Coming before bedtime!

Unseen by anyone other than yours truly (and possibly at least one of my brothers): Diary entries from the years 1980 to the present! * GASP! *

When I Was 17

Dear Loyal Reader,

Below is a blog, originally written last May for Live Journal, a blog-hosting Web site I decided not to use. I still plan pretty much the same concept here. However, since then, I’ve created Fidler Freelancing on Facebook and Fidler Forum on Blogspot. (You can still find me on Twitter@stuckinthe70s with comments a little more “off the cuff.” The site stuckinthe70s.com is undergoing a rebirth.)

 I’m currently also writing for three different publications. Therefore, this Blogger site will be where I put everything, including recent articles written for those publications: University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Three Rivers Edition and Eye On Independence magazine. I’m proud to be a part of all three! If you have any questions, comments, criticisms or ideas for a great story, please let me know on this blog. Thanks for your support. -- Julie M. Fidler, 18:11 3.9.11)

When I was 17 and my mom was the age I am now, she didn't seem very cool to me. When I was 13, she was still half-way cool. I consented to wear the matching, elastic-waisted, red, white and blue-striped flares at that point. I don't know why things changed or exactly when.

I'm sure it had something to do with boys, hormones, peer pressure, boys, getting my own car and boys. My diary entries took a drastic turn toward the “dark side” in late 1979 as I approached my 17th birthday.

I had been a sickly kid. At 13, I was diagnosed with a goiter (Learn about it here.). Mom and Dad pampered and spoiled me, thinking they were going to lose me. Earlier, when I was 3 or 4, I had a tumor removed from my right knee … in the doctor’s office without anesthesia. Sucked. Still remember it.

Finally, a month before my 18th birthday, I had 90 percent of my thyroid removed, which led to more spoiling. Anyway, I became pretty rotten for a couple of decades, and I wouldn’t really want to share most of those diaries with anyone. Live and learn, right?

So, what I am proposing to doing here at Live Journal is this: Define exactly what my generation is

So, stay tuned faithful reader for a new decade with Stuck in the ’70s.

Stay cool,
Julie

(Written May 3, 2010 near Mother’s Day)

Exactly Why I Should Be "GLEEk" of the Week

Exactly Why I Should Be Named “Gleek of the Week”

By Julie M. Fidler
Batesville, Arkansas, United States of Proud to be an American

I’m not your average, every day GLEEk. I’m pushing 50. I suffer through hot flashes and Empty Nest Syndrome. So, why in the world would I tune in to a “kids’ show”? I’ll tell ya.

As long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of pop culture here in America. Truly American culture. That’s why, in 1994, I started the website stuckinthe70s.com (currently undergoing a much hipper rebirth).

Aside from hosting my real-life ’70s teen diary, the site explores everything pop culture and kitsch from about 1967 to 1984. My passion.

Believe it or not, when I was in high school from 1977-1981, I was a bit of a geek. I know. Hard to fathom. In a day when it was cool to be into Cheap Trick, Kiss, Ozzy and the like, I proudly wore my Captain and Tennille shirt up and down the hallways. I was unstoppable.

I played alto saxophone in the middle school and junior high bands. Except in parades. Then … I lugged around a baritone sax bigger than I was almost. And, of course, our band always got behind the horses. I gave up the band in high school.

In junior high, I wanted to join the choir, but was deathly afraid of trying out. So, the choir teacher let me pair up with my friend, Dawn. Dawn had a “Rosemary Baby” haircut and freckles on her freckles. She was an alto, and she could sing.

The teacher grimaced through that and sent me to the alto section, where she kept telling me to lean in closer to Dawn and “listen.” I ended up playing the marimba for the Christmas choir concert, if that tells you anything.

So, when I read in TV Guide about this new Fox show, “Glee,” being such a big hit, I had to find out what the fuss was all about. That’s all it took.

Now, I identify with the cheer-leading coach and have a crush on the teacher. One hour of “Glee” serves as my time machine … just as my website does. I shut myself in with the show on a Tuesday night (for some reason, the old man doesn’t like it), and I become a student at McKinley.

Shoot! I bet Mr. Schu would even let me be in New Directions. And, if I could hang out with Kurt and Mercedes, I’d be in heaven. Artie is groovy, irresistible and we can safety dance anytime!

I really believe “Glee” has something to offer everyone. I think it is probably the best show on television that parents and kids can sit down and watch together. Then, talk about what you’ve seen. That’s what I did with my boys.

The generation depicted on the show is much like my own, but things are a heck of a lot harder these days, believe it or not. And, a lot of people my age don’t. I know because, as a single mom, raising two sons (now 18 and 22), it’s HARD!

“Glee” lets us all know … It’s OK to be born this way.

Dear TV Guide

I've never written to your magazine. I'm 48 and can't remember a week without TV Guide in the house.

Yes, I'm a GLEEk. Shhhhhh ....

I'm mainly a Sue fan. In some weird way, I identify with her. It seems to me, this season is all about filling out the characters, ie; Coach Beaste (LUV her now after the cowboy bar!)

Nancy says: "Shooting kids out of cannons? Trashing offices? No school would put up with that."

Say what? You tell me, Nancy, what school would put up with a bunch of dorks bustin' a move in MC Hammer pants to "Can't Touch Dis" in the library? It's a TV show.

On the other hand, there is something that might make me turn off "GLEE" ... More Gwyneth Paltrow. I find her unattractive, she sings worse than I do (and that's BAD) and she is lacking acting skills. So there. :)

Julie M. Fidler
Batesville, Arkansas, United States of Proud to be an American

Upcoming Blogs! Stay tuned ...

• Do not. I repeat. Do NOT call me a "Baby Boomer"
• Why I should be considered for "Gleek of the Week"
• Smoking: How I got to this point
• Why Earth SHOULD, in fact, revolve around me
• Nintendo Wii tips for old ladies
• How I discovered the Internets
• Schooling kids these days about "real" music
• "Are you still beating your wife" and other questions to ask politicians

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Old Photo Inspires Artist's Route 66 Exhibit

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Former convenience store manager studies criminal justice at UACCB