The Dana Street Saga

Life in Berkeley thirty years ago;
Searching for love and meaning

Saturday, April 27, 1974 - 9:30 AM

Yesterday morning, I read 'til about 11:45. By that time it had gotten completely clouded over, rained a little, and it was apparent there wouldn't be a noon concert.

But I took my umbrella and walked to the Med. Sat with Terry B. and Red Robert. Terry said she'd be leaving soon, first for Oregon, then for the East, then for Europe, at least through the summer, maybe longer. I hugged her goodbye when she left.

Penny came in as I was leaving, so I visited with her for awhile. She had a bunch of running around to do in preparation for her trip East on Monday. Also she asked me to take care of Cici last evening, as she was invited to Jim's for dinner. I said okay.

We walked up to campus together, just to make sure there was no concert (and there wasn't), then to my house, where Penny made some calls, and I balanced the checkbook. Then she left.

It had begun to get nicer outside, so after awhile, I walked up the Avenue again to campus. Sat around there awhile. Eventually some musicians started playing. They were quite good, one with electric guitar and another with a 12 string guitar. I sat and listened to them for most of the afternoon, but didn't see any girls I was interested in.

Oh yes, earlier I'd ridden my motorcycle to the bank, to get some money.

Finally, when the musicians quit, and I was walking away, I did get a nice smile from a girl who was somewhat attractive to me, though not really my type, but she was with a girlfriend, and I really didn't know how to respond, so didn't.

Mike and I walked down to Evans Field, where a baseball game was going on, but you had to pay a dollar to get in, so we left. I came home.

Bought some groceries at Park & Shop, and rode up to Cici's, as it was around 6 by then. We made dinner, watched some TV, talked and read, until she went to bed about 10:30.

I left around 11:30, and went to Hard Times. The Valley Boys were playing. I thought that might be a good omen, as they were playing the day I met Marcy. It wasn't really crowded.

I started dancing with a girl, quite attractive, who turned out to be the older sister of Jana and Gail. Her name is Cheryl, and we had fun dancing together.

But another girl had caught my eye in the meantime. She was blonde, nice body, fairly cute though unusual face, and I'd seen her before around here a few times, I think. But she was with a guy who seemed to be her "old man," an intellectual hippie type.

Anyway, she gave me a warm smile, and we said hi as she passed the first time, and we smiled at each other a few times as we danced and spotted each other across the room. I felt sure she was quite interested in me, and I was definitely interested in her, as she seemed to be my type of girl.

I waited for an opportunity to talk to her, but she stayed with her man. Then they got their coats. I went over and said hi, told her I'd seen her before, asked if she lived on the south side.

She said yes.

I asked her name.

It was Patti. I asked if I could call her.

She said, "Umm..." sort of shook her head, as if to imply she had an old man or something.

So I smiled at her, and said goodnight, sort of disappointed. They left. She wasn't unfriendly. Maybe I'll see her again, and we can talk.

Cheryl had gotten involved with someone else, and there was no one else who really turned me on.

But I sat and danced with a girl from El Sobrante named Sunshine, who was attractive and nice. She works at "Andy's Donut Shop" on Appian Way in El Sobrante.

She seemed interested in me, but seemed young, and not really my type, so I didn't invest too much energy, though we danced the last few dances together. Said goodnight, and came home. Slept well. Was pretty drunk.

Awoke to a beautiful sunny day around 8. My mind immediately went to Marcy, but I'm sure I probably won't be seeing her.

She and Bob will probably go off somewhere together. I'm still doing pretty well over her, but hope she calls soon.

Cici said Marcy called Penny yesterday afternoon. Hope I can hold out until she misses me a little. And in the meantime, I hope I can find someone else.

12:20 Noon

Took a walk up the Avenue about 11:30. As I came out of the Med, who should I see but Patti, from last night. I went over and said hi. She remembered my name, introduced me to her friend Linda, who was visiting and had a couple of kids.

She said she couldn't really talk last night, as the guy she was with was "sort of" her "old man." She lives at Parker and Fulton, has seen me on my motorcycle.

I asked her again if I could call her.

She said, "Well, not now, but I'm interested."

So that's a future possibility. I probably should have gotten her number anyway, but didn't, and left as they stopped at a street seller's.

As I was coming back down, I ran into Paul Sawyer. He was friendly, said, "Come, walk with me a minute," and he told me about his recent part-time ministering in the East, and we rapped about the Church, etc.

We sat in the Med. He introduced me to those two young girls who are around the Avenue a lot, Vanessa and Cathy.

After awhile, I split, and came home.

Tried to call Jane, but she was still asleep. So, things are showing promise, but I wish I could really get something going with someone.

2:55 PM

Took my motorcycle to get some gas. Then walked up the Avenue again. This time, I spotted Kay coming down the other side, so crossed over to meet her. Said hi and walked with her awhile. Asked how she was, etc.

She wasn't real encouraging, but wasn't unfriendly either.

I asked if she and Chuck were still together.

She said, "Yeah, well kind of, sort of..."

I asked, "Kind of, sort of?"

She said they'd gotten back together last night.

I said, "Oh well, that's good," or something like that. Then I said, and it may have been somewhat indiscreet of me, that I'd heard through Marcy that she and he'd had a disagreement later at the party.

She said yeah, but they'd gotten past it, or something of the sort.

We stopped and signed a petition. I saw that her name is Kay A, and she lives at 2302 Dwight Way. I asked if she'd like to go for a motorcycle ride, but she said she couldn't.

She was going home because they were going to Tilden Park, but otherwise she would have liked to.

I walked her partway down Dwight, then said goodbye, wished her a nice day. Don't really know how she felt about me. Would need more encouragement than I got, to pursue the matter further, though she wasn't unfriendly.

Walked back up to campus. There I saw Patti again, so I went over. We sat down and talked for about an hour. She's from Los Angeles, is 25, has a son, Billy, about four or five.

She moved up here by herself in September, had seen me working on Cleo (my housetruck) once, remembered when I mentioned it. We talked about her trip to Big Sur, my travels, my life, changes, etc.

She asked how old I was, when I mentioned having an eleven year old daughter. She guessed 27 or 28, but said I looked around 25 or so.

She's a painter, just sold some paintings, one for $70, another for $80, and has some in a show at the Hyatt Regency.

We had a nice talk. She was friendly. I liked her, but don't know what might happen. Since she has a son, she might be too "tied down" for me.

Eventually, they left for home. I stayed awhile longer, then walked home, but saw no more situations.

Tried to call Jane again, but this time no one answered. She's either still asleep, or has gotten up and gone out.

Also, I knocked on the window to say hi to Terry and Terri at Larry Blake's. Now I'm sort of restless and lonely again.

Cici called earlier to say they were going to Santa Cruz after all.

9:45 PM

Decided to take a ride up to Tilden Park, to see what was happening at Arlene's office picnic, which she'd called to tell us about. I got up there, and found Arlene and Terry, with Dennis, Larry, Joe, and a bunch of others from her office.

They had a keg, and I proceeded to get pretty drunk. Also played some Frisbee, rode Joe's motorcycle, and sat around talking.

There was one girl there whom I liked. Her name was Kathy, but she was with a guy named Bob. They had come out from Rochester together.

She was slim and cute, and I felt quite taken by her, wished I had a girl like her. She seemed to respond to me pretty well, in the contacts we had, but she also seemed to be pretty close to her old man.

Finally, I left around 6:30, as the sun was getting low in the sky. Rode home, and went to bed for a couple of hours, to rest up for Lois's party tonight, and Hard Times later, where Lucky Strike will be playing.

Still haven't heard from Marcy since Thursday. Wonder if she'll get in touch with me tomorrow. Wish I could find someone else.

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Waxing and Waning
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Losing Marcy
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