A trip down memory lane

[George 1978]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Hi George, checking out your profile i see you list your occupation as writer, if it's not being too nosey can i ask if this is how you earn a living? are you published? The reason i ask is because again my son Simon is a prolific writer in a non professional capacity. He writes articles on several websites but is struggling to find paid work in the sector.
The writers domain is ofcourse quite a lonely one with little interaction with others, if i am wrong in this assumption i am happy to be corrected

The writing is a hobby and not an occupation, although I would like to branch out so that I could do that for a living - I have put on my online pages a lot of things I have written about and I have approached a few publishers in the past with some of my work and not heard from them - finding a publisher which is relevant and would take an interest is a job in itself. However, last week I emailed around three or four publishers with something that I have done on and off over the past four years - they responded and took an interest. I am not going to expect it to be published (in fact I would be amazed and shocked if they said that they would), but I do feel that I am articulate enough and talented to be recognised by someone - it's just the case of "right place, right time". I am sure that as you can see on this forum (especially the opening gambits on the threads that I start on here) that the way I write is unique to myself as a DYR member, I am sure you would agree. I have always said that to a good writer, a dictionary is a writer's toybox with so many words to use and play around with. Sometimes I do think "why bother?" if no one expresses an interest at the end of the day .

I would like to write things as a living, in other words a way of paying the bills instead of the way that it happens at the moment, but it is difficult making people realise that one exists. I was even thinking of writing a retrospective of my life as it was my 40th birthday recently, but the question that I always came up with is "where does one begin with something like that? - one has to start somewhere". When I was younger, I always thought that if one knew their ABCs and found their way around the pages of a dictionary then one would be more than halfway there. Even in my English reports at school the teacher said that "he expresses himself as a free writer" which is true - I knew that the difference between English Language and English Literature was more than apparent back then even though I didn't originally. It may look easy but it isn't.

[staffslad]

Re: A trip down memory lane

A few random memories....

Friday night used to be my mom's bingo and beetle night at our local working men's club. She went with our next door neighbour and I also went occasionally when I got older. I remember she won this big early 70s white table lamp and a small cheap AM radio. I had that radio for many years--well into the 80s. When mom was at bingo I got to stay up late and watch the then traditional friday night horror film. That was when I first saw Brides of Dracula on our old B/W TV and it scared me to death, particularly when the old servant is coaxing the vampire girl out of her grave.

When I had to go to see my GP there was no making appointments; you just turned up and waited for your turn--first come, first served. I remember he had one of those date stamps with the little rollers to adjust the date. He would have to stamp the prescription. He would always position the stamp on the prescription then let me press it down to make the mark. Also, no tablets in nice bubble packs with instruction sheets. The chemist would just put them in a small tablet bottle with a screw on top that was certainly not childproof. No expiry dates either. I used to get very bad hayfever with made me wheeze like I had been on 80 a day for 40 years. The doctor would prescribe Ephadrine and it really worked well. I believe it was discontinued many years ago. As there were no expiry dates I was taking those thing years and years after we had gotten them from the chemist as we would just put the ones left over with new ones.

Those Ephadrine tablets tasted awful. I can still taste them now and even the thought still makes me shiver. What was worse was that I just couldn't take tablets with water. My mom would cut a Mars bar in half and stuff the tablet inside. The problem is of course that it is so obvious where in the bar that foul tablet is lurking, and I always seemed to accidentally chew the tablet. If anyone has had to take those big one per week malaria prevention tablets then you will know what I mean about foulness--but I think those little Ephadrines had them beat for sheer vileness.

[staffslad]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I used to attend the occasional youth club when a teenager. It was a good place to at least be able to look at girls, even if you didn't stand much of a chance. One used to put on a monthly disco, which was quite well attended, and would have reasonably decent DJs--probably amateurs but not bad. Churches often ran youth clubs, but I didn't often attend those. They tended to be run by a trendy curate. Don't get me wrong, they were well meaning and decent guys, but I always felt a bit awkward, like having to be on your best behaviour when your posh aunt visits. I was in the Scouts for a few years, though I never really considered that to be a youth club.

[tex]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I do get a monthly magazine posted to my address which lists things that happen locally, and I do see things like mentioned from time to time - I had to admit that when I first read "self confidence" I nearly thought it said "self defence" which would have also come in handy as well. Things can get so bad that there is the instance that there happens to be a local group for people who have anxiety, but the irony is that my own anxiety is preventing me from attending - I do feel that I lose all round at times.

I hope that one day things will happen positively and that I will meet someone, and the horizons will open up for me at long last - the end of the tunnel is a few miles away for me yet however.

Hi George, checking out your profile i see you list your occupation as writer, if it's not being too nosey can i ask if this is how you earn a living? are you published? The reason i ask is because again my son Simon is a prolific writer in a non professional capacity. He writes articles on several websites but is struggling to find paid work in the sector.
The writers domain is ofcourse quite a lonely one with little interaction with others, if i am wrong in this assumption i am happy to be corrected

[Donald the Great]

Re: A trip down memory lane

George have you ever tried self confidence classes? I cant advise for or against them as i have no experience of them, however i can't see what harm it might do. I have had this conversation with my son who actually chooses to have no friends or a girlfriend and is happy in his own company. He is intelligent and not at all withdrawn but simply chooses not to mix with others so i guess this might be social phobia as you like to describe it, he will happily interact on facebook or by text but will always avoid face to face encounters where possible.

My son is also not all that sociable.. not with his parents or us oldies. Not so sure he has all that many friends either. As for girlfriends.. he says he has plenty of them. So I ask him "Marc when are you going to settle down and give mum and I grand kids?" He tells me he is fussy and has not yet met the girl who melts his heart . Bloody hell. I will be in an old folks home by the time he is ready to make a family.

[George 1978]

Re: A trip down memory lane

George have you ever tried self confidence classes? I cant advise for or against them as i have no experience of them, however i can't see what harm it might do. I have had this conversation with my son who actually chooses to have no friends or a girlfriend and is happy in his own company. He is intelligent and not at all withdrawn but simply chooses not to mix with others so i guess this might be social phobia as you like to describe it, he will happily interact on facebook or by text but will always avoid face to face encounters where possible.

I do get a monthly magazine posted to my address which lists things that happen locally, and I do see things like mentioned from time to time - I had to admit that when I first read "self confidence" I nearly thought it said "self defence" which would have also come in handy as well. Things can get so bad that there is the instance that there happens to be a local group for people who have anxiety, but the irony is that my own anxiety is preventing me from attending - I do feel that I lose all round at times.

I hope that one day things will happen positively and that I will meet someone, and the horizons will open up for me at long last - the end of the tunnel is a few miles away for me yet however.

[tex]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Back in the mid 1990s I was thinking of going to a Youth Club a few miles away from where I lived in order to help increase my social skills (and perhaps, even optimistically even get a girlfriend if I played my cards right) at the age of around 17-18, but alas, my social phobia got the better of me and over 20 years on, I have felt the brunt of my difficulties even now - I did feel like a gatecrasher to be honest with no reason to be there. I still feel like that now - I don't need to mention the two unsuccessful stints that I had with going Speed Dating in the last few years in order to give an example of that.

George have you ever tried self confidence classes? I cant advise for or against them as i have no experience of them, however i can't see what harm it might do. I have had this conversation with my son who actually chooses to have no friends or a girlfriend and is happy in his own company. He is intelligent and not at all withdrawn but simply chooses not to mix with others so i guess this might be social phobia as you like to describe it, he will happily interact on facebook or by text but will always avoid face to face encounters where possible.

[George 1978]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Back in the mid 1990s I was thinking of going to a Youth Club a few miles away from where I lived in order to help increase my social skills (and perhaps, even optimistically even get a girlfriend if I played my cards right) at the age of around 17-18, but alas, my social phobia got the better of me and over 20 years on, I have felt the brunt of my difficulties even now - I did feel like a gatecrasher to be honest with no reason to be there. I still feel like that now - I don't need to mention the two unsuccessful stints that I had with going Speed Dating in the last few years in order to give an example of that.

[Donald the Great]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Ditto I never went to one of these youth clubs. I was an Eagle Scout for a year tho. You know "be prepared" and all that. Enjoyed going into the bush and doing assorted bush survival things. I was also a Military Cadet in my last 2 years of high school. This was great fun. Dressing up like a soldier , having parades and the like. Reckon the other kids looked up to us Cadets. The best part was the weekend "bivouacs". These were tantamount to army games..where we camped out and conducted small battles between each other.

[Mulletino]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I never went to a regular "youth Club" but had popped into a couple of different ones as a teen. I remember one in a church hall that had Pong machines set up on TVs to play and a pool table. There was a tuck shop too. That might have been a Boy's Brigade one as it was in the hall attached to the church where I went to Anchor Boys and Boy's Brigade as a younger kid (i'd stopped going by my teens). TBH the best thing about those were that my parents would take us to the newsagent round the corner after and we'd get sweets, I remember getting some Kojak Chewing gum and stickers there. Later on i recall going in there and buying some of those computer magazines which just contained games listings and you typed the (usually incorrect) code in yourself, although some also had a tape on the front with the games pre-coded.

[tex]

Re: A trip down memory lane

YOUTH CLUBS AS A KID.
So who joined a youth club when they were young?..Pretty much a thing of the past these days youth clubs were primarily a way of keeping kids off the streets and out of trouble. mainly a product of the 70s/80s there are few if any remaining probably because kids rarely leave there bedrooms.
I was more into making my own fun and getting up to mischief than being monitored by the well meaning volunteers that ran these establishments, i did join one in the early 70s but it was more about education than having fun with art classes and joinery type activities, i quit pretty soon after and joined the Boys brigade which was cool and which taught discipline and respect at an early age....plus had a cool uniform

[Donald the Great]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Any ideas for another subject fellars?

[tex]

Re: A trip down memory lane

They should change the law to fireworks on 5th November only ( plus New Years Eve) .. then no decorations or adverts for Christmas until the 1st day of December .

Sorted


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seconded

[Zincubus]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Ok so it is now 15th october and already i am hearing fireworks at night, seems everything is starting sooner and sooner. We now have christmas cards, fireworks and pumpkins all on sale at the same time!...bring on the hot cross buns.

They should change the law to fireworks on 5th November only ( plus New Years Eve) .. then no decorations or adverts for Christmas until the 1st day of December .

Sorted


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[Mulletino]

Re: A trip down memory lane

TRICK OR TREAT/PENNY FOR THE GUY?
C'mon, you know you did it right? Knocking on doors hand outstretched for sweets or even better cash! It was of course legalised blackmail, give us some swizzels or the car gets it (perhaps that was just in Salford).Also stuffing old newspapers into some old clothes and using a balloon for a head, "penny for the guy mister?" sitting outside the local boozer like some modern day Oliver twist. great days indeed!!

It always irks me that people have this wrong, the idea is that the householder is supposed to either play a trick on you or give you a treat, not the "blackmail" way that people seem to think. I think the perfect answer to both is frozen grapes in boiled sweet wrappers.

As for Xmas, yeah, it would be unheard of to have xmas stuff in the shops before december! Just as we always only had "January Sales", that would sometimes start on Boxing Day. I remember saving all my birthday and xmas money for the sales to go and buy the Atari VCS games that were reduced then as a kid, still have them.