1981

1981

State College, PA (January- August)

   And then

Williamsport, PA (August- on)

My age: 25- 26

School: I graduated from Penn State University with a Master's in Education (MEd) in Secondary School Counseling.

Work: I started working at Loyalsock High School in Williamsport, PA for the 81-82 school year.  I was a high school guidance counselor. I loved this job. I was paid $17,000 and I thought I had won the lottery.

Home:  I moved in to an old, dilapidated house in Williamsport.  I loved it but when my co-workers saw it, they said they would help me find a lawyer so I could get out of the lease. The house may have been haunted as I had two unexplainable incidents there.

Music

• "Bette Davis Eyes" Kim Carnes
• "Endless Love" Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
• "Lady" Kenny Rogers
• "(Just Like) Starting Over" John Lennon- it was hard to listen to his songs since he had just died.
• "Jessie's Girl" Rick Springfield
• "Celebration" Kool & the Gang- I never liked anything this group sang.
• "Kiss on My List" Hall & Oates
• "I Love a Rainy Night" Eddie Rabbitt
• "9 to 5" Dolly Parton- This song was a great theme song for her movie.
• "Being with You" Smokey Robinson
• "Queen of Hearts" Juice Newton
• "Rapture" Blondie
• "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)" Raydio
• "The Tide Is High" Blondie
• "Slow Hand" The Pointer Sisters- I like all of their music.
• "I Love You" Climax Blues Band
• "Woman" John Lennon
• "Angel of the Morning" Juice Newton- a good remake.
• "Love on the Rocks" Neil Diamond
• "Guilty" Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb- I usually like her duets.
• "The Best of Times" Styx
• "Elvira" The Oak Ridge Boys- no thanks.
• "Take It on the Run" REO Speedwagon
• "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me" Ronnie Milsap
• "Woman in Love" Barbra Streisand
• "The Boy from New York City" The Manhattan Transfer- This is a quirky group.
• "Urgent" Foreigner
• "Passion" Rod Stewart
• "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" Pat Benatar- she had lots of hits off this album.
• "Time" The Alan Parsons Project
• "Hungry Heart" Bruce Springsteen
• "Too Much Time on My Hands" Styx
• "This Little Girl" Gary U.S. Bonds
• "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty
• "America" Neil Diamond- 
• "Ain't Even Done With The Night" John Cougar
• "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen- I was never a Queen fan.
• "Hello Again" Neil Diamond
• "Don't Stand So Close to Me" The Police
• "Same Old Lang Syne" Dan Fogelberg
• "Cool Love" Pablo Cruise
• "What Kind of Fool" Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb
• "Watching the Wheels" John Lennon- John Lennon was dead at this time.
• "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" Hall & Oates
• "Suddenly" Olivia Newton-John & Cliff Richard
• "Whip It" Devo- this was a strange song.

Movies

• Raiders of the Lost Ark- this movie was very entertaining
• On Golden Pond- I liked it then but probably wouldn't like it now.
• Absence of Malice- a good story
• Das Boot- this was a difficult movie to watch
• French Lieutenant Wife- a good story
• Four Seasons- sweet
• Arthur- entertaining
• Chariots of Fire- a good story and something I had never thought about
• Mommie Dearest- that woman was a bitch.

Books- I only read textbooks but I was an avid reader of People Magazine and the Smithsonian Magazine.

Travels- I went nowhere this year.  I had NO damn money.  Every penny I had went to living three cents above the poverty level. Life as a graduate student is dull, dull, dull.

News events

• Lady Diana Spencer married Charles, Prince of Wales. I got my sorry ass up at 430AM to watch this event.
• Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to the US Supreme Court. It was about time.Pope John Paul II, was shot but not killed in Vatican City. The whole world panicked
• An unknown piece of music written by Mozart is discovered at the Bavarian State Library. And I haven't listened to it yet.

Family

• I had surgery on my vocal cords.  For the last several months, the doctor had been treating me for some non-cancerous growths on my cords.  I went to see him on a Friday and he seemed concerned.  "You have to have surgery soon," he told me.  I suggested I wait until I finish school in a few months.  But my situation was more urgent.  I had surgery the first thing Monday morning.
• Sharon, my sister, got married.  We had the wedding at our home on Long Beach Island, NJ.
• Patricia graduated from PSU with an BS degree.
• Sharon graduated from Temple University with an MBA.
• Jim graduated from Widener with an MBA
• I moved to a new area for a new job and lived alone for the first time.
• I don't have a car so I have to bum rides from friends, hitchhike or take the bus through life.

The Town Square

The Town Square

Katmandu, Nepal

June 1999

Katmandu, Nepal- the  town square where the people go to bath and fetch water. A grandmother is bathing two young girls. Another woman is doing her laundry. It had just stopped raining and it was a little chilly for a June afternoon.

Just Another Moment of Defiance

Facebook Post

Just Another Moment of Defiance

Kathmandu, Nepal.

December 1, 2017 at 8:37 AM · 

I don't think they mean me.

One Year Later

One Year Later

Apartment Life

Chestnut Square Apartments

West Chester, PA

June 2018

It was a big adjustment to go from owning my house to downsizing and moving in to an apartment.  But I think I am adjusting well.

• There is a man who walks around all day with a cooler, filled with beer.  He carries it as a woman carries a purse.  It goes everywhere with him.  He tells me he drinks beer all day long.
• 
  
• I joined the beer tasting club.  We meet once a month and share beers. I like this event.
• 
  
• I enjoyed the pool more this summer than last summer.

• This is a transient place.  I see someone once and then never see him again.
• 
  
• We have black people and Asians and Arabs and Europeans.  But only the white Americans use the common facilities.
• 
  
• Football season permeated the building.  And last year, the Eagles won the super bowl so we all got in to it whether we wanted to or not.
• 
  
• Lots and lots and lots of packages come here everyday from Amazon.  I think the delivery person comes here at least twice a day.
• 
  
• A lot of beer is consumed in this building.  On the weekends, our trash room is overflowing with empty beer cans.
• 
  
• The young men like to watch the football in the lounge at the bar.  They stand, bring in piles of pizza boxes and kegs of beer.  The older people sit at the couch and watch and they bring a few dips and crackers.
• 
  
• The coffee machine is the place to meet lots of people.  I dont hang at the coffee machine.
• 
  
• I have decided that I am not going to any of the open invitation parties as they tend to be cliquish and I have to live here so I am keeping a bit of a distance.
• 
  
• I know a lot of people but I only know their first names.

• I thought the pool table would be more popular than it is.
• 
  
• The barbecue grills  are very popular.  People grill dinner up until 10 PM and all of those smells of grilled meats fill my apartment as I keep my door wide open and my balcony is just above the grilling station.
• 
  
• The other day, a bird flew in to my apartment.  That little, scared sparrow scared the shit out of me.

Diners

Diners

The Iconic Symbol of America

I love to eat at a diner and I always, always, always order breakfast when I go to a diner.  It honest matter that time of day it is, I order breakfast. But diners are becoming harder and harder to find as I travel across the USA.

There are some of my favorites:


Llanerarch Diner, PA- It's an old, diner that hasn't had an upgrade since the day it opened.  It was an after-hours, go-to spot in my 20s to shake off too much drinking.

Melrose Diner, PA- my dad would take us here when we came to see his friend in South Philly.

Red Lion Diner- NJ- I take my German friends here every year as we head down to Long Beach Island.  They get the big stack of pancakes and hum the whole time they are eating their meal.

Ye Olde College Diner- State College, PA- my college diner.  We would go out drinking until 2:30 in the morning and then stumble over here for grilled stickies and ice cream.

Haddington Diner- Philly, PA- this diner was in my neighborhood and I used to sneak over here during church and use my collection money for french fires and a coke.

New Rule

New Rule
Chester Square Apartments
West Chester, PA
June 2018

NEW RULE:  She is signing her new lease.  She's lived here for a year now and she has decided she will sign this lease and take on a new lease on her behavior.  She has decided that she will not sleep with any more people in the building.  Her promiscuity has complicated her life.

I told her that I thought this was a good rule.

A Day of Immature Triumph

A Day of Immature Triumph
July 13, 2018
Trump's Very, Very, Very Bad Day

I loathe Trump. I think he is ruining our democracy. He is immoral. He grabs women by the pussy. He lies on a regular basis. He is alienating all of our allies. He wants to be a dictator and I fight every day to resist him. I tweet him every day in an effort to let his shrinking marginalized base know that the rest of us don't support him. I regularly go on the WH page on FB and leave a comment as well.

Today, I wrote this message to my friends and fellow resister:

I loved today. I saw a photo of Manafort in prison; the bigot blimp floated in the skies of the UK; the massive protest brought out 250,000 people; the queen faux pas showed his arrogance once again and then 12 indictments were issued. Plus the RNC sent me a questionnaire to complete.

The Great Northern Brewery Company

The Great Northern Brewing Company 

Montana

October 2016

There is a restaurant on the second floor but it was the corner bar on the first floor that captured my attention. This is where the beer kooks congregate to drink beer and compare notes.  It wasn’t long before I was sharing my selection of beers with complete strangers.  The man sitting beside me preferred sours and I preferred my IPAs so we encouraged the other to break out and try something different.  

This is where the locals popped in to fill their multiple growlers and offer suggestions of favorites.  

This is where the bartender told us what was up next on the brewing schedule. It's mapped out for weeks at a time.

 As I said, this is where the beer kooks hung.

Stoneleigh Gardens

Stoneleigh Gardens

Villanova, PA

July 2018

Signs are popping up all over the area to save these gardens that are unknown to me.  Then someone told me that the Stoneleigh family left their 44 acre estate to the township for the purpose of offering their neighbors a free garden spot to explore.  The National Land Trust Foundation has been working diligently over the last three years to make this place accessible to everyone.  The gates opened up for the first time just within  the year.  And then the local school board announced that it was considering taking this property as eminent domain and making it a football field for its middle school team.  Needless to say, the community is in an uproar over the arrogance of this school board.

So I went here to show my solidarity to the movement. 

Praise Her

Praise Her


My friend, Kevin, is very religious.  He spends all day Sunday in church and then he is right back there all evening on Wednesday.  His faith brings him great comfort and community.  As for me, I loath any affiliation  with a structured religion.  But to each his own.

One day, our mutual friend made a comment that Kevin was very tolerate for a religious person.  Kevin didn't understand that Sue was saying and I found her sincere comment to him to be affirming to me.

"But all Christians are tolerant, aren't they?", Kevin asked.

He looked to me and I spoke my truth to him.

Somehow the conversation moved on to what I believed.

"First, my god is a woman", I tell him.

He laughs and accepts my statement without judgment or defense.

"Praise Her," he responded, "Praise Her."

1980

1980
Woodbine Avenue

Overbrook

Philadelphia, PA

   And then

State College, PA

My age: 24-25

School: I started a full time graduate program at Penn State University. I was studying to be a high school guidance counselor.  This experience was a boost to my confidence.  I graduated with an eagerness to start my professional career.

Work- I didn’t work this year and lived on very little money.  I borrowed $6000 in student loans. I was really poor.

Music- I listened to top 40 pop music. And disc was creeping in to the air waves

• Call Me - Blondie- I wasn't a fan of hers.
• Another Brick In the Wall - Pink Floyd- I was never a fan of this group.
• Magic - Olivia Newton-John
• Rock With You - Michael Jackson
• Do That to Me One More Time - The Captain and Tennille- OMG, they were dreadful.
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
• Funkytown - Lipps, Inc.- no, I didn't like this song.
• It's Still Rock and Roll to Me - Billy Joel
• The Rose - Bette Midler- I loved this song and this movie.
• Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes- I hate, hate, hate this song.
• Cruisin' - Smokey Robinson-I really lied him but I didn't like this song too much.
• Little Jeannie - Elton John
• Ride Like the Wind - Cristopher Cross
• Upside Down - Diana Ross- she moved from Motown to disco and I didn't like the transition.
• Still - The Commodores- I thought this group was very soulful.
• Yes I'm Ready - Teri De Sario With K.C.
• Sexy Eyes - Dr. Hook
• Steal Away - Robbie Dupree
• Don't Fall In Love With a Dreamer - Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes
• Sailing - Christopher Cross
• Longer - Dan Fogelberg
• She's Out of My Life - Michael Jackson
• Fame - Irene Cara
• Fire Lake - Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band- Mr. Rock-n-Roll.
• How Do I Make You - Linda Ronstadt
• One Fine Day - Carole King- she peaked with her Tapestry album.
• You May Be Right - Billy Joel
• Hurt So Bad - Linda Ronstadt- she started sliding form the limelight around now.  She was a huge hit a few years back.
• Off the Wall - Michael Jackson
• Stand By Me - Mickey Gilley 
• Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar- I loved every song on this album.
• Sara - Fleetwood Mac- a lot of songs were coming from this band at this time.
• JoJo - Boz Scaggs- I don't know this song. He had a super album in the early 70's and never matched that success again.
• September Morn - Neil Diamond- he's old fart but I like several of his songs.
• Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
• I Wanna Be Your Lover - Prince- this man could produce hit after hit and he could discover talents in the r people.
• Refugee - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
• We Don't Talk Anymore - Cliff Richard- I liked this sad, desperate song.
• Heartache Tonight - The Eagles
• Against the Wind - Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
• On the Radio - Donna Summer
• Emotional Rescue - The Rolling Stones- I don't like the Stones per se but I do like many of there hits.  This is one of them.
• Romeo's Tune - Steve Forbert- this guy had one sensational album and then he disappeared from the main stage.
• Daydream Believer - Anne Murray- she is squeaky clean but I like a few of her songs.

Movies- on weekends, movies were shown for $1 in one of the auditoriums on campus. Ni alcohol was allowed so we had to sneak it in.

Books- textbooks, textbooks and more textbooks.  I didn't buy most of my books just because they were too damn expensive and I didn't have the money.

Travels- I went nowhere because I didn't have any damn money.  I did get to my parents' house at the beach for a long weekend.

News events

• Ronald Reagan was elected president of the USA.  I voted for Jimmy Carter.
• Mount St. Helen erupts and we all got to watch this magnificent flow of destruction.
• The Rubik’s Cube showed up on the market and frustrated most of us.
• The Iran-Iraq war began in September of 1980 and we are still dealing with the fall-out of this war.
• CNN (Cable News Network) began broadcasting and we would forever be saturated with breaking news.
•  The 3M company begins sales of  Post-It Notes 
• US defeats Soviet Union in ice hockey in the "Miracle on Ice" game.  I didn't watch the game but I  did see the movie about it.
•  John Lennon was shot to death.
• The latest census revealed the US population is 226,504,825.  
•  The Killer Clown ( John Wayne Gacy Jr ) sentenced to death for the murder of 33 boys. He was one sick pup.
• The Winter Olympic Games are held in Lake Placid, New York, United States 
• Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, gained independence but I missed this story.
• There was a failed operation by US to free our hostages in Iran.  That was a big blow to our pride, ego and sense of security.
• Yassar Arafat was elected the President of the Palestinian National Council> I always thought he was creepy.
• Terrorists seized Iran embassy and hostages in London leading to the British SAS storming embassy and releasing hostages.  The Middle East was a war zone for us.
• Japan became the worlds largest auto producing country. Up to this point, we had views any product by Japan tone cheap and of poor quality. 
•  US leads boycott of Moscow Olympics in protest at Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. I felt sorry for our athletes who had to forfeit any chance of winning a gold metal. 
• Everyone tuned into the TV show, Dallas, to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing.  I  didn't watch the show.

Family and friends

• My friend's brother was killed in a freak car accident.  He was only 23 and the whole neighborhood cried with his family.
• I became an aunt.  Kathy had a baby boy in December. This was the happiest day of my life.
• I don't have a car so I have to bum rides from friends, hitchhike or take the bus through life.

The Fire Has Been Put Out- CO

The Fire Has Been Put Out
Southern CO
July 2018

The road was closed all last week as fire fighters worked endlessly to extinguish this massive fire.  And on the day we left Boulder to drive to Pagosa Spring, this road finally opened up again.  It was eerie to drive through these burnt woods.  The presence of death and defeat was everywhere and when we opened our car windows, the smell of the fire permeated our surroundings.

Images of Wales

WALES (UK)

Three Days in September 

2018

Welsh Rare Bit- my reason for coming to Wales

Images of the UK

UK 2018

London, Cardiff, Poole, Jersey

September 17- 23, 2018