt- Paramus Park and Willowbrook. I’ve been to Bridgewater Commons and Short Hills too. I’ve only gone to the Cherry Hill Mall twice when they had collectibles shows there. I got Mike his” Doctor Who” shirt in either 1990 or 1991.

I was more of a mall rat in the late 1990s and 2000 than I ever was before then. It would have been for the best if I had avoided them or not gone there much. I could have saved lots of money to use on more important things. I would sometimes go overboard on the spending because of my depression and anxiety. This was not a good form of therapy for me.