journal77

Fri, Sept. 16, 1977 ====    I�m back! Back at OSU and is it good to be here again! Yesterday Char and I shopped for matching comforters and some other odds and ends, and started packing. This morning we went to Mass and still got on the road by 10 a.m. We got here at 2 and went to pay our fees. Within just a few minutes, I saw Mark Dedow, Debbie Tabacco, Chris Fitch and Maureen Broscoe.
    We came back to the dorm and moved in - we�re in room 900, a stupid quad, but oh well. Someone had moved in before us but wasn�t around when we got here. Mom and Dad left, then Char and I headed for St. John Arena to pick up our football tickets. We saw Debbie Tomlin coming back from getting hers, and she said there was a really long line. We decided to try again tomorrow. Back at Siebert, we stopped on 3 and saw Linda and Elaine and Nancy and Lisa. Then we had dinner at Burger Death and bought a Dates and Data at Campus Neal. We came back and met Robin and Amy in 903. Robin worked in the commons for a short time last year, and Amy was in my jurn 101 class but we never really met before this. She always used to sit with Glen Kindness. I went to our room to get something, and who was there but Cheryl Young! I ran and got Char, and we went crazy. Cheryl is the dance major from California who was in our suite at Char�s orientation. No one else in the suite seemed to like her much, but we did, and we�re really glad to have her in our room.

Thu., Sept. 22, 1977 ====    Our philosophy class is CAI - computer-aided instruction. We learned to use the computer terminals today and it was very cool. It�s the first time I�ve ever used a computer.

Fri., Sept 23, 1977 ====    In jurn we got a tour of the newsroom. Campus editor Greg Victor, Art Ditty and cartoonist Brian Bassett share an apartment and had signs up in the newsroom: �Come to our party or fail!� [Brian Bassett is big-time now, you�ve probably seen his syndicated strip �Adam� in the papers.]

    Siebert 10 had a party tonight. Found out that Tom Terveer and Tom Horner live in the quad above us and they were the ones reciting lines from The Wizard of Oz the other night! [We could hear them through the pipes that ran from floor to floor.] That was funny, hearing grown men cackle, �I�ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!�

Wed., Oct. 12, 1977 ====    There was a small fire in the 4th floor study at 12:30 this morning and we had to evacuate the dorm. Joe Buti was out in nothing but shorts, and so was Harvey. A lot of people had very little on, like the guy in a jacket and towel! Later, Ray, who works in the commons, accurately described Harvey as having �legs like tree trunks.�
     Spoons - Mark Near�s new nickname - worked in the dishroom tonight and howled all night. He said he was a wookiee!

Thu., Oct. 13, 1977 ====    At work, Haji made Char and I each take a bite of cake from his fork. He�s so crazy. Spoons made faces at me all night. If I live to be a hundred, I don�t think I�ll ever meet anyone as funny as either of those two. I used to tell Char about them last year, but she had to meet them herself to believe it.
     Boy, we had a lot of company tonight! First, �Turtle Mike� (well, he has a pet turtle and we have to have SOME way to distinguish all the different Mikes from the 8th floor) knocked and I answered, �She�s not here� meaning Lynne [our other roommate, who always had guys coming to visit her]. Mike said he didn�t necessarily come to see Lynne, which surprised Cheryl and me, and he stayed a while. Then Ed and his friend came, then Robb (but he came to see Lynne) and Jeff. It was nice to have so many guys around.

Sat., Oct. 15, 1977 ====    Char and I watched Saturday Night in the 8th floor study with Gordon Kibler. Mike Wise came in, brushing his teeth, and told Char to hold out her hand. She did, and he tried to spit his toothpaste into it!   I guess Haji and Spoons have a rival for silliness after all!

Fri., Oct. 28, 1977 ====    The 10th floor guys came to dinner all together, wearing album covers on their heads. It was the funniest sight. I worked both North and South salad bars, so I got to see everybody on both sides.

Wed., Nov. 2, 1977 ====    The 10th floor guys pulled a nasty trick last night, but we were forewarned and able to take some precautions. During the night, they trashed our floor, with a mixture of mud, garbage and spit from chewing tobacco, and sprayed the walls with shaving cream. When we got up this morning, the smell was so bad we could hardly stand it. At least we all had stuffed newspaper under our doors so it couldn�t wash into our rooms. [Why didn�t someone just warn dorm security and stop those guys before they started?!]

Fri., Nov. 11, 1977 ====    Tonight was good and bad. The good was when Terry Sobczak invited Char and me to a hockey game. We loved it! Neither of us had ever been to a game and we didn�t understand everything that went on, but it was exciting, nonetheless. And I have a mad crush on Greg Kostenko, No. 3. Anyway, Terry was friends with Northern Michigan�s trainer, who graduated from OSU last year, and gave us free tickets.
     The bad part was coming out of the ice rink when the game was over and hearing Kansas playing �Miracles Out of Nowhere� at St. John Arena. I had really wanted to go to that concert, and they sounded so good - even from outside - that I wanted to cry. I should have gone, even if I had to go alone. I could go to any number of hockey games, but Kansas was only here one night.

Sun., Jan. 22, 1978 ====    I�ve been spending as little time as possible in the room. ***** has accused me of spreading malicious rumors about her at our floor party, so I�m staying out of her way. Well, I don�t like her much, and I don�t care if she knows it, but I wouldn�t stoop to spreading rumors. Actually, Greg T. told her I had done this. He had visited our room several times lately, telling the most outrageous stories, and ***** and I laughed over them later, knowing full well none of it was true, and yet she�s willing to believe all this?! It just floors me.

Mon., Jan 23, 1978 ====    Today was the first in a while that we saw the sun, but it�s still cold. It was only 3 degrees this morning. Had a good time at work. Jimmy gave me a big, cheery hello that lifted my spirits, Bob Krouse asked me how �his girl� was, Anson gave me a bear hug and nearly crushed me to death. Cory teased, �Do you work here or just hang out?�

Fri., Feb. 24, 1978 ====    It was payday and Friday and Mrs. Dennis�s day off, so we had another Happy Hour at PaPa Joe�s before we went to work. I was the first one there, then Don and Sam came with Howard�s going-away present (a parka) so everyone could see it. Paul Frankland, Gene Berry, Bob and Larry came next, and finally Haji. Cindy Miller was the second girl, and later Linda Fullen, Betty Kerrigan and Pam came. Then Mark, Mike, Siba, and Don, Brooks and another regular (that�s a first, I think!). Dave Hewitt and Doug Vandervoort were in (but they weren�t part of our group) and sat with me a while. The other girls noticed and begged me to tell them about Dave. If there�s anyone the girls notice, it�s him. Doug�s good looking, too, though.
     Haji was a riot, as usual. He yelled, �DRINK BEER!� at the top of his lungs as soon as he walked in the door, and several other times during the afternoon. He added, �EAT PEANUTS� to his repertoire when we got some of those. Most of us left PJ�s together for the commons, making a lot of noise along the way. In the tunnels we held waists like �the boy with the golden goose� only it was �Haji with the brown box� (Howard�s parka).

Fri., Mar 3, 1978 ====    Greg Myers called me today and said he was in my dream and I had stolen his feet and they were near my grandmother!!! I nearly died, because I DID have a dream awfully similar to that, and it was as if he knew all about it. But I�m sure I never told anyone!
     After work, Char and I went to Sullivant Hall to see Cheryl�s dance recital. We enjoyed the program, and Cheryl�s dance was the best, the only one to get a standing ovation. The only male in it was super, and Cheryl was the best of the girls. We congratulated her after, and all walked home together.

Sat., Mar 4, 1978 ====    After dinner, Char and I went to see �Inspector Hound,� a play that her roommate Terri was in. It was excellent, and very funny.

Sun., Mar, 5, 1978 ====    Went to hear Mahler�s 2nd symphony, performed by the OSU Symphony Orchestra. It was great.

[Didn�t realize I was so cultured while at OSU, did you? A dance recital, play and symphony in three days!]

Mon., Mar. 6, 1978 ====    My physics class is so much fun. I sit with Brad, who�s in marching band; Mark Reinking, a grad student in biological sciences from Missouri; Lyn, an art major, and Tammy. One of our experiments today was to see how a heat collector works. The prof asked why we were using Teflon-coated pans, and Brad answered, �So the water doesn�t stick!� Then Brad was teasing Tammy, trying to make her say �I love your body.� The rest of us giggled and just then the prof, referring to how the experiment was progressing, asked, �Are you getting any action over there?� and we all busted out laughing.

Sat. Apr. 8, 1978 ====     Got up at 7:45 to have breakfast before leaving for the Indians opener. Everyone loaded lots of beer on the bus, and the commons packed us a lunch, and we were on our way. Larry Newman and friend Randy were there, Tom (our old bus boy), Dave Harris, Tom Kochheiser, Bob Krouse and his girlfriend, Bob Pike, Skip, Bob Blackledge, Todd, and Jay who Loree went out with last year, were some of the people I knew. Met some really nice guys named Ken and Byron. I had no idea there were so many Indians fans on South Campus.
     People played euchre and drank a lot. We had to make 3 rest stops on the way! I don�t remember who started singing, but Jay kept it going. The big one was �Stayin� Alive,� but we only sang those words, all out of key, of course.
     At lunch, if you yelled, �Sandwich� or �Ketchup� it came flying at you. �Apple.� �Orange.� Pow! Pow!
      We finally got into Cleveland, and it was good to see those familiar streets again. The time and temperature sign said it was 38 degrees, but in the stadium, in the shade and with that lake breeze blowing in, it felt colder than that! None of us was prepared for it.
     The game was exciting and we scored 4 runs in the first inning. I missed two innings waiting in line for the bathroom! When I got back, Tom and Tom had stolen my blanket and made me sit with them to share it. Char was sitting with Byron. The Tribe beat Kansas City 8-5, and when the game was over, we all walked back to the bus together, singing OSU fight songs.The bus trip alone was worth the $7.50 we paid, not to mention the game! Some guy named Mike kept things lively by doing Andy Kaufman and Steve Martin imitations and �juggling� oranges. Actually, all he did was move his hands up and down and hold the oranges. The funniest thing was when he bit a chunk out of an orange and stuck his nose in the hole, holding onto the orange with his teeth. I don�t think I�ve ever seen anything so funny looking. After it got dark and quieted down, he suddenly yelled, �My feet! My feet!� When he had everyone�s attention, he said, �They�re at the bottom of my legs. I find them there sometimes.� Then came the stories: �Once when I was a baby - I fell asleep for five years and when I woke up I had a little bit of a tan.� and �I walked into a store and the clerk said, �Can I help you? Hahahahaha!� � Sounds like an Andy Kaufman thing.
     As everyone succumbed to their tiredness, �Stayin� Alive� became �Barely Alive� and then �Rest Area!� I think we made three stops on the way back, too. We got home about 9. What a fun day!

Mon., May 1, 1978 ====    Had lunch with Doug, Jim, Mike W. and D. Bev and I went to University Discount and got a few things. Got most of my stuff done at photo lab, and Amy talked me into going with her to PJ�s for her assignment. She decided to do her �environmental portrait� of a bartender. We got to meet Cliff, who is really good looking. He said he�d buy us a pitcher when we bring back the prints. Alright! [So THAT�s how we got to know all the employees at PaPa Joe�s - it was through taking pix of Cliff. I had forgotten that.]

Thu., May 25, 1978 ====    There was a picnic for dinner for Women�s Commons, in the courtyard. They even had a band, barbecue grills and ice cream. It was great.

Sat., June 17, 1978 ====    Lazed around the apartment all day. After dinner, Keith came over to find out what was taking us so long to get to PJ�s, and he walked us over there. It�s such a short trip, just around the corner! Keith bought us beers and songs on the jukebox. We were there til closing, and some people in the booth behind us insisted they be allowed to finish their beers before leaving. One little guy tried to pour another beer from their pitcher, but the mean bouncer grabbed the pitcher and they had a tug-of-war with it. Finally, the bouncer let go and hit the guy three times in the face. The guy came flying onto our table with blood gushing out of his face and splattering all over me! They both apologized, and Keith took me in the kitchen so I could clean up. Then Martha, Amy and I went home.
     [Hey, it�s the middle of June and we�re still on campus? Yes! Amy Fahnestock and I decided to take classes and work over the summer and got an apartment on 10th Avenue. Then she asked if a friend from band could share it with us, and Martha became our roommate as well.]

Sat., June 24, 1978 ====    Amy and Martha practiced their marching band stuff in the alley in front of our apartment. The guys in the next apartment, Doug Mackie and Rick Johnson, who are on the football team, watched from their window.

Sat., July 29, 1978 ====    At PJ�s, Joe Morgan [the �mean bouncer� mentioned June 17] asked me to check ID�s while he went to the bathroom. He probably should have asked one of the guys to do it, but I�m glad he asked me. It was a blast. Later, Craig and Keith [bartender and bouncer] sat with me and Craig stole one of my clogs and made fun of it, calling it half a shoe.

Journal 1977-78

Back

To OSU main page