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1980s pop sensations the Tom Tom Club once demanded of me - and possibly of other people - "What are words worth?"
And that's the feature in which you, the reader, get to decide just what shall be the day's topic for debate.
I don't think I need to tell you how far-ranging, wide-ranging and upwards and downwards ranging that debate might be.
Therefore, whatever it is you need to hear mankind's opinion about, make sure to register it in the comments section below, before the time has passed and the world moved on.
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30 comments:
Moving On!
Joe provided the idea for this post (so, credit where it's due! )
A song entitled “Move On”, is one of ABBA's hidden gems. “Like a roller in the ocean, life is motion, move on!”
In life, we all experience transitions. Big changes that happen.
Discussing your life later, you refer to events as either happening before the big transition, or after it.
Thus, transitions are dividing lines, like when teachers got you to “rule off”, before starting a new piece of work.
Bereavement & divorce are the biggest transitions. But moving house is a big transition, too. It also provides a chronological ( & sometimes geographical) dividing line.
Have you ever moved house, and what kind of change did it involve, in your life?
Phillip
Phillip, I'd already moved house twice before I was 3 years old. I was born in Islington (which was quite run-down in those days and not yet gentrified) but about 15 months later we moved to northern Scotland near Inverness and then after another year or so we moved to South Wales where I've lived ever since. Obviously I don't remember living in either London or Scotland so the move to Wales was very significant because that's where I grew up.
I've lived in my current house since June 2002 after living in a nearby flat for 10 years. I pass by my old flat every so often and I always find myself wondering about what it looks like inside nowadays - it only seems like yesterday since I lived there rather than 24 years ago!
Colin - A hamlet/village on a river, was my first house's location. However, I was a baby, at the time, so - like with yourself - my first house is unremembered!
My earliest memories start in a characterful, Victorian semi, with a brick garage (with extra bedroom above it) 'stuck on', as a recent addition. The house had yellow shutters (unusual in the UK ), and a white gate, comprising horizontal wooden planks, topped off with a diagonal plank. It also had a yellow kitchen, and a serving 'hatch' - very 70s! My family left that house in August 1977, about a month before my 8th birthday, moving to a two bedroom bungalow, as my mother thought my father would find the old house's ceilings too high to decorate, as he grew older! By this time, my sister had married, and lived in Sheffield. The family's move to a 2 bedroom property, nevertheless, rankled with her (an understatement! )
Many fab 'old house' memories. My father chopping down a tree, that seemed enormous, myself being so small! My sliding down the banister, copying 'Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home', then falling off halfway, and landing on my head! A kids' punch bag, located behind the backdoor window, bursting in the sun's magnified rays! I could go on...
In some years, little happens. But 1977 was a memorable year. Earlier in the year, my sister got married. Later, we visited HMS Tiger, with its futuristic looking Seacat missiles! 'The Spy Who loved Me' was on, at the cinema. My family got a new car - a white, Lada estate car. Then, of course, we moved house, in August! Shortly afterwards, September 77 saw another transition, going 'up' to junior school! Also, September saw a bumper Finningley Airshow, for the Silver Jubilee, with an F-111 ejecting afterburner flames, for a spectacular take off. And - not to be forgotten - in early November, Marvel comics, my greatest new passion, just got started! And, waiting for X-mas 1977, anticipating - half the pleasure! - my hoped for Superheroes Card Game, and Captain Britain Annual!
Phillip
Phillip, thanks for the topic. Sadly, I don't have any overly-memorable moments connected to house moving but I have discovered that you can sneakily "revisit" houses you used to live in, by using online property/rental websites and looking at the photos of the interiors that are posted on them when that house is up for sale or rent.
I suppose you could also turn up at the property, pretending to be a potential buyer or renter but I have decided that would be weird and obsessive behaviour.
Steve - I've imagined (only as a thought-experiment, mind you! ) doing the latter, myself. Like yourself, I decided it would seem weird & obsessive! More seriously, two women did exactly that, at our family's bungalow, many years ago. But maybe they were 'casing the joint', on a shy burglar's behalf !
Phillip
If moving house doesn't appeal, as a topic, I'll let it sink deep, deep down, into the depths of Speak Your Brain's collective unconscious. Instead, maybe memories/recollections of 1977 might be an easier topic! Any memories from 77, anybody?
Phillip
I moved house when living with my parents around 6 times. The ones that sticks out most were when my mum and dad bought their first house . We moved when I had just finished Primary school and I missed all my old pals before moving to a new secondary school.. The second was when we moved from that house to move to a small village that was to be Scotland's last new town. The new town never happened and from living in and around a large city like Glasgow to a village of around 4k folk with hardly a shop was jarring to me. As soon as I could get a job I moved to London (for 6 months training) at 19 years old, despite the fact my work put me up in a nice flat that was a sobering event for me living on my own in a massive ( and what seemed like) unfriendly city . I was happy to move back home to that we village when my training ended. Thankfully my parents moved to a nearby larger town a few months later.
Steve, you can also see old houses etc on Google maps as well as via estate agent websites
Paul - Training/a learning experience in two senses, then!
Phillip
Phillip, very much so. I learned a lot from that experience
Phillip, at the same time you were starting junior school I was starting secondary school which was an ex-grammar school that had become a comprehensive and it had only around 500 pupils so it was quite a small school. It was the tradition that on the first day of the new school year only the first-years and the sixth-formers attended and my very first day was on Wednesday, August 31st 1977 which was the only time I ever went to school in August. It's funny how back then the sixth-formers seemed like adults to me but now people of that age seem like children. In my first year we heard stories that the sixth-formers were taken on picnics but when I got to the sixth form in 1982 there weren't any picnics!
Another big memory of 1977 is of course the Queen's Silver Jubilee. We were supposed to have a street party in my cul-de-sac but it threatened rain so the party was transferred to the village hall instead which was very disappointing and nearly 50 years later it still irks me that we never got our street party!
In August 1977 we went to Burryport for a week and stayed in a caravan which was crawling with ants but we dealt with the problem by leaving out mugs overnight partly filled with a thick sugary solution which attracted the ants and trapped them. That mostly solved the problem!
On that holiday I bought two Marvel Treasury Editions, the first Thor TE from 1974 and the first Conan TE from 1975 - both still on sale in a seaside town in 1977!
Our family moved into a new home in 1970, actually on Christmas Eve! We had been living in a smaller one-story ranch house, but my parents needed more room so we moved to a new two-story. I still remember spending Christmas Eve day with a sitter, while my parents, Aunt and Uncle were busy moving everything out ot the house. Dad moved the Christmas tree into the new house overnight so it was there for us to wake up to on Christmas morning!
Memories of 1977- Standing in line to see "Star Wars" at the local mall cinema. Going to the Junior Prom in high school. Painting backdrops for my sister's ballet recital. Being thoroughly blown away by the Avengers/Marvel Two-in-One Annual crossover with Warlock and Captain Marvel. Listening to American Toop 40 every Sunday...
Colin - A high school's first day being only first years & Sixth Formers seems a good tradition, to me. Sixth Formers, being more benevolent, would make first years' entry to high school less intimidating. Did you sit the Eleven Plus? My first high school was an ex girls grammar school, which had converted to a comprehensive. Thus, when I entered, Upper Sixth was still all girls, despite all the school's other year groups being mixed, by then. I never saw any 77 Silver Jubilee street parties, whatsoever, in my area! Insects - ants included - fascinated me, from an early age (mosquitoes excepted, which I hate! )
Redartz - Ah, yes - being 'farmed out' on the day of the big move - yes, I remember it well! My brother & myself got sent to one of my mother's friends! When I saw the '77 Star Wars publicity photos, I thought the Stormtroopers were robots!
Phillip
I suppose your school being an 'ex grammar', the Eleven Plus was gone, by then! I must read closely!
Phillip
Charlie had a few different houses in his childhood.
7903 Locust St. in Gary, Indiana. An idyllic setting for a child growing up with Lake Michigan a block away, sandunes all around us. But if you went to the beach and looked to the left or the right a few miles down, you saw what literally was “the arsenal of democracy” to include the world’s largest steel mill at the time: U. S. Steel’s “Gary Works.”
When I was 12, In 1973, we were part of the so-called “white flight “leaving Gary and moved 20 Miles south to Crownpoint, Indiana. 967 Chippewa Drive. In our case, though, we actually needed a bigger home and moved from a three bedroom ranch to a four bedroom two-story house. My folks weren’t running away from “the blacks” per se.
The contrast between the two were stark: very ethnically diverse to all white; heavy industry to agriculture; the sound of waves and smell of wild grass exchanged for the sound of tractors and views of endless soy and corn fields; The kids were different too: lots of fights vs. everyone getting along; white kids spitting on me When I would wear my Boy Scout uniform to school in Gary to kids actively wearing their uniform and being proud about being in Scouts in Crown Point; more cut throat to more wholesome in many ways.
Anyhow that move was 53 years ago. I have lived other places quite nice like Schwabisch Hall, Germany which lives rent free constantly in my mind, as does Brive la Gaillarde, France. Yay!
Great question PHILLIPE!
Joe
Many of the Sixth Formers, at my school, looked like adult young women, to me, aged 11/12. School uniform wasn't required for Six Formers (a special privilege), at that school, marking them out. ( Yeti boots were a fashion, for those girls! ) However, more mature Sixth Formers (also adult-loooking? ) might have been told, by staff, to take first years under their wings. So, perhaps self-selective, in terms of which characters you noticed.
Phillip
Joe - In the UK, scouting happens after school, and at weekends (for those who choose to join the scouts.) How did you happen to wear your scout uniform to school?
Phillip
Well Scouts met almost right after school at the Den Mother’s house. There was no time to go home and change. So… wear the uniform to school. But I stopped with the neck-tie thingy since kids would grab it and wrack my neck/ head. Ah well. We are all born feral. Some advance from that state better than others lol.
Joe - Yes, it's the same the world over. At my school, they'd spit at you, for not speaking in a Yorkshire accent. If you arrived dressed as a scout, it would've been open season! One of the reasons UK high schools have school uniforms, is supposedly to prevent kids being picked on. Not that it works.
Phillip
Yes, Phillip, the 11-plus had ended by the time I reached 11.
We had a free school bus provided but it was a close thing - secondary school pupils had been expected to travel to school on the council's standard bus service (and pay a fare of course) up until shortly before I started at secondary school.
In 1977 was a pivotal year for me and for many iconic moments. On a personal level, I left secondary school and got my first ( gawd awful) job. By 1978 I was unemployed for a few months before getting another job.
1977 also saw the first issue of a new UK comic called 2000AD, I bought the first 3 issue from my local newsagents and thought it was rubbish and would never last . Marvel UK also released the monthly Savage Sword of Conan mag, which I loved.
Star Wars film was also released and I remember asking a girl out on a date to see it, she accepted the date but didn't want to see the film so we saw Annie Hall instead -a great choice but I was miffed I missed Star Wars and our relationship was thereby doomed .
And of course Punk happened, I loved the scene but was less enamoured by most of the music.
I remember my first movie date: Hair!
I liked it; i guess she did too. We went to Prom.
Never really saw her again after about 1980 when I briefly saw her at the university. One of the first computerized dating apps, that Purdue university was trying out for freshman, suggested the two of us should say hello to each other, lol.
But what was weird is around 30 years later I bumped into her in Washington DC of all places. she was coming into the elevator that I was exiting at a hotel and we recognized each other and said hello but then the door slam shut lol. I trotted down to the next level,which was the direction of travel and the wntry level, but by the time I got there, she was not to be found. Alas.
Excellent reminiscence there love those type of stories.. For my *Star Wars" date we went out for a few months and parted as friends. Next time I saw her was around 8 years ago in a local bar ,she looked very different as she had cut her very long hair very short. She was meeting friends before she went down south (somewhere in England) to get married. It has to be said she lovely lady, not for me, but a wee gem of a lassie, very kind.
Sorry, that should have read "..8 years later.." I e. 1985, not 8 years ago!
Buying my first house in 1986 was a big change. Moving out and having to cook and clean myself and having to watch spending big time when mortgage interest rates went up to 15% or whatever it was. Oh, and ending up in Lewes in East Sussex with parents a long way away in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.
After that, an upgrade in 1988, and then a move to Kent in 1992 were less transformational but the upgrade in 1999 that came with wife & kids was a life changer. Been there 27 years now and won't be moving - eventually you get to somewhere you're happy to spend the rest of your life. And I'm relieved I never have to pack up and move ever again.
In the UK, do you have the equivalent of what we call prom here in the United States??? Not to sound pedantic, but the high schools have a dance usually on late spring that they call prom. Traditionally it’s restricted only to seniors / 12th grade and juniors / 11th grade.
Like everything in today’s society, It is far more elaborate. Back then I rented a tuxedo for 25 bucks. And the girlfriend had a nice shoulders covered ankle length dress, which was typical for the late 70s.
Actually, as far as that goes, when we talk about freshman, sophomore, juniors, and seniors and ninth 10th and 11th and 12th grade does that make any sense to you guys in the UK?
Joe - In the UK, Proms didn't exist at all, when we were at school. They were just something referenced on US tv shows. However, in recent decades, UK schools have introduced Proms over here too, copying America! To me, it seems crazy, not fitting UK school culture, as I knew it ( the idea of "winners" & "losers" - Prom queen/king, etc - is anathema to UK school culture, as it was in the past. Winners & losers might covertly exist, but the school establishment endorsing them - never! ) Freshman, sophomore, etc aren't used over here. Except for the term 'fresher' - as in 'freshers' week', at universities, where different clubs, societies, etc tout for students, and other events happen, too.
Phillip
PHILLIP - i can only suggest googling something like “ the ‘truth’ about US high school Proms”. Designer clothing, luxury transportation, Expensive meal in a higher end setting. It’s out of control like most every thing in the US.
The setting for our children’s prom was a restaurant/hotel in downtown Chicago. It wasn’t a chicken beef and sausage dinner served in some church basement, lol
So the event can easily hit $1,000.
Of course this is nothing compared to what the Mexicans do which is the Quinceanera for their daughters turning 15. And this is for all Mexicans, not just a certain class. So,”Imagine these guys who do landscaping or painting or other labor related jobs around us, they have to cough up around $20,000 for this party in Chicago land. Not negotiable in their culture. I remember talking to a Mexican colleague of mine about it and he started crying, literally. He had three daughters. Though he was born in America and didn’t give a shit, his wife was from Mexico and said this event was non-negotiable. Or they would be getting divorced. He would’ve gone with the divorce, but the alimony would’ve killed him with four children.
Joe - In the UK, I've heard about girls getting their parents to hire limos, to "make an entrance", for proms. Then, other girls one-upping them, by hiring helicopters! But compared with what you've just told me, it's small potatoes! Sheesh!
Phillip
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