Diary Friday

Mortification Central. More mortification here.

Here are a couple of entries from the summer between my sophomore and junior year in high school. I was ALL ABOUT Matthew Broderick and Sting at this point in my life. I basically had a prolonged summer-long manic episode surrounding those two people.

AUGUST 17

I’m SO happy! Diary, I’m TOO happy! The past few days have been perfect. I mean, before I fall asleep every night, I think – WOW. This has been a perfect day!

On Sunday we went up to Jimmy’s [My uncle and godfather. I miss him every day.] “country club” as all call it. Gerald is getting married!!! Last week was freezing, Diary! It went all the way down to the 50s, and I was pulling out of my winter drawers turtlenecks and flannel nightgowns! But Sunday turned out to be really warm. It was, of course, another gorgeous relaxing day. Jimmy is such a good host, and we all feel calmed down when we leave. [That makes it sound like the entire O’Malley family is in a Tasmanian frenzy at all other times.]

Oh yeah, on Saturday I went shopping – got pants, 2 sweaters, sneakers, and a Police album. The Police are my new passion. Give me Sting.

So anyway, I brought my tape of it, and I lay out in the warm sun on the thick grass – I mean, the grass is like a blanket – and I wrote my story beside the pool. I didn’t feel like going in, but after a while I went to practice my tennis. Jimmy has this machine that is great – it shoots balls at you – so it’s really good for practice. Jimmy showed me the stance, and the grip (I think I’m the only person in the world who loves John McEnroe – I DO!) and I hit back the balls until my elbow hurt – my hands hurt too! They were shaking! I rested for a while, then went back to play tennis.

My dad is so funny. He likes to show off to little kids and get them to laugh. He always goes up on the diving board and demands the attention of all in and around the pool to watch his “Olympic Dive”, or his “Triple Sow-Cow”. Then he’ll sort of fall off into the water with his legs all tangled up, or bow-legged. It’s hilarious.

After a while, I got hot and I dove in the cool blue water and it felt SO good!

We were all in there for so long – doing “Fame” jumps off the board – and Peter Pan jumps – we had SO MUCH FUN!

Riding home, Jean and I sang camp songs. (“Have you seen Jesus, my Lord”?) [Jean – hahahahahahaha] And then the rest of the time me and Brendan – who have been reading All the President’s Men – asked Mum and Dad all sorts of Watergate questions, and the sky — The sun had just gone down, so behind us there were clouds with the sun right behind it – so the whole cloud glittered and was outlined in silver. The whole sky was clear — sort of a soft lavendar color with long strips of clouds — then there was this wicked vision: the sky had turned all shimmering gold and there were dark smoky grey clouds rising above the gold, and clouds below the gold too – so it honestly looked like a lake reflecting the golden sunset – and the clouds looked like the mountains and trees around the lake. Try to imagine it. It was gorgeous!!! [Funny: I still remember that “wicked vision”. That’s one of the great things about writing stuff like this down. I remember a sunset that happened 20 plus years ago. Pretty cool. Also, Brendan and I are 14 and 13. We were reading “All the President’s Men”. Just want to point that out.]

Yesterday was a nothing day, and today was a “teenager day”. I went over to Mere’s. We walked up to the mall, had lunch at (where else?) McDonalds – and shopped. We browsed through CWT – I LOVE their clothes – Mere got a shirt – we tried on wonderful Lady Di hats – we went to Weathervane – there’s a pleated skirt there I’m in love with. Then we left and we walked down to Richie’s House of Bargains [hahaha I literally cannot see those words without hearing them in a RI accent] and bought another Police album with a breathtaking profile of Sting on the front. I’m hooked. I have this thing for Sting. I cry. Really I do! I saw a pciture of him doing a concert with a broken arm in a sling. Oh, break my heart! Sting in a sling! I guess I have this thing for Sting in a sling.

Also, on Saturday I saw that James Dean documentary again. If anyone were to ask me, “Who is your ultimate idol?” it would be James Dean. No one comes close. Well, maybe Marlon Brando. But I like Jimmy better. [Ah yes. The nickname “Jimmy”. We’re close enough for me to call him “Jimmy”.] When they started showing all the funeral shots, with the shiny coffin, and the gravestone – he was so young – he had so much going for him – I got so emotional. Tears streaked my face! I kept whispering, “Why, Jimmy? Why?” [This is absolutely mortifying – mainly because it’s TRUE. I still wonder why, Jimmy, though … I really do!!] When you think about it, it is heartbreaking.

AUGUST 18

I got another baby-sitting job today. 2 to 11 — another 20 dollars!!! [Cheapskates. 20 bucks for 9 hours????] It’s really raining out. I love Sting. [Oh, for God’s sake.] He’s just done a movie. I hope it’s out soon. Really, though – he is different. He’s mad. I don’t know what – but some of his songs, you just whisper, “Wow. He is pissed.” [You don’t whisper, with streaking tears, “Why, Sting? Why?”] He’s not just saying in his song, “I love you, I want you, I need you, go to bed with me” – I mean, of course, he does write some love songs (“Every Breath You Take” – I love the bass in that – Of COURSE Sting plays bass — all gorgeous guys play the bass. Including Josh Bewlay.) [Uhm – what? anyhoo – this reminds me that this particular summer was the summer of “Every Breath You take”. That song was, literally, EVERYWHERE, on every radio station, played every hour on the hour.] But some of the other songs on Synchronicity – broken dreams and failure and destructure – this line is what made me sit back and just look at Sting: “There’s a little black spot on the sun today – That’s my soul up there.” That takes courage to write something like that for everyone to hear. It’s like he’s turning himself inside out for us. Also, he’s intelligent. He used to be a teacher. I would have thought he was smart even before I knew that. First of all, because I can’t understand half of his songs, and have to look some of the words up. He’s always referring to mythology and other stuff – Listen to this line: this man blows me away – I wonder what he thinks about: “How can I turn the other cheek? It’s black and bruised and torn”. Also, there was one line in a song: “You consider me a young apprentice caught between the Scylla and Charibdes.” I listened to that like: What?? What is Scylla and Charibdes? I liked it though because it was intelligent and mysterious. Anyway, I had to read The Odyssey this summer for school – and those two words suddenly popped out at me in the book! I almost had a heart attack! They are a mountain and a whirlpool – with a rough river going between them – and no one likes to travel there. You can get caught. It means being in a bad spot. So now I know what Sting was trying to say! [I love that. Those little A-ha moments.]

He’s got 2 kids. I love his songs. [And those two things have to do with each other … how?]

His voice is so good too. He can really belt out high notes – like in Walking In Your Footsteps) without straining. He is wicked. [hahahahaha] He is also an absolute god. I mean it. He looks like a cherub – but kind of a pissed-off cherub. I know his hair is dyed – but his eyes – the most magnificent part of him is his cheekbones. They are incredible!

I hope someday that I have a gorgeous guy as a boyfriend. [I have said it time and time again. My celeb crushes were then, and still are, ways for me to deal with yearnings in my real life. It’s a safe place to put all that emotion.] I just want my chance! I can’t wait until someone kisses me. When will it be???? I must sound like a sex maniac!!! Maybe I am. But it’s not just about kisses and stuff. I want tenderness and understanding – like that dream I had about Matt Brown. [I have no idea what I’m talking about. This is hysterical. Matt Brown was a senior when I was a freshman – and was considered a MAJOR BABE.] I can’t wait until I have a boyfriend and get to be kissed and stuff like that! You’ll be the first to know.

Cheers was on. Wonderful as always.

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49 Responses to Diary Friday

  1. Betsy says:

    The hot bass player/J. Bewlay comment is killing me…

  2. red says:

    Betsy – hahahaha I know!!!!!

  3. jayne says:

    richie’s house of bah-gins!

    hahahaha…i’d forgotten about that place…

  4. Cullen says:

    Wicked. heh heh.

  5. Lisa says:

    Dude, Catholics sing “Have You Seen Jesus my Lord?”?! Kewl. I thought it was just us fundies!

    Ah, the Police. Why did we not realize those songs were hella creepy? “Every Breath You Take”? Back then: super romantic! Now? Stalker! And who could forget their ode to pedophilia, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”? We were all so innocent then.

  6. red says:

    hahahaha total stalker song!!!!

    Actually – we went to an Episcopal camp – long story!! One of my best friends, Betsy (who commented above) is the daughter of an Episcopal minister and he ran this unbeLIEVable Episcopal camp every summer. Sleeping in cabins in the woods, and all that stuff.

    And – we all ended up going, even Catholics – we all went. Just so we could be with our friends.

    Hence: the fundie songs. hahahaha

  7. red says:

    Oh, and the hot Josh Bewlay (mentioned in the post) was one of the many many MANY hot Episcopalian boys who went to the camp – I think he was a counselor. Another GREAT reason to go to camp. So I could ogle Josh Bewlay.

  8. "dave" says:

    The summer of Every Breath You Take! that’s so true — it started playing on Memorial Day and didn’t stop until two weeks after the Jerry Lewis telethon — it was on continual play on every radio station in every city!!! They wouldn’t even break for news or weather — just announce: “That was The Police – and now, The Police.” The only song ever to hold all forty spots on Casey Kasem. I had to get a break from it and go to church — but guess what? The hymn books were stashed away and all there were was the liner notes to Synchroncity where the pew cards used to be — and the whole choir was up there singing “I’ll be watching you….” Talk about Catholic guilt! Watching the All Star Game — no national anthem — there was Sting “…every move you make…” My god the whole of civilization was being sucked into this song about a stalker — and we never knew – or least it wasn’t thought of as a bad thing then.

  9. red says:

    HAHAHAHAHAHA

    “That was The Police – and now, The Police.”

  10. susanna says:

    Lisa,
    It was an Episcopal camp actually. I think we borrowed the song from the “fundies,” as you put it. Others…Go Tell it on the Mountain…Swing Low…Oh What A Lovely Thing…Children Go Where I Send Thee…I Looked Up…Morning Has Broken. I could go on and on.

  11. red says:

    Faaaather Abraham
    Had seven sons, dear
    Oh seven sons had Father Abraham
    And they didn’t laugh
    And they didn’t cry
    All they did was go like this …
    Tooooo the left
    Aaaand the right …

    Uhm – what? I remember singing that in the lunch room with the entire camp, in unison.

  12. red says:

    Lisa – speaking of innocence, I truly thought Frankie Goes to Hollywood was just telling me to “chill out”, not “worry about things” when they told me to “relax”.

    Uhm. Hmmmmm.

  13. JFH says:

    At first I was slightly surprised at your spelling of “Charybdis”, then I found that most Internet lyrics sites use your spelling of “Charybdis” so I’ve got to assume that was the spelling of the lyrics in the album (as both Scylla and Charybdis would be tough words to even get CLOSE to the spelling if you hadn’t seen them before) … BUT, on the Sting website, it’s spelled “Charybdis”! Hmmm…:

    1. Is there a British spelling of “Charybdis” and since it’s Sting’s song instead of Copeland’s that’s how it ended up in the album?

    2. Did the website authors use a spell checker that corrected the error, unbeknowst to Sting?

    3. Was it a typo the original Sychronicity album, that was later corrected?

    4. Doesn’t JFH have anything better to do on a Friday afternoon before the weekend than research this innane small detail on a blogger’s diary written over 20 years ago?

    Well, at least I know the answer to the last one: YES, but its Friday. Afternoon. Before. The Weekend.

  14. red says:

    JFH – I was 14 years old and didn’t know what I was doing – hahahaha I probably didn’t spell-check myself, and was writing stuff really quickly and I didn’t know how to spell that word. I don’t have the album in front of me, but I imagine it was spelled correctly therein.

    Please, though – the fact that you are fact-checking my high school journals and asking deep questions about my meaning – is hysterical and I love it!!!

  15. red says:

    Oh – and I consciously decided, this morning, not to correct my spelling there, because I found it, I guess, charming in its original form. I really try not to touch these entries, as much as my fingers ITCH to correct stuff – because I like to just present them in their raw form.

    I’m weird like that!!!

    It’s funny – I kinda think Sting is a little pretentious now (a little???) and some of the lines I quote here strike me now as pretentious – but they had a huge impact on me as a teenager, so I decided not to snark about it.

    In terms of Sting – I really love the early stuff, the reggae stuff – when he wore black and yellow T-shirts and was lanky and 26 years old. I love those early Police albums.

    Canary in a Coalmine … I love that song.

  16. LB says:

    We sang:
    Faaaather Abraham
    Had seven sons, dear
    Oh seven sons had Father Abraham
    I am one of them,
    and so are,
    so lets all go like this
    Tooooo the left
    Aaaand the right

    Hmmmm…..doesnt seem right for us all to say we were sons, though, when some of us were daughters.

  17. JFH says:

    I BELIEVE in the 14 year old Sheila!!… To this end I’ve just bid on two 1983 albums of Synchronicity on EBAY (one a Canadian press, one an American)… I’ll get to the bottom of this yet. (That is if I don’t lose my job for doing all this research on company time).

  18. red says:

    Hahahaha I distinctly remember the “and they didn’t laugh” part although it might be memory playing tricks on me …

    Betsy? Susanna? Faaaather Abraham?

  19. JFH says:

    …So I can imagine the conversation about a month from now:

    Wife: You just got TWO separate LPs in the mail today… Of the same record! And you never really liked “The Police”! And we threw away our turntable over 10 years ago!

    Me: Uh, so there was this blog post that got me wondering… and, uh, I couldn’t sleep without knowing the answer and…

    Wife: That’s it; you’re cut off from reading blogs for a week!…. AGAIN.

  20. Lisa says:

    We sang, “And they never laughed and they never cried.” Not just “didn’t laugh” but “NEVER laughed”.

    We are an emotionless people, fundies.

  21. Lisa says:

    Re: innocence. Remember “She Bop” by Cyndi Lauper? I thought it was about dancing!

  22. red says:

    Hmmm. There is, indeed, a huge difference between “didn’t” and “never”.

    I am still waiting for confirmation on what we sang. My memory, believe it or not, is not really good for this stuff.

    And somehow – the Father Abraham song kind of devloped in a hokey-pokey-ish fashion, with all kinds of shenanigans going on. To the left, and to the northeast, and to the south-west corner – or whatever. Much much fun was had by all.

  23. red says:

    Lisa – hahahaha She bop! totally!!!

  24. JFH says:

    Raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran, we never sang the “Father Abraham” song, but now that I have become a “Prodigal Son” (according to my father, jokingly) and become a Presbyterian after I married, we’ve taught this version in Vacation Bible School:

    Father Abraham had many sons
    Many sons had Father Abraham
    I am one of them and so are you
    So let’s all praise the Lord.
    RIGHT ARM! (Right arm of kids begins swinging back and forth)

    Father Abraham had many sons
    Many sons had Father Abraham
    I am one of them and so are you
    So let’s all praise the Lord.
    LEFT ARM! (Left arm of kids begins swinging back and forth)

    Repeat for other body parts like Hokey Pokey…

  25. red says:

    Yours actually makes a bit more sense, in a Biblical way, with the “i am one” bit and the “praise the Lord” bit – my version makes Abraham’s sons sound like complete morons.

    They didn’t laugh, they didn’t cry – all they did was wave random body parts in the air!!!

    HOWEVER: very very fun camp song.

  26. jean says:

    Sheila – how dare you pass right on by the Josh Bewlay comment without adding an aside about how he was, and is still, and will forever be, the hottest man anyone has ever known.

  27. red says:

    hahahahahahaha It’s true! He was! I couldn’t even talk to him at the time he was so hot. I got too flustered. I actually took a picture of him at camp WHEN HE WASN’T LOOKING – like I had to SNEAK a picture of him. I think I still have it somewhere.

  28. Alex says:

    Okay. All right. I have to say it:

    Leg Warmers.

    Genius.

  29. Nightfly says:

    All those eighties ditties meant something much worse than we knew at the time. “Crack that whip!” Or heck, “My Sharona.” (OK, that was ’79, but you know.)

    I had a whole riff worked out once upon a time, using clips, etc. Some lost cassette somewhere in a storage box. Thank God. “867-5309… He got the number from a bathroom stall, and nobody noticed? And what was he doing in there, anyway? [Opening notes of ‘Turning Japanese.’]”

    Thank you! I’m here all week!

  30. Alex says:

    That phone number is one of the most popular in history. In order to get it, you have to wait something like 10 or 15 years. Even for a cell phone.

    I know the stupidest shit.

  31. Alex says:

    I’m not freaking kidding.

  32. just1beth says:

    That number is the phone number of a plumbing business around here. It belongs to the family of one of my students.
    As to “Whip It”: Just this week I was listening to it on my way into the YMCA parking lot and a HUGE LIGHTBULB went off over my head and I was all, OH MY GOD! I GET IT!!!!!!!!ewwwwwwwwww
    But what about My Sharona?? I don’t get it…

  33. just1beth says:

    Also, recall singing, “And the didn’t laugh… and the didn’t cry…” Although it must be sung in an RI accent- Dit-uhn laff.. Dit-uhn cvi

  34. red says:

    “cvi”

    i am laughing out loud. Or should I say laffing out loud??

  35. mitchell says:

    I once saw a female comic do a bit where she was listing all the horrible things in her existence..ending up with her face hidden in her hands(around the mike)…sobbing and mewling …”nobody cares,nobody cares…”…then a moment of silence…long pause…an epiphany…looking up at the audience..tear- stained cheeks announcing with renewed promise of hope…”Sting cares.” Brilliant.

  36. mitchell says:

    …and CWT???!!! Aaahh…the site of my first Sheila stalking..who were u with? Meredith? J? Beth? I cant rememer…only seeing u and hiding behind a potted plant to spy on u! How are we friends?

  37. red says:

    sting cares … hahahahahahaha

    It reminds me of that terrifying clip where Tom Cruise gets all crazy-ass serious and tells everyone in the studio audience that he ‘cares’ and that “these are not just words – it’s a promise.” Uhm – sounds kinda creepy, Tom, actually ….

  38. red says:

    Does CWT even exist anymore? Were there actually potted plants in the Wakefield Mall?

    I LOVE THAT YOU STALKED ME.

  39. mitchell says:

    no more CWT..but the potted plants with brass pots were stationed around the mall entrances to the store..you know the ones where the gate would come down at 9pm or whatever ridiculously early hour Wakefield shuts down for the night…also speaking of 80’s tunes..remember going roller-skating becuase u were sad about “Gilbert” and the minute we hit the floor…”Oh Sheila” came on???..we skated in silence…best friends!

  40. red says:

    hahahahaha I forgot about that! I was sad about Gilbert! “Doesn’t he know she has a show to do???”

  41. mitchell says:

    oh god..that was a really “Will and Grace” moment..i apologize to anyone who gagged on their after-dinner mint while reading that! But its true…we’ve probably had a million more.

  42. Richard says:

    Well if Matthew Broderick’s still your thing, he’s in the Producers although it’s not rated too highly and has for Sting- I’m a big fan of his year 2000 album but haven’t heard anything recently that spins my wheels. I don’t know if you gre out of Sting, but for me he creates worlds with his songs- song’s like I’m so happy, Fields of Gold and Fill Her Up. Songs about dogs on the prowel I can do without. Now an inquiry about Bloggers- I’ve got a blog called St Kilda’s Grubby Vestments that I can’t find on google. I’ve asked at Blogger and they said to ask you- well no they said just read the information provided but I thougt I might ask a current memeber. Cheers

  43. red says:

    Sorry, Richard, I have no idea. I’m actually not on Blogger so I have no idea why they would tell you to ask me. That is very bizarre.

  44. Mark says:

    When you wrote “He’s just done a movie. I hope it’s out soon.”, my immediate thought went to Dune and I pictured a confused 14-year-old Sheila sitting in a theater, thinking “What. The. Hell?”

  45. mere says:

    Did we EVER do anything besides go to McDonalds and the mall?

    I miss Richies. I wonder what was going on there. They always were so nice, but seemed so corrupt at the same time. Like, something was going down in the back room..

  46. Just1Beth says:

    FYI- Panera Bread is going in where CWT was. I still miss them, though. There are no good clothing stores down here.

  47. red says:

    Mark – and that’s pretty much what happened. hahahahahaha

  48. red says:

    mere – hahahaha

    “Hey, let’s try something different today! Let’s go get some McDonalds and hang out at the mall!!”

    Richies Housa Bah-ginz was awesome.

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