April 23

Altogether, now: “I know nothing!” (Always good to remember.)

1965

I went babysitting again at O'Rourkes. Daylight saving time has started. (It's really tomorrow) so it's 3:45 EDT and 2:45 EST. ANYWAY I got $5. Not bad. I read my book and worked on some puzzles. I watched Jackie Gleason, Gilligan, Secret Agent. Gunsmoke, News and Johnny Carson. There were no good movies so I just sat around.

Comment 2006

Imagine a Saturday night of television that included Jackie Gleason, Gilligan, Secret Agent. Gunsmoke, and Johnny Carson. And to think Newton Minnow thought television was a vast wasteland THEN. I can't imagine what he'd think today.

Comment 2023

It’s gotten worse. Probably a good thing. I watched way too much TV as a kid. Half of my scrapbook is clippings from TV Guide. In middle school, I saved all the TV Guides, marked up with * on the shows I watched, and the total # of hours on the cover. Mom threw them out, destroying my most promising future donation to the Smithsonian. 

1997

It is very, very hard to realize all the mistakes you have made in raising your children, but the hardest ones to face are those which were the result of your best intentions.

Why did I write that in the second person?

Comment 2023

To protect my kids’ privacy, I left about the three paragraphs leading up to this. Nothing special, just another day when I figured out that was I thought was helping was actually not helpful at all. 

1998

OK, so much for exorcism by sarcasm. It really doesn’t work - just makes me madder, and makes not a ripple in reality. Today it is going to rain, and hopefully wash out the pollen again. It’s been terrible  the last week.

Comment  2023

Another April 23, another exercise in parental cluelessness.

2023

Jeez, the tree pollen never stops this year. We had rain yesterday - a real gully washer  - and this morning my sinus are flowing like the Mississippi. 

The Fawlty Towers dinner last night was a great diversion: ginger beer, rhubarb trifle and dry sherry, among other delights. We interspersed the three courses with three episodes: A Touch of Class, The Psychiatrist, and Communication Problems.

Altogether, now: “I know nothing!”

My to-do list: