1983, I moved out of my parents' house for the second time. Moved into an attached unit on Olive Street in Temple City, half-block west of Baldwin Avenue. The building is gone today, replaced with a new development located on Olive Court.
1984-1986, lived at 2006 South Baldwin, Arcadia, half- block north of Longden. I lived there with John Simpson, an old school buddy. And by old school buddy, I mean I knew him from the 6th grade in Mr. Gallagher's class. That Mr. Gallagher was terrific. It was he who sent me with two other students from our grade out to March Air Force Base in Riverside for a tour. It was there that we got to see German Shepherd attack dogs in training. It was exciting stuff as an 11-year-old. Guys in protective suits would meander out into the middle of a corral and someone else would let a single dog loose. And the dog would attack the man. Great stuff.
It was also Mr. Gallagher who played the acoustic guitar to the class. I loved it. He would sing the song "Cindy, Cindy." Here are the lyrics:
You ought to see my Cindy
She lives way down South
She's so sweet the honey bees,
Swarm around her mouth
Git along home Cindy, Cindy
Git along home Cindy, Cindy
Git along home Cindy, Cindy
I'll marry you some day
The first time that I saw her
She was standing in the door--
Her shoes and stockings in her hand
Her feet all over the floor
(Refrain)
I wish I was an apple
Hanging on a tree
And every time my Cindy'd pass
She'd take a bite of me.
And here is Ricky Nelson singing the same song:
In that same class of Mr. Gallagher's, I performed a pantomine to Petula Clark's "Downtown." I memorized the lines and rehearsed a routine at home. And I remember that Karen Dirks, who sat toward the front of the class, really enjoyed my animated performance.
Looking at these two songs from that period, it's clear how my generation really was on the tail end of the 50s. Yes, Ms. Clark and Ricky Nelson were both a product of the 60s, but their audience was really the kids who grew up in the 50s.
1987, When I left the 2006 Baldwin address, I moved into the front unit of a home at 2885 Nina Street in Pasadena. I found this unit by going to the resource center at Lake Avenue Congregational Church on Lake Avenue. I lived here for about a year.
1988, I moved to Pasadena on Villa Street. I rented a back unit from Julia Fanara and her family. My brother, Joe, and I lived here for only a few weeks. From here I went to live at Dan's units on Virgil in Los Angeles.
1989, from Dan's I moved to an apartment in Costa Mesa at 1887 Monrovia Avenue, Apt. #2, the ground floor apartment at the left of the stairs, while going to school at UC Irivne. I lived here with Catherine for one year before I moved to graduate housing on UC Irvine. If you were 25 or over, you qualified for graduate housing. So I shared a unit with a young Chinese man by the name of Eric. He was studying medicine. The second roommate's name was also Eric, who was a traffic engineer and who invited me to a party of his in Arcadia. He started making $40k as a traffic engineer while I began at $26k a year as a high school English teacher.
1990, I was still living in that graduate housing unit. But was soon joined by Catherine. It was pleasant enough. We used to walk around the circle, called Adobe Circle. I lived at 6461 Adobe Circle.
1993, I earn my Bachelor's degree in March 1992, and then spent one more year at Irvine getting my teaching credential. When I left the graduate housing on Adobe Circle in 1993, I had no place to live. I stayed ten days at the Hertz's home while they were on vacation in June 1993. From there I Cathy Fritchie let me stay at her place for one month while she was visiting her mother in Pennsylvania. From there I moved to San Gabriel and stayed there for 20 years to the month, September 1993 to September 2013.
2013, I stayed at Joe's for 6 months before finding my own place.
2014, I moved to Colorado for almost about 4 months where I drive a truck for Tye. Jacob was my supervisor but his yelling didn't sit well with me.
It is amazing how songs of an era can shape if not one's thinking, then at least one's attitude. I don't know how many times I'd heard "To Sir With Love" by Lulu. The song reminded me of James Farentino and my great cousin, Chuck Pullman and his wife, Sally, who to me were the sexy, dynamic couple of the 60s along with Chuck's brother, Jack Pullman and his wife Cathy. This song reminded me of their era. The 60s really dominated my imagination. I did listen to my dad's big band music and it was rhythmic and wonderful, but the symphonic, orchestral sounds of background violins of the 60's hits really lured me.
1984-1986, lived at 2006 South Baldwin, Arcadia, half- block north of Longden. I lived there with John Simpson, an old school buddy. And by old school buddy, I mean I knew him from the 6th grade in Mr. Gallagher's class. That Mr. Gallagher was terrific. It was he who sent me with two other students from our grade out to March Air Force Base in Riverside for a tour. It was there that we got to see German Shepherd attack dogs in training. It was exciting stuff as an 11-year-old. Guys in protective suits would meander out into the middle of a corral and someone else would let a single dog loose. And the dog would attack the man. Great stuff.
It was also Mr. Gallagher who played the acoustic guitar to the class. I loved it. He would sing the song "Cindy, Cindy." Here are the lyrics:
You ought to see my Cindy
She lives way down South
She's so sweet the honey bees,
Swarm around her mouth
Git along home Cindy, Cindy
Git along home Cindy, Cindy
Git along home Cindy, Cindy
I'll marry you some day
The first time that I saw her
She was standing in the door--
Her shoes and stockings in her hand
Her feet all over the floor
(Refrain)
I wish I was an apple
Hanging on a tree
And every time my Cindy'd pass
She'd take a bite of me.
And here is Ricky Nelson singing the same song:
In that same class of Mr. Gallagher's, I performed a pantomine to Petula Clark's "Downtown." I memorized the lines and rehearsed a routine at home. And I remember that Karen Dirks, who sat toward the front of the class, really enjoyed my animated performance.
Looking at these two songs from that period, it's clear how my generation really was on the tail end of the 50s. Yes, Ms. Clark and Ricky Nelson were both a product of the 60s, but their audience was really the kids who grew up in the 50s.
1987, When I left the 2006 Baldwin address, I moved into the front unit of a home at 2885 Nina Street in Pasadena. I found this unit by going to the resource center at Lake Avenue Congregational Church on Lake Avenue. I lived here for about a year.
1988, I moved to Pasadena on Villa Street. I rented a back unit from Julia Fanara and her family. My brother, Joe, and I lived here for only a few weeks. From here I went to live at Dan's units on Virgil in Los Angeles.
1989, from Dan's I moved to an apartment in Costa Mesa at 1887 Monrovia Avenue, Apt. #2, the ground floor apartment at the left of the stairs, while going to school at UC Irivne. I lived here with Catherine for one year before I moved to graduate housing on UC Irvine. If you were 25 or over, you qualified for graduate housing. So I shared a unit with a young Chinese man by the name of Eric. He was studying medicine. The second roommate's name was also Eric, who was a traffic engineer and who invited me to a party of his in Arcadia. He started making $40k as a traffic engineer while I began at $26k a year as a high school English teacher.
1990, I was still living in that graduate housing unit. But was soon joined by Catherine. It was pleasant enough. We used to walk around the circle, called Adobe Circle. I lived at 6461 Adobe Circle.
1993, I earn my Bachelor's degree in March 1992, and then spent one more year at Irvine getting my teaching credential. When I left the graduate housing on Adobe Circle in 1993, I had no place to live. I stayed ten days at the Hertz's home while they were on vacation in June 1993. From there I Cathy Fritchie let me stay at her place for one month while she was visiting her mother in Pennsylvania. From there I moved to San Gabriel and stayed there for 20 years to the month, September 1993 to September 2013.
2013, I stayed at Joe's for 6 months before finding my own place.
2014, I moved to Colorado for almost about 4 months where I drive a truck for Tye. Jacob was my supervisor but his yelling didn't sit well with me.
It is amazing how songs of an era can shape if not one's thinking, then at least one's attitude. I don't know how many times I'd heard "To Sir With Love" by Lulu. The song reminded me of James Farentino and my great cousin, Chuck Pullman and his wife, Sally, who to me were the sexy, dynamic couple of the 60s along with Chuck's brother, Jack Pullman and his wife Cathy. This song reminded me of their era. The 60s really dominated my imagination. I did listen to my dad's big band music and it was rhythmic and wonderful, but the symphonic, orchestral sounds of background violins of the 60's hits really lured me.
