Dec 17 - Dinner at home with Mom, Dad, Chuck**

Sunday, December 17, 1972 - Page 352
LOCATION: Newport Beach

12:30 PM
I woke up about 11:00. Also about 11:00 Chunk & Joe came by to go paddling. They're out there now. The day is cloudy and cold, as was yesterday. About ten minutes ago, with a space cleared in the cabaña, mom started moving the assembled garment rack, full of clothes and hangers, from the living room to the cabaña. 'Twas too big so she enlisted my hesitant aid. Going thru the narrow hallway the garment bag ripped and mom gave up exasperated. I took all the clothes & hangers off, disassembled it, moved it to the cabaña, and set it up. Then I put the clothes back on. Now she's in there trying to tape the thin plastic garment bag.

Shots of our trailer in 1973 after the cabaña was removed. The old canvas structure under the awning had contained a bunk bed and tons of miscellaneous junk. 

(12:00 AM 12/19/1972)
I ended up repairing the bag with tape. Chunk & Winnie came over -- oh, before that Chunk & Joe came over, they paddled around, then left. Mom invited Chunk to dinner, so he came back a few hours later with groceries he & Winnie had brought (he donated a couple artichokes to the meal) then he went away to drive Winnie someplace. Dad arrived as they were leaving, and he stuck around for a few hours. Chunk returned an hour or two later, then he, me, Dad & Mom had dinner (Chicken breasts without bones).

Chunk is currently waging a war against Jesus Freaks and I whipped up a few statistics for him (i.e. or e.g., there are 1 1/2 billion people in the world who don't know who Christ is, 3 communist documents outsell the Bible, more people have heard of Lenin than Christ, Christ was born in 4 B.C., not 1 A.D., his name wasn't even Jesus, it was really Yeshua ben Yosef, etc.)

He & mom went to see a ski movie, and Dad left shortly thereafter. I watched T.V. and did research. Chunk & Mom returned at 10:15 -- Chunk took his statistics & groceries & left.

TOMORROW: Denizens of public transportation

Dec 16 - A day of bad writing and bad drawing

Saturday, December 16, 1972 - Page 351
LOCATION: Newport Beach

(12:00 PM 12/17/1972)
Woke up 'bout 11:00. Didn't do much worthwhile. I wrote my last weeks' notes into my more organized notebooks but was disheartened by their lack of literary finesse so I didn't do anymore work on T.F. I didn't feel like doing anything at all so I drew a picture. Yesterday (I mean Thursday) the new Time/Life Emergence of Man book came and it had a cute little photo of Jane Goodall with a chimp looking under her shirt. I thought it was symbolic of something, so I rendered it on pencil & paper, but it came out lousy. I need good quality, big artistic paper and the right equipment -- 'till then I can't go too far artistic-wise.

Since December 5, Harry S. Truman has been in the news -- he's been dying for 11 days but isn't dead yet [Truman eventually died on December 26]. Apollo XVII is Earthbound. The Viet Nam war is still lolling on, with Kissinger and Nixon running out of excuses to explain it. About 6:30 L&M came by for more of their X-mas decorations. They left about 7:15.

I watched the usual T.V. shows for Saturday ("All In the Family," "Bridget Loves Bernie," "Mary Tyler Moore," "Bob Newhart," that's it, ending at 10:00). Mom wanted her garment rack assembled that night, but I din't want to do it because there was no place for it yet in the cabaña. She was going to clear a place tomorrow, but wanted it built tonight to move it in later. More on that later. I got to 180 in "Catch-22" and got to sleep about 12:30 as usual.

TOMORROW: Dinner at home with Mom, Dad & Chuck

Dec 09 - Decided I am a psychological mess

Saturday, December 9, 1972 - Page 344
LOCATION: Newport Beach

6:30 PM
I finally caught up. The last week or so has not been a feat of memory -- I din't feel like writing in this book so I just jotted down a bunch of notes for the days. I was still damned depressed, deciding I was a psychological mess, not as well adjusted as some people I know (i.e. Tim Hourigan, or Larry Brockway), nor as screwed up as others (i.e. Matt Gold, or Greg Langevin).

I got a letter from Greg the other day -- he's got a new partner for his criminal deeds -- his previous partner was shot to death in Louisville. He's an extremely right wing radical now but still a good guy, in a Mike McEvers psychopathic sort of way (more neurotic than psycho actually). I got up at noon today. Mike & Laramée dropped by at about 5:00 to chat and take some X-mas decorations from their stored boxes in the cabaña. Can't say much more for today -- got a form letter from the Shrine of the Nativity -- old Gill has some new tours whipped up.

One of them I may take advantage of. The letter's attached and you can pro'ly guess which tour I'll be on. It'll be a good way to get to Europe methinks. Okay -- more remains to be written about various thinks but I won't bother. I'll just sign off. --
OFF

TOMORROW: Just another boring day...

Nov 29 - Newspaper: Trailer park violations**

Wednesday, November 29, 1972 - Page 334

LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

UPDATE FROM 11/29/2013: Well how about that? For the first time, I calculated my earnings at the Ivanhoe from this pay slip, and it turns out I was making $1.75 per hour. Between Feb 1968 & March 1974, California minimum wage was $1.65 (info)

(2:30 PM 12/9/1972)

Left for work at 7:00 A.M. Twas a beauteous day, very windy, hence clear. Finished rooms 124, 125, & 126, then started 127, 128, & 129. Did as little as possible but Mike thought I was busy. Quit work at five and got home by 7:00 P.M. Watched T.V. alot. Now, Eye Sore Park has been getting publicity along with some other trailer parks in O.C. To fill you in, here's the newspaper clipping about the situation.

If you can't read the article, here is the important part:
Orange Coast Edition  DAILY PILOT
Orange County, California -- Tuesday, November 28, 1972 -- Ten Cents

NEWPORT WARNING -- 6 Trailer Parks Get 5-day Notice
by L. PETER KRIEG

Of the Daily Pilot Staff

Six Newport Beach trailer parks that city officials say have made no attempt to meet health and safety codes today were given five days to meet all state standards or tell it to the judge.

"We have posted six trailer courts with notices declaring them to be public nuisances," said Building Supervisor Robert Fowler. "If they don't make all repairs within five days, we will start filing legal action."

The six parks are Lee Haven Trailer Park, 2940 W. Coast Highway; Deluxe Trailer Park, 2912 W. Coast Highway; [Here's mine:] Bay Shore Trailer Park, 112 W. Coast Highway; Lido Village, 700 Lido Park Drive; Ebb Tide Mobile Home Park, 1560 Placentia Ave., and Beach and Bay Mobile Home Park, 7204 W. Coast Highway.

Fowler said the owners and managers of the parks posted were the only ones who refused to cooperate with the recent city council-initiated crackdown on all trailer parks within Newport Beach...

There are nearly 300 trailers in the six parks given notice this morning, Fowler said. Bay Shore Park [that's ours again, which I fondly called Eye Sore Park] at the corner of Dover Drive and W. Coast Highway is the most populous, with 100 trailers.

Councilman Richard Croul indicated he felt the actions taken by the building division may be harsh. "How can we justify this?" he said. "There are a lot of places in the city that encroach on the public right of way (one of Fowler's complaints about the trailers). We let other places stand that were built without a building permit," Croul said, noting that Fowler had also cited the erection of dozens of illegal cabanas in the parks. [Yes, we had an illegal cabaña for storage of our extra junk and it was truly an eye sore]

Fowler explained that the city is enforcing state laws and cannot be arbitrary.

It got mom pretty disturbed but I assumed it was just a political maneuver that would lose impetus, or at least take a long time before any serious action was taken. So far (it's December 9, Saturday), I've been right. From the date on this page to now, it has been learned that Eye Sore Park's property lease runs out about May, then the Irvine Company, who wants the land for development, can kick us out with 90 days notice. So we've still got 6 months to go, but I pro'ly won't be here when it all happens.

My abode at Eye Sore Park. Chuck is at the left leaning on my '63 Chrysler Imperial, and that's me wearing the leather hat I got in Rapid City. This is a 1973 photo taken after the canvas cabaña (it was under the awning) was cleaned up and removed to comply with city regulations.

TOMORROW: Trailer park crisis explodes

Sep 04 - Reading "The Exorcist"

Monday, September 4, 1972 - Page 248
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

LABORE DAY

10:00 PM
Got up around noon when Dad came over with my dictionary (The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, College Edition, that I got on Christmas, '69), Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition, and the "#1 Bestseller, shocker of the year" The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty (LARRY IN CHIC SAID I SHOULD READ IT). I'm on page 50 of it now.

1971 First Edition cover

Today was hot & humid. I did a bit more organization of general garbage in my room. The ants are gone, except for an occasional errant mote who gets squashed, having failed to heed my warnings. Yesterday, I put the big TV set from the Sarason's, and the pool table in the cabaña, so now the place is packed inside, tidy outside. Something seems to be lacking in this entry -- I was about to end it, but instead I'll find something thoughtful --- ooh, a good song on the gradio. Chicago, "Saturday, In The Park." First heard it at the Latkas.

From the MTV Archives on YouTube

A lot of good songs came out then. Brings back memories. I should travel more. Enough of that, pardon me whilst I find something thoughtful...

'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:
Hither and Thither moves, and mates, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.

TOMORROW: An ambitious exercise routine

Jun 26 - Finishing "The Probability Man"

Monday, June 26, 1972 - Page 178
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

4:00 PM
Got up about 11:00 and went out to tan my hide again. Got up to 141 in "The Probability Man." I'll be flying to S.D. [South Dakota] early Fri morning. --

Cover painting by Frank Kelly Freas

(1:34 AM 6/27/1972)
Finished the Probability man. Tidied up the cabaña a bit as per Mom's request, and likewise, put up the new towel rack in the bathroom. Played poker with mom till 'round 10:30 -- then I finished reading the Prob. Man and retired by 1:00. -- Thend.

May 06 - Chuck & I go paddling in rough seas**

Saturday, May 6, 1972 - Page 127
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

11:30 PM
Chunk called at about 10:00 A.M. and said we could go out in a canoe for Laguna at two o'clock. He's got a week off cause there's no work at his place of employment -- he's a ditch digger and there aren't any more ditches to be dug. So at one thirty he came over (prior to that I almost finished reading "The Sirens of Titan" -- I was on page 308, of a 319 page book. I'll finish it before I go to sleep tonight).

Mom has been doing extensive house cleaning, and Chunk & I had to remove the big white cabinet from behind the Cabaña. We couldn't fit it in the trashcan so we set it outside like an out house. So mom drove me & Chunk to the Sea Scout Base where he procured an aluminum canoe and paddles. We didn't make it to Laguna. We didn't even try -- I was busy learning how to paddle a canoe.

We got out into the open sea among the liquid mountains and valleys of the ocean, and somehow we managed to stay upright. Some guy in a sailboat with two or three other people, and a beer in his hand, and a mustache under his nose, recognized me and verbalized several greetings. It must've been Matt. I was in no condition to recognize anybody among those waves. It was a rough sea, and an overcast day but the traffic in the bay was heavy. We paddled till 7:30, twice passing Eyesore Park (coming and going) so we stopped there twice.

Afterwards, Mom and I went to the Orange Drive-in to see "Buck & the Preacher" (Sidney Potter & Belafonte). I'm exhausted and have a headache. -- 11:41:35 -- FINIS

Apr 19 - Car problems when Dad visits

Wednesday, April 19, 1972 - Page 110
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

11:02:54 PM
Got a letter today from Tom Hildebrand of Bethlehem, SD. He sent 23 photographs, 3 of them of Matt & Me in South Dakota one hundred days ago, the rest of Europe. Some of the pictures are on page 10 1/2 (me in Bethlehem) [see January 10] and 10 3/4 (Europe from a year ago) [see below].

It was a sunny day, and I considered going out to tan my hide, but there were some clouds. The clouds moved in and burst, dropping a steady shower for about a half hour. During that time, dad appeared to give me $5, and mom $20, then he and me went to eat at Jack in the Box, and the Audi overheated. The fan wasn't working so he drove to the Volkswagen place, and they'll fix it for him tomorrow -- till then, it'll stay cool if he doesn't idle it. We came home, ate, and he left at about 1:30 or 2:00. I did some more organizing, wrote a letter to Tom and sent $15.00 for the Bible they're selling. The $15 was in the form of a check from Mom's bank.

The Apollo 16 (Sweet Sixteen) is orbiting the moon, and they're landing tomorrow. I watched a lot of T.V. today (Adam 12, Mystery Movie: McMillan & Wife, and Night Gallery). Got a lot of dishes dirty. Laboriously brought mom's desk into the living room from the cabaña via the porch since the hall was too narrow, or the desk was too wide. Tis now 11:16:15 P.M. Tha's all.

Apr 17 - Kern River excursion, Part 2**

Monday, April 17, 1972 - Page 108
LOCATION: Kernville & Newport Beach, California

Note on the Back Written by Mom:
Me & my son, Charles, on Kern R., Apr 23, 1974

[This is a continuation from the previous page describing a river trip on Sunday, April 16]
...about 35 seconds. Cliff, though weaker, went through faster and cleaner than Chunk. They both got tired and went to Upper Ewings to practice. I found a small snake, pro'ly a garter snake. There were also thousands of lizards that darted around when you walked through bushes and rocks. I stayed on the big rock at the end of Ewings soaking sun, and Chunk and Cliff returned for a few more timed slalom runs. Cliff left, and Bob got in the Musky Mongoose to learn how to do the Eskimo roll with Chunk assisting, and me taking pictures with Bob's camera. He gave up after about a dozen attempts.

Chuck, at right, with paddling friends at the Kern, 1968

Then I got Glenn's boat (Chunk wasn't so wary of me using it) and Chunk & I went to Upper Ewings to run it. I went through, with Chunk following, without flipping, just letting the water carry me along. It was easy, so I decided to do it again -- and that time the water carried me into a bunch of rocks at the side where I stayed. I pulled myself out, and continued down stream BACKWARDS, and almost made it but ran into a big rock with a strong current that succeeded in flipping me. So I tried again, got hung up in the same place, went down backwards, and got flipped by the same rapid, but at a point higher up this time. I decided not to give it another try. The score, then, was 4 flips for me, 3 for Bob. I won!

This art by Lu Lyda shows Chuck with a partner in a slalom run, 1969

We started packing for the trip home, putting Patch & Glenn's kayak on the Barracuda. Left by 2:30. Traffic was heavy but fast enough, got home at 7:00, dropping Bob off at his place on Lido Isle. The moon had a bright object on the top of its crescent. Chunk said he din't know there was a star there, and I knowingly, guessingly said it was Venus. My theory proved correct when the radio mentioned having a lot of calls from people who thought it was Apollo XVI (impossible to see, of course). They said Venus got that close to the Moon twice a year. Chunk and I reached home, and unpacked the boats and car. Chunk stayed a few minutes to eat butter cups (Reeses) and talk. Taco has been busy -- a dead gopher was in the cabaña, and there was a gopher's head on my window sill. In both locations the cat had thrown up, so maybe she won't eat them any more.

KFI's fiftieth anniversary was on and I listened to that till midnight, after reading the comics, eating candy & a T.V. dinner. My knee, which had bled some after the last Ewing's flip, hurt and gave me a limp. My feet which had been cut up in back bay, were as painful as ever (I have ten big cuts and a dozen minor nicks and slices on both feet). I slept with Vitamin E on my feet, with socks over them to keep it from staining the bed.

MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1972 -- My leg is okay now, and my feet itch a little but are fairly okay. I took a bath after waking up at 9:40 A.M. Mom came by while I was walking home after going for the mail (there was none), because she forgot her close-up glasses. That was at noon. It is now 1:23:13 P.M. -- Finis, till next entry 2-day.

11:21:31 PM
Did dishes today while watching T.V. Mom went out for her night with the girls at about 6:00. Tis now 11:22:59 P.M. -- Tha's all.

P.S. -- I'm getting my room cleaned up -- got magazines, books, & paperbacks where they belong. Will get them organized soon. Double finis.