{"id":4285,"date":"2006-02-03T12:04:37","date_gmt":"2006-02-03T17:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=4285"},"modified":"2012-03-18T11:06:14","modified_gmt":"2012-03-18T15:06:14","slug":"diary-friday-79","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=4285","title":{"rendered":"Diary Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mortification Central. More mortification here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AUGUST 17<\/h3>\n

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!<\/p>\n

On Sunday we went up to Jimmy’s [My uncle and godfather. I miss him every day.<\/i>] “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.<\/i>]<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

After a while, I got hot and I dove in the cool blue water and it felt SO good!<\/p>\n

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

Riding home, Jean and I sang camp songs. (“Have you seen Jesus, my Lord”?) [Jean – hahahahahahaha<\/i>] And then the rest of the time me and Brendan – who have been reading All the President’s Men<\/i> – 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.<\/i>]<\/p>\n

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<\/i>] 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.<\/p>\n

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”.<\/i>] 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!!<\/i>] When you think about it, it is heartbreaking.<\/p>\n

AUGUST 18<\/h3>\n

I got another baby-sitting job today. 2 to 11 — another 20 dollars!!! [Cheapskates. 20 bucks for 9 hours????<\/i>] It’s really raining out. I love Sting. [Oh, for God’s sake.<\/i>] He’s just done a movie. I hope it’s out soon. Really, though – he is different. He’s mad<\/u>. I don’t know what – but some of his songs, you just whisper, “Wow. He is pissed<\/u>.” [You don’t whisper, with streaking tears, “Why, Sting? Why?”<\/i>] 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.<\/i>] 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<\/u> 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.<\/i>]<\/p>\n

He’s got 2 kids. I love his songs. [And those two things have to do with each other … how?<\/i>]<\/p>\n

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<\/i>] 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!<\/p>\n

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>] 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>] 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.<\/p>\n

Cheers<\/u> was on. Wonderful as always.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51605,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4285\/revisions\/51605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}