My seventh year: I lived in the suburbs of San Mateo. It was a white, middle class neighborhood. There were literally no Asian, African-American or Hispanic families in or near our neighborhood.
My fifty seventh year: My family lives in the suburban town of Hercules. Our neighbors on each side are African-American. The neighbors across the street are Filipino and Chinese. A Hispanic family lives just down the street.
My seventh year: The top three television shows were Wagon Train, Bonanza and Gunsmoke; all westerns. One reality show, of sorts, was in the top ten; Candid Camera. There were three major networks; ABC, NBC and CBS. Although cable was making inroads, most homes still relied on rabbit ears and rooftop antennas for reception.
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| America's Favorite 1961 |
My seventh year: The president was a former Junior Senator from Massachusetts. His campaign relied heavily on the relatively new medium, television, helping him win the election. He was the first Catholic President. His Vice-President was a Senior United States Senator from Texas.
My fifty seventh year: The president is a former Junior Senator from Illinois. His campaign relied heavily on internet technology, helping him win the election. He is the first African-American President. His Vice-President was a Senior United States Senator from Delaware.
My seventh year: I was on break between second and third grades. My days were mostly taken up with play. My friends and I played army pretending to fight against Japanese and Germans. We were the sons and daughters of men and women who went to war against Germany and Japan and the memories and stories of that war were still fresh.
My fifty seventh year: The games we played in my seventh year are not at all politically correct today.
My fifty seventh year: There are 30 major league teams between two leagues and six divisions. There are two layers of divisional play before the World Series and there is one All-Star Game played. An upper deck seat at Yankee Stadium costs 30 dollars. And let’s not even talk about the cost of a dog and a beer.
My seventh year: The world record in the mile was held by Australian Herb Elliot, at 3:54.5 and was set in 1958. The world record in the marathon was held by Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, at 2:15:16.2 in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
My fifty seventh year: The current world record in the mile is held by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco at 3:43.13 and was set in July 1999. The current world record in the marathon is held by Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie at 2:04:26 and was set in 2007.
My seventh year: Our nation was dipping its national toe into the swamp of a Southeast Asian country that hardly anybody had ever heard of. The war had something of an initial public backing but after a few years the nation grew weary and the conflict would become a national controversy.
My fifty seventh year: Our nation is trying to emerge from a conflict in Afghanistan that had initial public backing. Ten years later the nation has grown weary and the war is becoming a national controversy.
My seventh year: A fully loaded Corvette Convertible retailed for about 7000 dollars. A gallon of gas cost 27 cents.
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| Would you spend $7000 for this? |
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| Maynard G. Krebbs Beatnik |
My fifty seventh year: A coffee house is a place where people of all stripes congregate to discuss all kinds of topics. Families are welcome. The smallest cup of coffee at the Starbucks I’m sitting at now is 1.50. You can get coffee, espresso and a whole variety of other nonsense on the menu board. I’ll have a cup of mud please, black.
My seventh year: My mother used to admonish me that one day I would have kids of my own that I would worry about and fret over.
My fifty seventh year: I watch my son and daughter and their spouses worry about and fret over their children. And I still worry and fret over that whole crew now and then.
My seventh year: My mother used to admonish me that one day I would have kids of my own that I would worry about and fret over.
My fifty seventh year: I watch my son and daughter and their spouses worry about and fret over their children. And I still worry and fret over that whole crew now and then.
My seventh year: My mom was a working mom and my grandmother from Italy was helping to raise me. I had an aunt in Italy named Luciana.
My fifty seventh year: I have three grandchildren, one is half Filipino. One of my granddaughters is named Luciana.
My seventh year: The price of a 30 foot by 15 foot in ground pool was 2695 dollars.
My fifty seventh year: In Chicago the minimum base price of an in ground pool is 20,000 dollars.
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| Yuri's 108 min. flight shocked the world |
My fifty seventh year: The Space Shuttle took its last flight and now we will be hitching rides with the folks who first launched Yuri.
My seventh year: A first class postage stamp cost .04.
My fifty seventh year: What in the hell do you need a stamp for?
In the summer of my seventh year: I lived with my mom and dad and I was, in retrospect, under the impression they love me and each other very much. Life was all in front of me - the prospects were limitless. I was wanted to be an astronomer. I naively thought I was a solitary individual - whole onto myself.
ReplyDeleteIn the summer of my fifty-eight year: Haven't spoke to mom in 4 years, dad in 35 years - they haven't spoken to each other in 45 years (last court date). Life is all in front of me - the prospects are limitless. I do occasional podcasts for 365 Days of Astronomy. I am completed by the best wife a man ever had.
That is a good now and then list. I grinned at the picture of Maynard, the steadfast pal of Dobie Gillis. The mention of gas prices caused me to remember the gas rationing in the mid '70s. I don't gripe about gas prices because I recall those dark days. They were literally dark because it was common for people to line up for gas before the stations were open, which often meant being in line before the sun was up.
ReplyDeleteBaseball cards were 5 cents a pack and came with a stick of gum left over from the days of the Truman administration. They weren't slabbed and graded, they were read and traded. Some people even put cards on their bike spokes, attached with a clothespin. Usually that was reserved for humpties who were lucky to be in the majors, let alone rate a card.
It was easier for families to attend baseball games then, the costs were not prohibitive. Beer prices at games now were commented on by a comedian who said that American sporting events were the only places where a person could drink $100 in beer and still be under the legal limit.
Stamps...I mail my rent checks and occasionally some other piece of mail. A stamp booklet lasts me quite a while.