Little Green Diary: Weighty Issue

I've stumbled upon some code words in my diary that I no longer understand. Unfortunately. I put one in pink--maybe you can figure it out ;)

I was never really overweight as a child, so it's surprising that I was going on a diet at age 12. That's girlhood in America for you. It's even worse now; the obsession can kill you. [Rest assured, I wasn't so good at sticking to those plans.] I do remember my Mom and her friend Vera doing Atkins....and one of them baking an Atkins cheesecake.

March 13, 1973 [age 12]: I played with I. and Lynn. Had G.S. It was beautiful. One week from today is Spring! Really went on a diet! Bifsore. 

March 14, 1973: Stuck to Bifsore. Drank water. Had gum instead of food. It rained during school. I played with Linda. Studied His. Mom went to opera.

March 13, 1974 [age 13]:  Mommy is at the opera with Rita Blake. I got 100 in Science. Lorraine was absent with a cold. I called her. Deb T. is also sick. Irene and I talked. 

TCOY

1. Boot camp in the park. Gorgeous day.
2. Walked Sug around block.
3. Bento box lunch special, $10.11 counting tax.
4. Nap. 
5. Listening to my CDs on laptop while I work. Diana Krall, smoky! And also audio version of The Outermost House. 

Little Green Diary: Sizzling Summer in Dumont

I never was very comfortable with being angry. Though, for better or worse, I have improved. Also: If you grew up in Dumont back then, you will understand that the sidewalk sale was the most exciting thing next to the June parish carnival. Could not afford to miss it!

July 11, 1973 [age 12 1/2]: I'm mad! This may sound silly, but I might have to miss the sidewalk sale to go to the dumb beach! [I went in Lynn's pool.]

July 12, 1973 Everything worked out perfectly! I missed typing class and went to the sidewalk sale and got: a bracelet, sugar daddy, book, went on 2 rides, free key chain, lollipops, ice cream and shopping bag. Then I went to Rockaway on the subway with Mom & Sis! It was fun. [I went with I., Don., Lynn and Kar. to sidewalk sale.]

July 11, 1974 [age 13 1/2]: Met Sue B. at Dumont sidewalk sale. Wasn't too good. I went to Rockland Lake. We went in the pool there. Guess what? For the 1st time in my life, I got stung by a bee. [I hope all the black thing is out, though.] Saw Linda.

Good night.

TCOY 

1. Boot camp in the park.
2. Took steps toward financial fitness.
3. Read, took nap.
4. Made balanced dinner. 
5. Took Sug on long walk.

Little Green Diary: First Dance with "Blazer"

Oh, how clever girls who write in diaries are. They have little golden keys and colored pens and secret code words, so prying eyes won't understand. Here's what happened 37 years ago. I know because I wrote it in my diary.

May 16, 1975 [age 14]: Washington was great! Saw memorials, Capitol, Smithsonian Institute, Arlington National Cemetery, boat ride--Blazer** fun!

May 17, 1975: Like Blazer. We had Cadette car wash 9 to 3. We made about $90!

May 18, 1975: I have a cold.

Blazer was my pseudonym for the boy I liked, who was in my eighth-grade class @ St. Mary's. The first boy who ever asked me to dance. He had on a purple shirt. I remember how wonderful it felt--the being asked, the dancing on the boat ride. But then pretty quickly I also felt bad, because it turned out that a close friend of mine liked him, too. I remember her tears. I got off the dance floor and found her crying on another part of the boat.

It's all or nothing in this world. Up or down. In or out. Happy or sad. Roses or thorns.

Good night.

**I just told Figgy about the dance with Blazer. Why Blazer? she asked. The answer was it was the 1970s, blazers were big and I had my first ones, which I brought on the trip to D.C.

TCOY 

1. Haircut with amazing Johnny @ Bangz.
2. Worked on a project with Patsy. Love working with her.
3. Private Benjamin. Therapy is hard but helpful.
4. Nice phone chat with Sis.
5. Going to bed. Tired.

Little Green Diary: Looking for Clues

I try and try to understand my Figgy. Things are complicated. Her road is not mine.

Was high school really hard for us? I asked Moey last night on the phone. She can be half my ears and mind, my eyes and heart, as she was by my side all through girlhood--on the track, the cross-country courses, at the dances, in the cafeteria, at CYO*. Yes, I do remember a broken heart or two, the way I pined for certain boys, some girls who were mean to us, Moey's steno pad, walking to school, the jeans we wore, learning to drive, movies, birthdays, lockers, awkward gym uniforms, and most of all, me dropping the mercury in chemistry class, which Moey never lets me forget. [It bounced all around the room.]

I pulled out my little green diary for hints about churning emotions, as I seem to have forgotten a lot. In studying the teen me, can I find insights into my beloved Fig? [I also need to eat more blueberries, which I hear are good for the memory.]

October 15, 1976 [age 15]: Senior Carnival was okay, but I missed the Haunted House. I wish I had a boyfriend so much...I'm so jealous of Jackie!

October 22, 1976 [age 15]: We got our school rings! Mine--purple on silver. I love it. It has to be turned 79 times since we graduate in 1979. I'm on 45. First is your best friend, 78th your enemy, 79th the boy you like. Irene will go in hospital Sun. for rib--hope she's ok. Charlie is staying over [Sis's friend].

I'd love to know--is your teen girl like you were as a teen? Do you understand her? Good night.

*Catholic Youth Organization--we had social nights and dances and trips. 

TCOY 

1. Private Benjamin.
2. Found OA meeting I hope to attend. 
3. Showered with nice shower cream.

Little Green Diary: I Saw You Dancin' in the Gym

Ice skater Dorothy Hamill and her perfect swingy 1970s wedge haircut. Lyrics to a favorite song of mine, "American Pie" by Don McLean: Well, I know that you’re in love with him `cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym. You both kicked off your shoes. Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

September 26, 1975 [age 14]: Went to the pep rally dance. It was good. Our basement flooded after 4 days of rain.

Now, flash-forward 36 years: I can still remember the poignancy of high school. The dances in the gym at Dumont High or St. Mary's. How I wished to be one of the girls dancing with a boy. [I sometimes was, but not with a steady boyfriend.] Or being kissed in the hall, by her locker. Maybe like Adrienne, a girl I knew, with her adorable petite figure and shiny, cute Dorothy Hamill haircut. But maybe my 14-year-old self, in the brown hand-me-down jeans from my brother Will, felt the joy over the wanting. Like I said, the dance was good! 

Good night. 

TCOY 

1. Boot camp in the park.
2. Walked Sug around block once and on Bradford loop once.
3. Gardened a little.

Little Green Diary: Endless Days of Summer

If you grew up in the seventies, you remember a series of 

Breck Girls!

 Brooke Shields, 1974.

It doesn't really feel like summer to me, b/c I haven't been to the beach or pool enough to get tired of going. I'm not bored with applying sunscreen or worried about getting too much sun. I haven't been immersed in the season. But I'll be going to the beach for a few days next week!

Flipping back through my diary, I see my 1970s summers were kind of mundane, but in a good way.

Tennis camp [I think I played for a week's worth of one-hour lessons, never more], typing class, picnics, and swimming in my friend's pool. Also, all-important notes about when I washed my hair, and when my friends got new haircuts, like the pixie style Irene got. Exciting news from July 18:

1973 [age 12]:  Mr. Durham said my typing was "beautiful." I went in Irene's pool and washed my hair. I played with Donna too, at night.
1974 [age 13]: I washed my hair. Mom, Dad & I went to Rockaway. At Baskin-Robbins I got a boysenberry cheesecake ice cream cone. It was good.
1975 [age 14]: Don't think '75 summer was boring! I never had time to write in my diary!

And here's what I'd squish onto several lines now: 
2011 [age 50]: Life goes on. Boot camp, read, rested. Worried about Fig. Scurried to post office before it closed at 7 P.M. to send care pkg to camp: granola bars she likes, a letter, and some other things, including pretty red and white striped straws. The sunflowers in our front yard are gigantic, like out of a storybook. H. planted some last summer and they reseeded for this year. Was productive this evening, hope for better day tomorrow.

Good night. 

Link for Brooke Shields ad: http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/2009/01/1974-breck-girl-ad-featuring-a-young-brooke-shields.html

TCOY 

1. Boot camp in the park. We boxed today!
2. Lots of ice water.
3. Lots of bill sorting. Felt good.
   

Little Green Diary: Heartest Day of the Year

Happy Valentine's. I see that nothing eventful happened in my life on February 14 in the early seventies. At least we know Mr. and Mrs. Rolando went out to celebrate late into the night. I stayed behind watching their two cute girls in a garden apartment with a sneaky cat who sat on the toilet seat lid. :)
1973 [age 12]:  Happy Valentines Day! I got valentines from: D. Collins, K. Petraglia, C. Rachel, L. Tedesco, Mom & Dad, M. Di'martino, Irene and M. Komlo put one on the doormat!
1974 [age 13]: Happy you-know-what day! I got a card from M&D, Irene, Sis. We had a special meeting at Mrs. Guth's [Girl Scout leader] and we had a cake because her birthday is Saturday, the 16th.
1975 [age 14]: Babysat at Rolando's 8:00 to 1:00. Sis is home.
And here's what I'd squish onto several lines now: 
2011 [age 50]: Boot camp. Midst of hard times. Got 3 red roses + pink knee socks for Fig, 2 hip pr. socks for H. Dad called me 2 go 2 nurs. home 4 Val Day lunch, so did. His life limited. H. and I had din. out; he, celery-root soup, Parisian gnocchi w. fried leeks, crème brûlée. Me, flute of sparkling Prosecco, pear sal., lobs. w. mashed + spinach, flourless choc. cake w. choc. cardamom ice cm. We both tasted all. Held hands.
To you: <3 <3 <3 Sending sweet wishes your way. And thank you for reading my blog, so that my posts are not flying out to nowhere, like aimless arrows from Cupid's bow. Good night. 

Words Under Lock & Key



The diary I got for our Figgy girl.

Hey, I'll take what I can get. And my minor triumph for today--in addition to the fact that I finally roused myself to meet a work deadline--is what I spotted in Figgy's sleek black tote bag, the one she carries everywhere [except to school, which requires a backpack].

I had taken her to Barnes & Noble because she loves to sit there and read. [It's the modern version of the old Dixon Homestead Library in Dumont, the shrine to reading that my friends and I visited, where we presented our light blue library cards, magic tickets to adventure via the written word.]

And there it was in the tote bag...the Lilly Pulitzer It's All About Me Diary I bought her Friday at Leapin' Lizards, the Lilly shop in Ridgewood [I was in the area for a work assignment]. It has a little metal padlock and two dainty, doll-sized keys--just like my little green diary from Lorraine. Although God knows there's nothing doll-like about pouring out one's feelings honestly. I told her to write her thoughts down--the ugly ones, the light ones, all of them.

Go, Figgy, go. I hope my sighting means you may actually be writing in it?

Good night.

Little Green Diary: Remember December

Time to flip through the diary again, for a little time travel. I always loved Christmastime--I had a small, wobbly, fake tree for our room, with special ornaments.

DECEMBER 8, 1973 [age 12]: I went to 9:00 mass for Immaculate Conception. Mom & Dad bought Will a stereo for Christmas. I fixed me and Sis's room pretty with Christmas decorations, tree....

DECEMBER 8, 1974 [age 13]: I sung in 9:00 choir. Went to Christmas Fair--won little pink stuffed mouse. Like Norbett. Saw 'The Sting' with Nancy and Mrs. Blake, then had pizza. "The Sting" was really good.

DECEMBER 9, 1973 [age 12]: I washed my hair. I helped Mom write 50 Christmas cards. Mom, Dad and I visited Granny. Joe is so cute!!! It poured rain. I sang in 9:00 choir.

DECEMBER 13, 1974 [age 13]: I took a shower. Friday the 13th but thank God nothing unlucky happened. Dislike Norbett. M & D went out with Rite & Bob. "The Borrowers" (on T.V.) was good!

I'm pretty sure I remember who "Norbett" was....code name for a boy from St. Mary's I think. I liked both Ron and Robert at times, but I'm guessing this was Robert, due to the Norbett construction. But why did I like him one day and dislike him five days later? Joe was my baby cousin, who lived right down the block.

I wish, hope and pray that although our Figgy does not have a little green diary, that she can tap into happy memories of simple times when she is a grown woman. I want that for her with all my heart.

Sleep well.

Back-to-School Style

Figgy is really into fashion. As I sit here typing on her iMac, she's reading Allure. When I came into the condo with a stack of September fashion bibles today--Vogue, Elle and InStyle--she said, Word up. I'm going to read those now.

She hopes to buy a navy dress with gold buttons and a pair of boots from Forever 21 for the start of sophomore year. And to get a new backpack and a bangs trim at Supercuts. She was trolling a site and laughing at the word jeggings [combo of jeans and leggings].

I flipped through my diary for fall schoolgirl style notes--even though I wore a uniform [blue and white plaid pleated skirt, white blouse, navy vest, navy knee socks] to St. Mary's School until 1975.

SEPTEMBER 5, 1973 [age 12]: I have Mrs. P. for homeroom! She's nice! I got a dress, jumper & white sweater shirt. I have Lor, M & T, Fri, everyone in my class!

SEPTEMBER 5, 1974 [age 13]: I got a maroon sweater at Alexander's and blue marshmallow shoes at Shoe Town. Sis got "earth" shoes at Globe Shoes. Talked to and saw Irene. Sue called. Mom got slippers and stockings.

AUGUST 28, 1975 [age 14]: At the Fashion Barn, I got a plum cord. skirt and blouse to match for the 1st day of school [total $14]. I got prewashed denims [$3.99] and a blouse [$5] at Alexander's. Mom took me!

But I guess nothing can soften the blow when you start out as a terrified freshman.

SEPTEMBER 7, 1975: My first day of school left me frightened & miserable, but I guess I'm pretty adjusted now. "After every storm there is a rainbow." I hope so!

Little Green Diary: Vacation

Check out this hip Wrangler ad. But where are the dog's jeans?

AUGUST 10, 1973 [age 12]: I got green & red brushed denim pants, a red marker, hair things, p.j.s for [for summer]. I went in I.'s pool. Mom got her hair done & got clothes & shoes too!

AUGUST 10, 1974 [age 13]: I wish [really a lot] that we could go on vacation this yr. Uncle Jack came over [to visit Granny, & had dinner at my house]. 


Jeez, maybe I have things out of focus. 

Figgy has way too many clothes--she loves shopping at Forever 21 and H&M if she gets birthday or babysitting money. [Moey has even very thoughtfully gifted her with a mini shopping spree at the former.] But I always say to my friends, I never had a lot of clothes, and the clothes I did have, I took good care of--i.e., they were not rolled in a ball and tossed on the floor. When will she ever learn? You do not want to see the size of the two giant sacks of clothing she took for two weeks in Maine and Cape Cod, and the trove of lotions and potions, too. Guess that's what happens when you're an only child, your family drives rather than flies [lots of trunk space], and your mother is also an overpacker.

Yet possibly, I've twisted the clothing truth, looked at it through a foggy lens. When I read my diary, I find lots of fashion purchases. Well, as I learned when working at Seventeen Magazine, teen girls are big beauty and style spenders. But me? I could have sworn I was deprived. Apparently not. I was even excited to report when my Mom got clothes, b/c you know how it is, you want your Mom to look good, too.

And if you asked me now, I'd say our family went on vacation every year--either to Beach Haven [on Long Beach Island] or Cape Cod. According to my diary, it looks like we must have skipped at least one year. 


BTW, can someone please tell me what green & red brushed denim pants were? This was summer, not Christmastime! Wish you were here.

Little Green Diary: The Fashion Curve Continues

My mother, in her infinite wisdom, made me take typing lessons in the summer, at the high school, when I was 12 and 13. Now I thank her for it, but back then, not so much. h h h space h h h j j j space j j j I remember the rhythm well.

I also documented the day Donna and Linda got new halters. Even 37 years later, I keenly remember the feeling, that hot summer day, on White Beeches Drive near Irene's house, seeing those beautiful styles, idolizing Donna and Linda b/c they had them. They were a year older than me, and I so wished my Mom would take me to Mandee shop in Bergenfield for halters, too. She didn't. Alexander's bargain bins were more her speed. But wasn't I beautiful enough, worthy enough for a halter?

Just today I was drooling over the Tory Burch Classic High Wedge Espadrille in Tory Orange Clubhouse [above] at a shoe store I ducked into near my Dad's rehab place*. Turns out Tory's focus on orange is also a thrill from my past.

I referred to A. and B. again--the handsome twins, Art and Bart, a couple years older than me. They were very attentive to Donna's halters, and her lovely body--plus, she lived on Long Island and was visiting family for the summer, so she had added allure.

JUNE 24, 1973 [age 12]: I do not dread typing so much anymore since I practiced. I played with Irene, Linda and Donna. I love Donna's halters [and Linda's!]. I hate B. [& A.?]

JUNE 24, 1974 [age 13]: Typing's alright. This is my 3rd year with Durham [Drr!] At Alex., I got orange high-waisted pants, Converse sneakers, white clogs and a long-sleeved white bodysuit. Mom (!) & Sis got pants, too. I saw Irene.

*Praise the internet, though I know Main Street stores have to keep their foothold. And I do love local stores! The little shop had the espadrilles for full price, $165. But ToryBurch.com has them for $116 and saksfifthavenue.com, for $76.70.

Little Green Diary: Secret Code

Oh, early June. The sunsets have been striking, and I saw a fat, furry black and yellow bumblebee, and an elegant ebony and white butterfly.

Things in my world are different now from when I was a preteen and teen, and yet still the same. I'm still reporting on clothes or accessories I've bought or want to buy, or about talking on the phone, one of my favorite pastimes. [Tonight, I stretched out on the couch to talk to Sis.]

June was when the carnival [a huge parish fundraiser] came to St. Mary's for a week, complete with ferris wheel, games of chance and cotton candy. It also meant we were out at night and might see the boys from our class there. And we weren't all in our uniforms! The month ushered in summer--the halters [later, the tube tops], the swimsuits, the shorts, the Nair TV commercials, the Flicker razors.

And when I wish Figgy would share everything going on in her life with me, looking at my old diary helps me understand that I also kept things to myself--and select friends. Check my creative Morse code below...seven sets of exclamation points separated by periods....I can't fathom now what I was hiding from prying eyes, but it surely had to do with a boy. Probably R.B. from St. Mary's School or Art from around the corner [or possibly Bart, Art's equally handsome and devilish identical twin; they lived next to my friend Irene.] Whatever it was, it must have felt pretty thrilling.

Entries from a date in early June...
1973 [age 12]: I played with I. and L., studied Geog. It was hot + sunny. !!!...!!!...!!!...!!!....!!!...!!!...!!!...

1974 [age 13]: Washed my hair. Studied. Talked on phone.

Did you keep a diary when you were younger? Do you have it? What's it like reading it now?

Little Green Diary

Here's what I wrote on this date, May 11, when I was 12, 13 and 14.

1973: I played with I. + June + Vic in Vic's backyard. When Mrs. Yale said it was 5:40, I left + it was really 6:30. I got in trouble for not wearing my jacket! I played in the front with I, 7:30-8:00. Washed my hair.

1974: I had fun with Irene. Lor + I sang at the 11:00 Mass for 1st Communion. I wore my green pants. We went down to Aunt G. & Uncle J.'s. Cathy is nice. This rapist talk is frightening. I can't wait til Sis is home.

1975: Mother's Day! Gave Mom flowers + a daisy plant.

Funny coincidence: I also washed my hair today.

Sad note: Vic was my friend Vicki, who ended up getting seriously into drugs in high school and later, tragically, dying from it, long after we lost touch. I used to hear her name read from the pulpit in St. Mary's Church when they listed people to pray for. I did stop in and see her mom a few years ago.

Worry point: At first, I didn't remember any rapist in 1974, but now I think I do. My Dad always read the The Record in bed at night, and I remember that once, my mom cut an article out of the newspaper first so he wouldn't read about the rape on Sis's women's college campus and worry.

P.S. May I brag? For Mother's Day, Figgy gave me a beautiful pencil sketch she did of my mother, from her 1940s graduation photo. I am so touched.

Little Green Diary: Easter Sunday

Here are my entries from 1973 [when I was 12] and 1974. Below those, what I would write now if I had the same narrow four lines.

April 22, 1973: For Easter, I got candy, Noxema [sic], a shirt and pink marker. We drove Sis back. I wore my pink lace dress. I am wearing my red nightshirt.

April 14, 1974: Happy Easter! The "bunny" left candy, gum, an eraser & a bobbing Snoopy statue in my basket. Joe, Jamie & Grandpa came over. We had a delicious Butterball dinner.

April 4, 2010: Went to church in Clifton with H., Fig, MJ, Tony & M. We all ate at condo w. Sis, Don & Papa. Papa old. Hope we have more Easters w. him. Got Fig and M. bunnies from Holsten's, Bloomfield place where last scene of "Sopranos" TV show was filmed.

Joe Came Home!

Planned since yesterday to post the March 23 entries from my five-year Little Green Diary tonight [since it's March 23 again]. Wondered if I'd find any weather references about storms or rain or anything, but no.

1973: Joe came home!
[Joe was my nickname for OB, oldest brother, who has pretty much dropped out of touch with all of us for over 10 years...kind of an enigma. But my brother Will has seen him at least once if not a few times in that decade.]

1974: I took a bath. Sis took Irene and I to the Bergenfield library. I played Masterpiece with Maria and Sis.

1975: Palm Sunday! I like Ronald Brown a lot--wish he liked me! Beautiful day--"springish"!

But then I got an email from my cousin Linda this morning. She and I just reconnected, and I sent her the link to my blog so she could see pictures of the tree through the roof of our house. I also told her to read "Big Brother" on this blog, because she spent a lot of time with OB as a girl too.

Turns out Linda had already done some web sleuthing, when my Dad's phone wasn't working and she was trying to find him. She found a photo online of OB--he had a role in a film about mutant rats in NYC--and she also unearthed a recent NY Times article about a cool East Village hangout. He's quoted as one of the customers who likes it.

It scared me. It was jarring to see the photo. OB wasn't an actor when I knew him. Also, he changed his last name for the credits. Is he trying to hide from us? And the photo is scary because he's in his role for that horror film. I studied his beard, his hands, the way his hands are placed on the table. I haven't seen him in so long, it's almost as though he died, and now I'm studying him again, looking for the lines I remember, seeing shades of my grandfather in him somehow. Or searching for them. Maybe searching for a common thread to keep us together.

To read him quoted in the Times was disturbing too. I'm glad he is alive and well and socializing with people. I was afraid he was a hermit, a recluse. That's what happens when someone drops out of your life--you imagine, you fear, you wonder and worry.

The thing that really makes me sad is that he is not far from us--Sis works in the city, Will lives in the city, and I go there a lot for work and play--and we might pass him on the street, we could walk in and out of the same coffee shop one day. It's just profoundly sad. And why, for what? In fact, Sis thought she passed him on the street one day but then decided it wasn't him.

I find it extemely coincidental that on March 23, the day my diary says "Joe came home!" in the voice of an obviously adoring little sister is the day I catch a glimpse of my lost brother for the first time in more than 10 years.

Little Green Diary

I've unearthed it from my top bureau drawer. A gift from my friend Lorraine, it is 5 inches high and 3 3/4 inches wide. The cover has FIVE-YEAR DIARY in gold letters. A lot of the pages are loose now. It had a little key but I lost it. It began in 1973 [when I was 12] and I kept it on and off through 1976.

There are no entries at all for '77--but by then I was 16! Too bad, b/c some of the things my 12-year-old self had dreamed of came true that year.

I only had four lines per day per year, so I had to abbreviate my facts, good practice for a reporter. M and D meant Mom and Dad. G and G was Granny and Grandpa, who lived right in our town, and I was my friend Irene.

I turned to February 24. This is what is says:

1973: I miss "I." I had fun at skating lessons. Sis and I went to Bergenfield. At night we went to Granny's.

1974: I sang in 9:00 choir. Sis took the bus home. I know I'll miss her. Dad, Sis and I visited G & G. Mom and I went to the potluck supper with Mrs. Blake and Nancy. I saw Irene, and Lorraine called.

Isn't it so funny? I used to record who called, what my school grades were, when I washed my hair and especially if I or a friend got a new haircut.

Today, Fig and her friends communicate so much via text, Facebook and video chats that I doubt they would ever report on a phone call, like the ones I made on our clunky black rotary phone in the living room. No privacy at all [not like my lucky friend, Moey, who got a Princess phone in a pretty color for her bedroom].

Here's a great book about a diary: The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal . It's written by Lily Koppel, who found the diary when she was a young writer for the NY Times. I couldn't put her book down.

It's about a New York City girl from years ago named Florence. Small world: It turns out that Florence's nephew lives right in my town. We used to live in the same apartment building, and now we see each at Starbucks or on the #66 bus from New York. To him, Florence is a colorful aunt. To me, she's an incredibly fascinating story.

Other fine diary snooping: A Boy I Once Knew, written by my Memoir-Writing teacher, Elizabeth Stone. It's about the personal diaries that a former student left her in his will. Again, a page-turner.

I guess diaries are that way, because they tell such intimate tales.