Old Apartment

For the last year I've lived in the suburbs.  At first it was a big change, but now that I am all settled in, I like it.  I've gotten rid of many of the 60s, 70s decorations I had, including most of my 8tracks.  I'm posting  photos of my old place, when it was still Suzy's 8-Track palace....OK, palace its NOT, but it was home for me and my cat Sammy and dog Aspen for several years.  I still miss most of my fun and funky items, but honestly, most of this stuff would just sit on a shelf gathering dust.  I'm trying to go for a more minimal look to my new home, but I thought I would share some images of how my old apartment used to look.  I was going for a late 60s - 70s vibe here.  Sadly, most of the stuff I've ended up either putting it up on Freecycle, Craigslist or carting it over to Goodwill.

 The only thing that I still have from this room is the bookcase and the mirror.

 Lots of orange going on here.  The kitchen table I got off Craigslist, and didn't have it very long, it scratched up pretty easily so I got rid of it.  One of the disadvantages of having a cat who won't stay off the table!

 The only thing I really miss from this room is that groovy swag lamp, also that painting was pretty cool too, even though it was rather beat up and had a warped frame.  I ended up putting it in the trash room of my building and one of the other tenants ended up taking it.  Glad to know that it is most likely hanging on someone's wall.

 An aerial view of the living room.  This was before I purchased the flokati rug. Geez, I'm embarassed by all those video tapes in my TV cabinet.

 My old little stereo and metal cabinet from Ikea.  I still have the big floor pillow, but everything else is gone now.

 Hot pink in the bathroom!  Not sure what look I was going for in the bathroom...but I do love hot pink!

I think I stole these images from Wallpaper of the 70s website and printed and framed them.  They make rather groovy artwork..no?

 Decals from Ikea that I slapped on the fridge.

 When I was a kid, I recall watching the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and loved her apartment!  She had a big "M" on her wall, and I thought, when I get my own place, I'm going to do the same...but with my initial....and I did!  I still have the umbrella stand and the vintage poster advertising a love-in for the Summer of Love, but just about everything else is gone...including the "S".

Sadly, this bookcase was badly damaged during my move, but at least I still have my records to console me.

Hard to believe that most of these are gone now.  Some guy who lives a few towns away from me purchased the whole lot!  At least I know that they went to someone who wants to repair and fix some of those broken players.   Actually, the Weltron did work...but needed some tweaking. The 2XL just stopped powering up at some point, but it did work when I first got it.  The Aquatron needed a new belt, but lit up when you plugged it in.

 Still have these paintings and pictures...the lamp is long gone though.

My incredibly groovy swag lamp....damn I'm gonna miss you!  That willow branch was a trash find, and I ended up giving it to the girl who moved into my apartment, because she liked it.  I told her she could have it and left it in the closet for her when I moved out.  Nice to think that its still there hanging on the wall.


Sadly, this plant died a month after the move, it didn't take to the change very nicely and all the leaves fell off. The smaller one on the top of the bookcase is thriving and now I need to get a larger pot for it.

I still have my orange chair and the white bookcase behind it and the paintings on the wall, but everything else is gone now.  I'm feeling a bit nostalgic looking at these photos...I can even see the ear of my Aspen on the right hand corner, he passed away a couple years ago.

Groovy little paintings that I got for $2 (for both).  I especially love the woman staring at you with intense eyes.

Replaced my white Ikea table with this groovy formica with faux wood top.  I really hated to let this table go, but didn't need it where I was moving to.  I still have the orange chairs and orange stool though.

 My dog Aspen blends in with the rug!  As you can see, I've rearranged the furniture in the room quite a bit.

 I don't think this set up lasted very long, the door would sometimes hit the chair...and it was really annoying!

My cat Sammy, checking out the table...It was a losing battle trying to keep him off table and countertops.  Sadly, he passed away about a year and a half ago.  Both he and Aspen were 15 1/2 years old and left me the same year (6 months apart).   Sammy was with me since he was barely 6 weeks old.  Aspen came to me when he was four and remained with me the rest of his life.

 This was Sammy's favorite chair.  This was taken a few months before he passed away.

 Still have this groovy chair and most of the pottery pictured.

Had this chair for a little while.  Got the chair for $20 and the cushion for $15 at Pier 1 on clearance.  Sadly, it wasn't super comfortable and I ended up putting it up on freecycle not long aferwards.

 Aspen sniffing things out in the back patio.

My sweet baby sleeping in the living room.  This was taken during his last year with me.  I still miss you sweetie!  At times I do miss my old apartment, especially because of my pets and the memories we had together, but I'm really enjoying where I'm living now too.  We have a lovely condo and I've done some painting and decorating.  Its definitely a more minimalist space, but I'm beginning to embrace having less "stuff" in my life.  Looking at these photos I'm amazed that I was able to cram in as much junk as I did!  

Goodbye 8-Tracks

Recently, while cleaning house I made a decision to get rid of most of my 8-Track Collection.  It was a difficult decision that I've wrestled with for the last few months, but I feel it was the right one.  The tapes were basically just sitting around gathering dust.  Had to really take a good look at my stuff and figure out why I was hanging onto things that I wasn't using...and sadly, I realized that I was hanging onto the 8tracks because they reminded me of my childhood.  About a month ago I put the collection up on Craigslist and waited to see if there was any interest.  After about a week, I received an email from one guy who seemed very interested, and when I sent him a sampling of some of the tapes I had, he seemed pretty happy.  When he came over to see the collection, he was impressed and happy to buy them from me.  Even though I'm sad to see many of the tapes go, I'm glad that they went to someone who will cherish them as much as I have.  I did manage to keep a few of my favorite tapes....mainly the k-tel, ronco compilations, some David Bowie, Stones and Donna Summer tapes.  I'm also down to one 8 track player too.  Perhaps one day I'll build up my collection again, but for now its just the tapes and players that I love.

Old photo of my tape collection.  At one time I had over 1,000 tapes in the collection!  Thats nuts!! There is no way I could ever listen to all of these tapes.  

This was taken a couple of years ago...all my 8 tracks and players in all their glory.

Old photo of my favorite 8 track players....sadly, they are all gone now...including the lava lamp.

This is the only player that I have left in my collection...the 8 track boombox.

I'm a little sad to see it all go, but seriously, not sure why I had all this stuff just cluttering up my life, especially when I wasn't even listening to the tapes anymore.  I'm still Suzy 8-Track...with just less 8-track tapes.

On this day in history.....

Richard M. Nixon resigned from the office of President of the United States.  He was the only President to step down from office.  I was just a kid at the time, and I sort of felt sorry, he had such a sad look to him.  I recall my mom having no sympathy for the guy, which was why I sort of felt bad for him.  To be on Mom's bad side was NOT a good thing.  In honor of this anniversary, I am posting a post totally devoted to the man.  Enjoy!

Below are some interesting things "Nixon"

The Nixon Mask:  While other presidents have had their faces sculpted in granite, cast in bronze, or even carved into the side of a mountain, Richard Nixon's face gave birth to the most popular political mask in history—a pop-culture phenomenon so enduring that it has its own Wikipedia entry.

Who can forget Dan Aykroyd's famous version of Nixon on Saturday Night Live.  Long before Tina Fey parodied Sarah Palin, Aykroyd paved the way for political satire on the show.  He didn't have to look like Nixon...and lets face it, he didn't, but he still managed to pull it off with his hilarious interpretation.  In one episode, Aykroyd, as Nixon, is promoting Nixon's new memoir, suggesting that since Americans didn't have him to kick around any more, they could buy the book and kick that instead: "Why, Pat's already on her fourth copy!"  Funny Stuff.

Dan Hedaya as Nixon from the film "Dick" does a wickedly funny version of the man.  He looks quite a bit like him too!  Nixon has been portrayed in many films, but Hedaya's version always has me cracking up....I bet you cant say the same for Anthony Hopkins performance in "Nixon".  

I used to have a major crush on Dustin Hoffman...isn't he cute?!

No discussion of Nixon's impact on pop culture would be complete without mentioning All The President's Men, which recreates the Washington Post investigation that led to the first resignation of a sitting president in American history. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman inspired multiple generations of idealistic future reporters as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who dig deeper and deeper into a third-rate burglary attempt until it becomes the scoop of the century and the gold standard for all political scandals.  Guess they didn't call him "Tricky Dick" for nothing!

Clancy

Back in 1972, my family adopted a spunky little beagle mix dog and named her Clancy.  An unusual name for a dog, but my mom is Irish and wanted a great Irish name for our dog.  Clancy turned out to be quite a handful when we were kids.  She was always trying to bolt out of the house and we would have to spend our afternoons trying to catch her.  She would run around the neighborhood like a lunatic! One time, Clancy bit my sister, and my parents almost got rid of the dog, but my sister and I pleaded with my parents not to do it because it was my sister's fault.  Apparently, my sister had gotten on the floor with Clancy and tried to take her food away while the dog was eating.  At first Clancy growled at her, but my sister kept provoking, until Clancy retaliated. It took a lot of pleading and begging, but eventually my parents gave in and we kept Clancy.  In 1976 my family decided to sell our home in the city and move to the suburbs.  Clancy handled the transition quite well, and was able to run around to her hearts content, and in the process, rid herself of much of her pent up energy.  She became a much calmer, milder Clancy not long after we moved, much to my parents relief.

Clancy hanging out in the backyard.

Clancy would stay with my grandparents when we went away on vacation.  My grandfather loved her and would spoil her constantly.  Staying at their home was like a vacation for her too because she was fed treats all the time.  My parents would always complain about how fat the dog would get when she stayed there.  I can recall one time when we returned from vacation and we had stopped by my grandparents house to pick her up.  I noticed that Clancy was constantly following my grandfather no matter where he went in the house.  When he got up to go into the kitchen, Clancy followed, and so did I.  As I peeked in the doorway I witnessed my grandfather reaching into a large jar filled with briny liquid filled with floating pickled pigs feet (my grandfather ate some weird things).  He then proceeded to toss one of the pigs feet in the air and Clancy jumped up and gobbled it down.  I started to laugh and my grandfather told me not to tell my parents, so I was happy to be "in" on the "secret" to Clancy's weight gain.

Clancy lived to the ripe old age of 15 1/2.  In the end she was blind, back legs were paralyzed and she had had a skin disorder that made her break out into scabs.  Once the scabs fell off she had bald patches where the hair never grew back.  She also had a huge scar on her back leg which initially had a huge tumor, but Clancy just ate it off!  It was the most disgusting thing ever, but when we took her to the vet, the vet was not surprised that she ate the tumor off, apparently he had seen it before, and assured us that it was nothing to be concerned about.  Towards the end, Clancy was quite sad looking. My parents could not bring themselves to let go because she was so feisty, dragging herself around the house while still maintaining a cheery disposition.  The decision finally came when Clancy began to give up.  She would just lay around the house, whining, it seemed like she was just giving up on life.  It was really hard to watch.  Once we found blood in her urine we were very concerned.  It was at this point we knew her time with us was coming to an end.  It was January 1987 when she finally left us.

This was taken when sometime in the early 80s.  She loved hanging out on our beds.

It was incredibly sad when Clancy passed away.  My whole family was sobbing over her before they took her to the vet for one last time.  It was one of the few times I saw my father cry.  Pets have always been huge part of the family in our home.  Later that same week my grandfather had passed away, and although we were incredibly sad for the loss, we knew that his spirit would be reunited with Clancy's since they were such good buddies.    

Summer of '81

This was a photo taken by my brother for a friend of his, who had a big crush on me.  They knocked on the door and surprise, when I opened it they snapped the photo.  My brother was supposed to give it to him when it was developed...but I have it now..HA HA!!  Oh Summer of '81 how I miss you!  Good times!

I love Summertime, but the Summer of '81 really stands out for me.  First of all, it was the summer before my Senior year in high school...it was also the summer where I had my braces removed (hooray!).  Thankfully they were removed the day after the last day of school of my junior year, and prior to my senior portrait for the yearbook, so I wouldn't eternally be remembered as brace face.  During that summer, me and my friend Michelle started hanging out with some neighborhood boys.  We met them while we were walking around the neighborhood and came upon a high school graduation party that June.  We ended up befriending them and started hanging out that summer.  They had gone to our high school, but we didn't really know them too well as they were a little older than us.  Needless to say, it was a magical summer, staying out late and just being a teenager. We basically just hung out in the woods near the train tracks and drank, smoked and talked, mostly about music, school and people we knew.  It was all in fun and we never bothered anyone.  I had crushes on all of the guys in our group at one time or another that summer.  During the day I worked at a Tennis Club, which explains my cute little tennis outfits in the photos, but at night, that was when we had fun!  Now that I'm much, much, much, much older, I look back on those days and remember the fun times of my youth. Recently, I found out that one of the guys from the group passed away back in 2004 at the age of 41.  I suppose that is why I'm getting so sentimental for those days when we were all young and alive and full of promise.  Drew, I know that you have been gone for a little while, but you have not been forgotten.  I must admit, when we met you and all the other guys at that party, I had a huge crush on you, but you probably never knew it.  Sad to hear that you are gone, but hopefully we can hang out in the afterlife and share good times again! 

I'm in the white shirt next to my sister in her Mill Creek t-shirt.  This was taken the Summer of '81 when we had a family reunion at my parent's house.  

Brian Jones

In memory of Brian Jones, founder member of the Rolling Stones, who died on the 3rd July 1969.  Such a tragic death, he was only 27.  The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure", and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse.  Original Stones bassist Bill Wyman stated about Jones: "...he formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs ... Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it - highly intelligent - and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away."  Such a tragedy!

OK Folks...

I know, the last few posts have been sad RIP's...but I swear...This post is a happy one!
It has been rumored that Mick Jagger will be the host of the season finale of SNL on May 19th!  I'm so excited to see Mick!  I wonder if Keith Richards will make an appearance?  Anyway, I'm totally excited about this!  To use an overused term...it will be EPIC!

Loving Keith's Crocodile Dundee hat!  Only he can make it look cool!

As you may know by reading my posts, the Stones are one of my favorite bands of all time.  What would really make this SUPER AWESOME is if the Stones were the musical guests....here's to wishful thinking.

  Damn it...I LOVE THESE GUYS!!!!!