July 12, 1979

Thursday; I'm 15.

Things sure are better here in BG now that Tim D. is back.

Today I found one of my old notebooks. It had all my 6th grade and earlier space battle drawings, and my seventh grade rather crude war games. I must say that, in the are of my war games, I certainly have advanced.

[2008: what follows is a dull description of how I played war games on graph paper with imaginary countries. I'll put some of it down here, until it bores me too much!]

The first ones were terribly simple in design. I always used the same seven countries, all drawn with straight blockish borders. The countries were always in the same relative position on the paper, and to each other. All I did was to decide how much land would the attacking country take. And the same countries won every time, game after game. Gad, how primitive those games were.

[2008: I was like a little Napoleon, conducting wars in my head. I used to read a lot about world war two.]

But now my war games are an art form. I now draw detailed continents, with outlying islands and archipelagos. The continents have rivers, bays, peninsulas, etc. The only think I don't draw in is elevation and mountains. If I did, then the maps would be too complicated.

[2008: really, half the fun back then was drawing maps of imaginary places.]

My countries are drawn with realistic boundaries, and I mark down the capitals and sometimes major cities. Once the countries are developed I conglomerate them into international organizations, mostly military.

[2008: I was drawing these games and making little wars during study hall in junior high. This warfare is both conventional and nuclear.]

OK, enough.

July 9, 1979

Monday; I'm 15.

We decided which piano to get today. My family and Robert E., my piano teacher, went down to Findlay again. We all liked the Sohmers the best but it was also the most expensive. The Kawai sounded all right, but it had a rather stiff touch. The Baldwin was a nice touch, a nice tone and sound, and was only $1600. The Baldwin sounded better than the Kawai, so we narrowed it down between the Sohmers and the Baldwin. The Sohmers was a better piano, in all respects, but it would cost $2000. And the difference between the two wasn't worth $400, considering how much we had. So we're getting the Baldwin. It is a good piano, and should last. It's going to arrive at our house Wednesday.

Today Tim D. should have come home. I haven't been to his house because I don't know his plane leaves, and I've been busy all day. Tomorrow after class I'll go over to his house.

Today, weather-wise, was an unusual day. It rained so much in the afternoon that the sewers overflowed into basements and onto the streets. Parts of Wooster street were totally submerged under 6 inches of water. A whole block of Clough street was turned into a lake. S. Prospect also flooded from the intersection of Clough and Prospect down to Washington st. Our basement has about 10 inches of water in it. My comic books and Mad magazines are totally submerged. Our manx cat, Bonnie, was trapped on the top of the bed down there. We had to float a board to her to climb back on the stairs with and get out of the basement. It's going to take a while to clean out our basement.

[2008: my parents still have the Baldwin piano. Also, the flood explains what happened to my collection of comics and Mads. Also, the rain was from Hurricane Bob; see Wikipedia.]

July 8, 1979

Sunday; I"m 15.

Tomorrow we're going down to Findlay to take a second look at the pianos there.  We are probably going to choose either a Baldwin, Kawai, or Sohmers.  The Baldwin sounds alright, but it's a little dampered in sound.  The Kawai sounds nice (he can brighten up the tone) and has a nice touch.  I like the Sohmers the best.  It has a clear sound, looks nice, and it has a good touch.  I don't like the place where the Baldwin is, though.  Other than pianos and organs, they also sell TVs and they're giving away 100 gallons of gas with each piano or organ (sounds a little gimicky to me).  The people there weren't that nice.

Tomorrow Tim comes back from Germany.  I"m glad.  These past few weeks have been so boring at times.  Logic class at BGSU has been interesting, but I've had long stretches of boredom.  And with Don coming over every while or so, It's even worse.  All he talks about are girls and sex.  Tim N. isn't much better.  I've had too much spare time.

by the way, Tim's sister Kathy is getting married July 28 at St. Al's church in BG.  I got an invitation a few days ago.  She's marrying Chris D.

July 5, 1979

It's Thursday, and I'm 15.

I saw Cathy H.  today.  She was walking north on Kenwood Ave.  and I passed by her on my bike.  At first I didn't see her, because I was looking at some other cyclists down the road, and right when I passed her, I was looking at my watch.  Then she yelled something about me not saying anything and just going by.  I looked back and said "OK, I won't."  

I planned to go up to Napoleon, take a left, then go left down the alley.  As I went down the alley Don M. came up with an 8 pack of Dr. Pepper on his bike.  I told him of seeing Cathy as we rode down the gravel-paved alley.  I rode up to Dixie ave., made a left, went down to Kenwood ave., and made a right.  I rode up Kenwood, said "hello" to Cathy and her friend, and rode past up to Don's house.  I stopped there and talked to him until about 2 minutes later, Cathy walked in front of Don's house.  So I went up and said "hello again."  So we got to talk for a couple of minutes.  I found out that she is going to Lisa's party on the 13th.  I then left to go get a DP (Dr. Pepper).

I think from now on, every night after I write an entry, I"m going to keep my journal by my bed until morning, so I can write down any dreams I've remembered.

Boy, have I got rotten handwriting.  It is really messy.  Sometimes even I have a hard time reading it.  I've always had this kind of writing.  Of course I usually write this in bed, except for this sentence.

[2008: as you can see I was pretty hopeless around girls I liked.  I think Cathy was doing her best but I was just clueless.  Also note the mention of Dr. Pepper.  It was OUR DRINK back then, and we had one almost every day, along with a Snickers bar for me.   Teens consuming toxic waste.]

July 3, 1979

It's Tuesday, and I'm 15.

Gruss Gott!

A couple of interesting events occurred today.  I went to the bank and got 8 susan b. anthony dollars.  First time I've seen them.  I wonder how long they will last.  They are similar in size to the quarter, and if confusions arise enough, anthonys will go the trail of the twenty cent piece.  But the treasury is dong a big pr job to publicize it, so it might stay for a while.  It's certainly more than they did for the ike dollars.  They were unpopular from the very beginning, mostly because of their size.   They were bulky and hard to carry.  Their only success was in the gambling casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.  I feel fairly optimistic for the anthonys.  They'll be here for a while.

Unfortunately, the new 2 dollar bill doesn't look like it's going to make it.  Very few are circulating.  Whenever I receive change at a store, I have never gotten a 2.  I, for one, like them better than the ones.  They look a lot nicer, and besides, I like Tom Jefferson better than Washington.  Not by much (George IS the father of our country), but I do admire him more.  As long as I'm talking about one of them, I'll give you my list of my 4 heroes (for lack of a better term).  Not in order:

1.  Jefferson

2.  Da Vinci

3.  Bach

4.  Einstein

Now on to my second event of the day.  For years and years I've always wanted firecrackers.  Unfortunately, in Ohio everything except sparklers are illegal.  So the only way around here to get firecrackers is either go to the nearest state where they're legal (Tenn. I think), or get them on the black market (Toledo is in the top 5 nationally in the sales of illegal fireworks).  Now I can't go down to Tenn., so my only way to get them is the black market.  Every now and then someone at school has gotten a lot and is willing to sell them, so you go to them.  But you can never buy a whole bunch.  Now, if you go to Toledo around July, you can find places to buy them.  However, thanks to my brother, Colman, I didn't have to leave the house to get any.  Colman, because of his earlier days as a semi-hood, acquired a few connections.  One had gotten a hold of boxes and boxes of various fireworks.  So for ten dollars I bought 960 1.5 omcj Black Cat firecrackers.  Colman kept 96 for getting them for me, since I didn't know the guy.  What a bonanza!  With this many I can keep a lot for myself.  I can sell about a third of them and easily get back my initial investment.  It will be a supplement to my regular income.  I will probably make a fair profit.  I will also be a small black market dealer, too.  But, you have to take the good with the bad.  I know full well what I'm doing is illegal, but nobody is vice-free.  Not much of a reason, but it's true.

spring 1979

me and mom, supporting mayor Kucinich in Cleveland

July 1, 1979

It's Sunday, and I'm 15.

My brother Colman is visting on leave from the USS Nimitz.  Most of the time he's out with his friends.

Next time he visits, I'm not going to the airport with Dad to meet him.  We arrived at the airport at 8 pm, and Colman didn't arrive until 11:30!  A big storm front had come in and his plane had been delayed a few times.  Then in Detroit it broke down!  They had to pus the passengers from Detroit to Toledo.  Now, being stuck in an airport terminal for 3.5 hours is bad enough, but neither of us had any money.  So we couldn't get anything to eat or drink.  We just could sit around.  This did, though, give us some time to talk.  Dad was telling me about when he went to India, his stage of prolific letter-writing in the sixties, etc.  I was very surprised to learn that while he was in India, my father met Indira Gandhi.  She was prime minister of India for a long time.  But my dad met her when she was minister of information.  He was staying at a hotel, and she was there, too.  So they got to talk for a little bit before she left.  Dad also met a maharaja at his palace.

We talked about India for a while.  then we talked about his friend Ted E. getting a new piece of land in Maine.  I never knew Ted was as famous in the literary circles as he is.

June 28, 1979

Thursday.  I'm 15.

Guess what?  New colored ink.  Big deal!

Today I was invited to a party by Lisa G.  It's on July 13, which is a Friday!  It sounds like it will be fun.  I'm pretty sure Cathy H.  will be there, which will be a big plus for me.  If things go right at the party, I'll be able to get a little closer to Cathy.  I wouldn't mind getting closer to Lisa, either, but she is moving to Florida in August, so all we could have was a little fling.  Anyway, she lives four miles out of town.  Cathy doesn't.  She lives in town, and not too far away.

I often wonder about Craig R.  He's an unusual person.  He is disliked by most people.  In fact, in the ninth grade in school, Craig probably had only 3 or 4 friends.  Everyone else in the ninth grade made fun of him.  The general populace didn't like Craig, and they openly showed it.  Some people go out of their way to bother him.  It's a sorry sight.  he is actually not that weird.  He does have some emotional problems, though.  His father, Craig tells me, is involved with the underworld.  I believe this, too, because when his mom picked me up from my house, Craig noticed a van behind them that he thought was following them.  His mother thought so too, and periodically through the trip Craig would spot the van.  His mother's reaction seemed to corroborate with Craig's father's occupation.  His parents are divorced, and I haven't met his father.  I don't think Craig is so disturbed that he would make up a story like that.

His peer have exacted a toll on Craig.  Craig is a good drawer, but almost all his drawings center on revenge.  Craig wants revenge on his peers for their treatment of him.  He often talks of a house of horrors that he'll make, with real horrors inside.  He has told me that he wants, when he's older, a television station, which he will use to seek revenge.  Of course I may be taking all of this too seriously.  But I know he has problems.  He sleepwalks (I've seen it) and suffers from bouts of colitis, both signs of emotional stress.  He says his mother sleepwalks, too.

As usual, it's getting late, so I'll write again tomorrow.  bye!

June 27, 1979

It's Wednesday, and I'm 15.  

It's me again.  I'm going to copy down my code into this.

[2008: what follows is a simple code that has a different symbol for each letter.  Very easy to decode!]

Well, so much for that.  What to write about now?  Today I got a letter from Lisa G.  Too bad she lives in Rudolph, and will soon be moving to Florida.  She's a good friend.  And I wouldn't mind being more than just friends, if you catch my drift (what a strange slang expression!).  But Rudolph is about four miles outside of town, which makes a close relationship difficult without a car, which I don't plan to get for a while.  I wrote her a reply, and maybe if she writes me back, I could ask for her address in Florida, so I could write her there.

I wonder if there will be a nuclear war in my lifetime?  [2008: what follows is a teen's view of the world situation.  It's too plodding and dull to put down verbatim, so here are the highlights:

• nuclear war is more likely between smaller nuclear powers, and not the US and USSR
• an all out war would wipe out the US, USSR, China, most of Europe, and probably Japan
• Since the US and Canada produce 2/3 of the world's wheat, there would be worldwide starvation
• Civilization would reverse at least a hundred years, if not more
• world economic collapse, disease, etc

[2008:  I used to play Risk a lot, and my analysis shows the influence.  Also, I used to read about WWII all the time.  Why wasn't I out there chasing girls and getting into trouble???  Normal teen things.  No, I was too busy pondering the effects of nuclear war as if I were about to write an article for some academic journal.  Of course, we all know this kind of over-the-top intellectualizing is also pretty normal teen behavior. ]

1979 sometime

Me and Mom on the shores of lake Erie with Tasha, Joe's dog.

June 26, 1979

I'm 15, and it's Tuesday.

Hi!  You're not going to believe what I did today.  I went with Don M. on our bikes to Findlay!  Round trip is about 50 miles!  I was tired when I got home.  It took us about 3.5 hours to get there and 2 to get back.  The wind was against us going there.  We left at 9:17 am and got in Findlay at 12:46 pm.  We stayed there for about three hours.  Entered BG at 5:48 pm.  That was the longest and farthest bike trip I've ever taken.

The part of the trip from BG to North Baltimore was pretty boring, since all you see are farm fields stretching to the horizon.  But from North Baltimore to Findlay was much more scenic, because of the diversity of the land.  When we got to Findlay, we stopped off at the chamber of commerce and got some maps (Don collects them).  Then we went to McDonalds for lunch, after which we went to the shopping mall where Don and I both played a whole bunch of songs on pianos and organs at a small Bedwin piano booth.  There were four organs and a spinet inside it.  When I grow up I want a good piano, pipe organ, and harpsichord.  Wishful thinking, probably.  I also want a rolltop desk.

Unfortunately I started this late at night again, and after that bike ride I'm exhausted.  See ya later!

[2008: yes, as a teen I wanted a harpsichord!  and a "good pipe organ"???  I also liked Victorian furniture.  What a wacko!  I do now have a rolltop desk, so that did happen.  Instead of victorian, I prefer Ikea now.  And see, I had a great time with Don! ]

June 24, 1979

I'm 15, and it's Sunday.

Hello.  I'm sorry I haven't written.  I've been busy and sick lately.  Oh, by the way, the classification system I'm working on above, I'm refining now, and I'll include it in here when I"m finished.  As for Dawn, she pursued me through the eighth grade science class, openly showing her affection for me.  I was, unfortunately, too chicken to accept.  But I did write something nice in her yearbook, to make up for it.

[2008:  that was Mr. Myer's 8th grade science class.  That guy was incompetent!  We were in the junior high building]

To my surprise this year, she didn't entirely give up.  In English class, for a while in the beginning of the year, she was still flirting with me, and this time I played her little game.  Then I found out that she already had a boyfriend, Mark W., while she was flirting.  So I knew she wasn't very serious, and gave up the thought of being together.  

Well, enough of that.  Time to get on to other things.

It sure has been boring ever since Tim has left.  Now the only ones here are Tim N. and Don M.  Yeck!  I can see Craig R., although he lives in Portage.  But Craig is definitely better than Tim N. and Don put together.

It's getting late.  I think I'll try writing earlier in the day, so I can write longer.  Bye!

78-79

Robert, Mary, Tim

1978-9

Mary, Robert, Tim

around 1978 or 1979

Robert, Joe, Tim

June 19, 1979

Tuesday. I'm 15.

Well, continuing the last story, later Barb did confront me. Once she asked me to go roller skating. Another time she asked to go swimming with her in the pool. Both times I said no.

[2008: I was so stupid!! ah, youth].

I think I said no because although I did like her, as time went by I didn't think she was as pretty as I used to think. Of course physical beauty is not extremely important (though desirable), I felt that at this stage in my life I could be choosier in those matter since the relationship wouldn't go as far as it would if I were an adult

[2008: again, I was totally wrong! Also, I was no hunk! I was about at her level in terms of looks. Just another self-centered teen!]

In other words, I wasn't choosing a mate for life, so I could be a little more exacting in my beauty judgment.

[2008: that's completely the opposite of how it should be, right? What a dumb 15 year old I was! And of course my later success with girls in high schools was NONE!]

I hope whoever is reading this understands what I just said, and doesn't misinterpret it.

[2008: that's me, by the way! dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb]

To go on with the story, I ended up doing absolutely nothing with Barb, and I haven't talked to her this year at all. That's probably because I don't socialize much between classes, and she wasn't in any of mine. I was in, generally, more advanced classes than she was.

[2008: see, there's my snobbish attitude]

But I must say one thing for sure, though. She had the guts to ask me out first. A girl ask a boy. I congratulate her on that, because I think that the burden of asking out should be shared by both sexes, not just by men. If that were true now, maybe I would have a girlfriend.

[2008: what a lazy ass I was!]

Now I'll talk about my other prospect, which I was a total idiot to refuse. Dawn S. What a girl! Barb looked like a peasant compared to her

[2008: again, I looked like a peasant back then, dumbo! And yes, I was cutting and cruel in my observations. Hello, teen years!]

And she was fairly smart, too. He only major flaw was that she was a social. And not merely a social, but one of the reigning queens of social life. Perhaps I should clarify myself on the term "social."

[2008: believe me, this is as painful for me to write as it is for you to read, dear reader. Was she really so interested in me? I doubt.]

People at the teenage age can be classified into different groups. There are hoods, socials, brains, jocks, averagers, jerks, and the unclassifiable.

June 18, 1979

Monday. I'm 15.

[2008:This week's number one album is Bad Girls by Donna Summer. The number one song is hers: Hot Stuff. That tells you something about this era!]

I should start talking about myself. My name is Robert M. I was born in 1963. My parents are Howard and my stepmother is Jenny. My mom is Dora. I have a brother, Coleman, a step-sister Sue and a half sis Julia. Another half is on the way. Right now I live on Prospect street in BG.

The problem that Tim has? Well, I have it too. Though to a lesser degree, to be sure. I can talk to girls easily, but asking them out is difficult. It's very common. And I must say that I've had my chances. In the 8th grade (77-78) I had two totally perfect, easy chances to get a girlfriend. One was Barb H. She was in my fifth period math class. She sat in front of me. During the whole year we were always passing notes to each other, carrying on discussions by note. We got to be good friends, then in one note she asked me if I thought we would make a good couple (someone had told her that we would, she told me). I wrote back that I thought we might, possibly. Then she asked me if I wanted us to be a couple. Well, thanks to my imagination, I was able to put off answering her for days. I kept making excuses, but I knew that I would have to answer. Finally I ran out of excuses, and she was pleading with me in the note so much to answer, that I just had to.

If I said yes, I would have had an instant girlfriend. If I said no, I would hurt her feelings, I might lose a friend, and I would blow a perfect opportunity. So I skillfully all that and told her I did not want to be a couple now, but later in the year I might change my mind. So she decided to put off the matter until later in the year.

[here in 2008, I'll tell you the truth: I was a snob and thought she was lower middle class, and I didn't want to date her. Later on she went to a vocational high school, which in my mind then was proof I was "too good" for her. Of course I was an idiot punk with no sense at all. I hope she's had a good life since 1977.]

some dates and places

Moved to BG summer 1971

La Jolla, CA in fall 1969 semester

Northridge, CA in spring and summer 1976

Navajo Community College in summer 1975

Icleand in summer 1973

June 17, 1979

I am 15, and I live on south prospect st. in BG.

Sunday: Unfortunately, I haven't started Cat and Mouse. I wanted to start it, but it was about midnight, so I had to decide if I would type in my room, which might wake up the baby, or should I type in the basement, where I used to. I took so long in deciding that I got tired and went to sleep before I did anything. My problem is that I get my creative juices flowing at night. I feel ambitious from about 8:30 to midnight.

I've been wondering if I'm writing what's usually written in diaries and journals. Actually I haven't had a chance to talk about my feelings on some important subjects.

My friend Tim D. also keeps a journal, although I think he only writes the major events and thoughts in his life. I use my journal to think aloud on paper. I wonder what Tim puts in his journal. I've known him since 1973 or so, and we've been best friends almost the whole time. He's the only person I really can confide in, and vice versa (as far as I know!) Still, he won't show me his journal, which is totally understandable. I do wonder what he writes in it, because I know we don't tell each other everything.

One thing that has always bugged is the time with Don M.'s magazine. Don has this habit of reading dirty magazines. His favorite is the most disgusting I've ever seen: Hustler. Tim said that he agreed with me on this, but once Don told me that Tim asked for a copy. Now Tim isn't one to lie to me, but he told me the exact opposite. Sometimes I do get the feeling that there are some things that Tim doesn't tell me.

You know what's wrong? I'm hardly saying anything about myself. I'll have to do that next time.

June 15, 1979

I am 15.

Friday: I've got a new idea for a story, tentatively titled "Cat and Mouse." It's about a man trapped in some situation with an evil demonic cat after him. I'm thinking of putting them either in a deserted old house or maybe a small life boat, after the ship sinks. The house plot could be interesting, but it's a little cliche! The lifeboat one is more original. Setting could be somewhere else, though. I have been thinking, and the house bit is the best. I can modify it somewhat, though. Make it less cliche! if I want to start it, I'd better do it now.

June 14, 1979

I am 15.

Thursday: Tim's off in Germany now. I got a new watch today. Timex Marathon, $31.30. I should really keep a record of my dreams. They're quite interesting. It's 11:30, though, and I'm tired. Bye!

June 13, 1979

I am 15.

Wednesday: Not much happened today. Went and saw "Love at First Bite" at the Cla-Zel. Big deal! Tomorrow Tim D. leaves for Germany. For three weeks as an exchange student. He promised to save me a few Deutsche Marks. It won't be boring when he's gone, it's just that Don M. is bound to come over. And Don is an egotistical boring pest. He's a darn good piano player, but that's his only redeeming quality. He's very conceited about his playing ability, and he doesn't know that much, generally. The one paradox of his life, though, I have yet to figure out. For some reason, he can get a girlfriend a lot easier than Tim. Despite all his shortcomings, he's usually got some girl to go out with. I just don't understand it. One explanation might be his obsession with sex, which drives him to find girls more than myself and Tim.

(by the way, June 1, 1979 was the first time that I asked a girl out. Cathy H. Too bad her bike was at her grandma's house, which stopped her from being able to go to the movies with me. If I get enough guts, soon, I'll ask her out again.)

In fact, until very recently, Don thought of girls only as objects to get sex from. A very poor perception of females. Now, though, he has begun to think of girls more as people. But it still doesn't make sense! He is conceited, dumb, and very strange acting. And girls still go for him. His strangeness isn't the kind that might be chuckled at. He can be annoying at times. It is also strange that Tim has been his friend ever since 1st grade, or earlier. Tim finally acknowledges Don's abnormalities, and he agrees with my view of Don. But for some reason he has been friends with him for years, though he can hardly stand him many times. Tim probably feels a little sorry for Don, and since he is Don't best friend (although Don is not Tim's best friend) he doesn't want to tell Don to beat it. He has come close a couple of times to telling Don it's all over, but, being a softie, he never goes through with it. It's getting late, so I'll talk to you later. Bye!

June 12, 1979

I am 15.

Tuesday: Today I finally did something that I have been trying to do for years. I have finally succeeded in hypnotizing someone. I have known a technique that I have read in a couple of books, and this has been the first time that I have tried it. On Tim D. it has worked. It all started when Tim and I, who are best friends, started talking about his problem. Time has a problem with girls. Unless he really likes them, he can talk with them and get along nicely. But if there is a particular girl that he likes, he has problems talking to her. That is, until he met Chris. Chris is a girl who works at the gas station in Waterville where Tim works. As soon as they met, Time fell for her. Luckily he can talk to her easily, and he feels comfortable around her. Unfortunately, he cannot get the guts to call her to ask her out. This has been a problem since he was 11.

When he was 11, and in the 6th grade, Tim fell for a girl named Cathy D. Cathy liked him too, but waited for Tim to make the first move. Too bad for Tim, some other boy made the first move toward Cathy, and she accepted. This hurt Tim, but he was again broken when he saw her and her boyfriend at the ice arena. He said Hello, and Cathy started calling him names and being mean to him. This upset him for quite a bit. Ever since then, 6 years ago, Tim has never got the courage to be anything more than casual friends with a girl.

Tim does want to have a girlfriend, no mistake about that, but some fear has always held him back, to his vexation. Me and Don M. (who'll I'll tell you about later) have tried every argument, explanation, and threat possible to try to help Tim, but to no avail. Tim will simply not call a girl. Once he wrote a letter to one Elizabeth W., but nothing happened. That defeat there only worsened his phobia. Now that he's 17, this phobia is getting a little ridiculous.

Well, today Tim and I were discussing his problem, trying to find what caused it. I then hit upon the idea of hypnotizing him, to see if this would help. We had tried to hypnotize each other before, but with no success. This time, I used a different method. I placed Tim in a chair and had him stare up at a dot on the wall ahead of him. He had to raise his head slightly to stare at the dot, but his was purposeful, to get the neck muscles tired. As he concentrated on the dot, I talked quietly to him, to coach him to a trance. Soon his eyes were closed, so I began questioning him. I asked about his life from kindergarten to the present, but I could not find any clue to the origins of his phobia. I might have had success, but his sister Mary walked in the house and disturbed him. he told me that he was really under, and he looked it. He was aware of what was happening, but he kept getting deeper and deeper into his subconscious. I had to wait longer for an answer toward the end of the questioning. It took no longer than a half an hour, I think. He said he felt strange during it. I seem to be writing rather disorganized and incoherent sentences.

#1 album this week: Breakfast in America, by Supertramp

September 26, 1975

I am 12.

Friday: Today is the last day at camp so we we all have to get packed and ready. After breakfast and inspection we got all of our luggage in the bus and took the sack lunches the cooks made. It took a couple of hours to get home but I'm glad I'm home now although I miss camp a little. And that's the way it was, September 22-26, 1975. This is RM saying good night.

location: camp High Hope, Fremont, IN

September 25, 1975

I am 12.

Thursday: After inspection we went to the red room to see slides on conservation. We then went to work with the horses, we cleaned them but didn't get to ride them. After that we went to learn about compasses and it was pretty easy. We went down by the boys bunk to art and crafts where we worked with clay. I made a Tiger Tank and we had lots of fun. We then went to hidden lake to canoe by ourselves, my partner was JD and he did the steering but he wasn't very good because we kept running into other canoes but we still had fun. Then all of us ran to the horse ring to ride the horses but it turned out we had to be led so it wasn't much fun. I then went by the horse corral where they blindfolded us and took us into the woods where they dropped us off to feel around and use our other senses. After about a half an hour we got partners to lead us around to show us things and try to find out what it is without looking. We played some swedish until dinner. After dinner we played some more swedish and then we went to a big bonfire in the gravel pit where we sang songs, toasted marshmallows and had lots of fun. We went back to camp to tell ghost stories and while we were telling ghost stories one of the staff dressed up as the marsh monster and walked around camp with a torch but it didn't scare us, we went back to telling ghost stories when we heard a knock on the door. But it turned out to be some girls who were scared but we didn't let them in.

location: camp high hope, fremont, indiana