Friday, February 18, 2011

Vintage Doodly Doings

My home office/craft room/den of terror is full of boxes and piles and such.  The other day, I said to myself, "Christine, how about going through some of your sketch books--you know, the ones you've carried around with you since the 70's."  They were stuffed under 20 years' worth of wall calendars (and why I've saved THEM I'll never even begin to fathom, since it's my dayplanners from the 70's that have all the good X-rated memories stuff.  Something I will NOT post about:  Dad has been reading my 2009 blog book and did mention that he was not aware I had dated black pimps). 

One thing I used to doodle ALOT was women's heads, every single one of them facing left.  I did try to draw them facing right but it was impossible, almost like I needed to draw them with my left hand (and I'm right handed). 

(Just to test my theory, I did a quick right-facing sketch with my left hand.  I also tried doing right-facing with my right hand but it turned out about the same). 



Whenever I got ahold of a fine point pen these little cottages would appear:


Now for something different:  I fancied myself a cartoonist and created Friar Puck!  The idea was to come up with witty leftist turns on traditional homilies.  Since I have zero knowledge of homilies, however, the good Friar never went further, which of course left the witty leftist cartoon field wide open for that Gary Trudeau person.



ATTENTION!  WARNING, WILL ROBINSON!  If you suffer from coulrophobia, do not go any further!

Oh, ok, you're NOT afraid of clowns.  Goody!  Here are some clowny doodles!


This one's my favorite, since NO ONE could be afraid of him.  He's so cute, and just a bit sad.
Also in my sketchbook was what is apparently a list of bills for the month of July.  I would say this was sometime in the mid-70's.  How do I know that?  I lived in San Francisco and the rent for my one bedroom apartment was freaking $250!!!!  And $8 for gas & electric!  And $10 to pay a ticket I got when I was driving to the mall in Daly City and nearly plowed into a police car.  He was NOT amused and no amount of eyelash batting swayed him from issuing the ticket.  Boy, was he MAD!
I think I was considering moving to a bigger apartment or this may have been when I was going to share that house with my girlfriends in the Haight.  Considering that the number "516" referred to my take-home pay ($1032 net per month), I think I was also looking for a better paying job!

I was a frequent visitor to the Emporium department store on Market Street and of course my beloved Macy's on Union Square.  I can still remember my account number: 533-18-5**.  It's been long-closed, but I memorized it because back then, if you didn't have your card, you could just give them your card number and charge away. 

Now you practically have to give them a DNA sample before you can charge something!

Haven't heard about Dad yet, but keep your fingers crossed.  And hey, did you notice that I posted TWO DAYS IN A ROW?  Wow!  Have a great weekend!!!





8 comments:

  1. These are wonderful!

    I keep meaning to dig out some of my art to post (because I need stuff to post about) but will have to move some crap in the Studio before I can get to the good stuff. This helps inspire me. =)

    Continued healing mojo going out to Dad!!

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  2. Nice! I have a billion sketches too. I used to "take notes" in class but often just ended up filling my notebooks with illustrations. I sketch here and there but wish I did more. I do a lot of graphic design by trade but miss my own doodles. I drew the cupid on my blog last week, and I'll be debuting a couple more characters. God Bless blogs, they really let us explore our creative sides :-)

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  3. My first apartment cost $315 a month. For two bedrooms!

    Ah, the good old days.

    Did your dad get to the part where you dated black prisoners?

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  4. Love your sketches and love that you still have them all these years later. My favorite place to go downtown was City of Paris during the holidays. Weren't the trees magnificent? I didn't see any money set aside for food. Did you live on Top Ramen like I did in the 70's? I remember that buying a pound of burger was a huge splurge.
    I have a card card for your Pop ready to mail. Keep us posted.

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  5. I lived in an apartment for a few years, back in the early '70's and I paid $185 a month! Now, how do I remember that, when I can't remember where I last left my keys?

    Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. I have been poking around yours, and I think I'm going to enjoy it here. You have a wonderful way with words.

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  6. GOOD GOD WOMAN WHATS GOING ON!! Posting 2 days in a row..more than I can do at the moment!

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  7. In the early 70's before I was married I shared a flat with a teacher friend of mine and my share was $50.00 a month. My car payment was $104.00 a month and I thought that was high! Gasoline was 39 cents a gallon for my little Opal GT. Remember those? Isn't it amazing how we remember stuff that far back?

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  8. Those were the days! I remember spending $125 a mo for an apt in New Orleans! Lots of money when my pay was $500/mo! OH well....I got a letter from your Dad. He said my card was the first he received. He is so sweet, but he did mention that he was reading your blog book and finding out things about you he didn't want to know....lol...sounds like my parents! Hope he is doing well..I know you will let us know. hugs, Linda

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