Memoir Madness Excerpts have been Moved...

 

Memoir Madness Excerpts (Table of Contents)


Memoir Madness Photos

*


*

*



 

Caged (Prologue)

-
(February 19, 1969)
-
I was driven to Cherokee.

A hazy memory of riding caged in the back of a police car. Two shadows in the front seat, the county sheriff and a female escort, jabbering. I, cargo, to be delivered from the Woodbury County courthouse to the Cherokee Mental Institution.

Excerpt moved to Memoir Madness

Excerpt (Chapter 1): The Crystal Ship

*

Taken 24 December, 1968
Apollo 8 mission
Courtesy: NASA
____________________________________________________

Christmas Eve, 1968

(Ninth revolution around the Moon)

85 hours, 44 minutes, and 58 seconds into the Apollo 8 mission, astronauts James Lovell, William Anders, and Frank Borman broadcast photographs of Earth from lunar orbit.

"The vast loneliness up here on the moon is awe-inspiring...makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth," says Lovell. "The Earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space."

"We are now approaching lunar sunrise," Anders says. "For all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message..."

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth..."



Taken 24 December, 1968
Apollo 8 mission
Courtesy: NASA
____________________________________________________


(Santa Monica, California)

I’m sprawled out in the work room with Levi, a some-time clerk at The Crystal Ship and a drug dealer on the Strip.

Excerpt (Chapter 1): Blue Moons

*

From Apollo 8: December 24, 1968
Photo courtesy of NASA (Blue tint added by webmaster)
___________________________________________________

Christmas Eve, 1968
-
(2001 Ivar Street, Hollywood, California)

Blue Moons.

Black dots from the linoleum rise up and float, planets bursting into blue, red, yellow, green, purple, orange.

Birthing galaxies...

Does God feel the same awe?

Excerpt moved to Memoir Madness

Excerpt (Chapter 2): Dark Side

*

December 25, 1968


(Tenth revolution around the Moon)

Christmas Day, 89:22:34. On the far side of the Moon and out of radio contact with Houston, Apollo 8's Service Propulsion System (SPS) has been ignited to accelerate it out of lunar orbit.

At 89:34:16, radio contact has been re-established with the crew.

89:34:25. Astronaut Lovell: "Please be informed there is a Santa Claus."


(Hollywood)

Far out Blue Moons.

Stoney and I don’t come down until after three–we crash for a few hours. Then, about seven, we go to Cecil’s Stand for cheeseburgers and fries.

Later we exchange presents–he gives me a jade ring and a petrified wood ashtray in psychedelic colors; I give him a blue rock. Both from The Crystal Ship. I’m not sure what he likes.

Excerpt (Chapter 2): Flying Solo

*

-
December 1968
-
Stoney left 45 minutes ago for San Francisco, to score some acid. We decided it would be best if I stayed behind–save money to buy a van.

It’s so cold in here, no heat, no one to keep me warm. I wish I could have gone with Stoney. He says he’ll be back, at the latest, by tomorrow evening.

Excerpt (Chapter 2): Weed and Seeds

*
-
(December 1968)
-
Still waiting for Stoney, but it’s early yet. I just got up–I slept 14 hours straight. So tired...I just crashed in the middle of writing a letter to Jeff.

I’m going to cut back the dope–wish Stoney would too. He can be difficult, especially when he’s high.

Excerpt (Chapter 2): Funny Little Naked Clowns

*

-
December 1968
-
147:00:42. On December 27, Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean. The U.S.S. Yorktown is on scene for the rescue: the astronauts on board by 12:20 p.m. (EST), the Apollo capsule by 1:20 p.m. (EST).
-
(Hollywood, California)
-
Stoney’s back. He shows me 500 tabs of STP bought from his San Francisco source. I’ve never seen so much acid at one time.

Excerpt (Chapter 2): Decision Time

*

-
(December 1968)

Stoney and I look at a VW van. I found my old savings passbook from Sioux City: cool! I still have $136.14 left. We need two or three hundred yet. If we don’t get the van, then maybe I’ll use the money to visit Big Brother in Pennsylvania.

I love Stoney, but I’m sick of being stoned all the time. 

Excerpt (Chapter 2): Thirteen Tabs

*
-
(December 1968)

Stoney didn’t come home last night. I worry that he’s been busted, so I hunt all over Hollywood and Santa Monica for him. I even check with the fuzz down at L.A. County.

I find him hanging out at The Crystal Ship, flirting with his ex old lady Syndi, she hanging all over him. She’s a skinny chick with short red hair, in a pixie style popular about three years ago, all doe-eyed, and looks about 15. But there’s nothing innocent about her...

Excerpt--October 5, 1968: "Wallich's Music City and Eleanor's Radio"

*

WGDY Top Ten

1. Hey Jude/Revolution, Beatles (1)

2. Harper Valley P.T.A., Jeannie C. Riley (2)

3. Fire, Crazy World of Arthur Brown (5)

4. Midnight Confessions, Grass Roots (9)

5. I've Got to Get a Message to You, Bee Gees (6)

6. Time Has Come Today, Chambers Bros. (13)

7. Indian Reservation, Don Fardon (7)

8. Girl Watcher, O’Kaysions (11)

9. Little Green Apples, O.C. Smith (8)

10. On the Road Again, Canned Heat (4)

*

It was after eight, a crisp evening, and Rick was still missing.

Damn him . A total jerk.

I kicked at the ground, scuffing my shoes on the pavement. If he weren’t so cute...

“Hey, Eleanor, would you turn up your radio?” From my left, a male voice, not too deep, with a funny accent I’ve never heard before. I turned; a strange dude sat next to me, tapping his right foot, left foot on the wall, knee tucked under his chin.

Excerpt: Rudy

*


January 1969

(Hollywood)

Stoney pulls himself together and announces he’s hitchhiking to New York City to sell 500 tabs of acid–minus the 13 he dropped on New Year’s Eve.

I beg him not to go–hitching cross country is too dangerous. Cops, rednecks, thieves, killers, all just waiting to arrest, beat up, roll, or even kill someone careless like Stoney.

Devil-may-care Stoney. I’ve never met anyone who was so slapdash with dope.

Excerpt moved to Memoir Madness


Excerpt: Cops

*

January 1969

(Hollywood)


I hear from Levi that Stoney might not come back, after all, at least any time soon.

Evidently, New York, cop wise, is super cool right now. L.A.’s too hot.

Levi’s right. When I get home from Cecil’s, two cops wait outside the pad.

Excerpt: The Luckiest Hand

*
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
_______________________________________________

August 18, 2004

(Delta Flight #5883 to Omaha, Nebraska)

I would never see Stoney again.

I have no pictures of him, and yet his image remains grooved in my mind–my first real love, however ill-conceived.

Shortly after we parted, I drew a picture of him from memory. 

Excerpt: Downers

*

January 1969

(Hollywood)

Just my luck, having the cops show up like they did, looking for Stoney.

What has he done, anyway? Must be bad.

I stumble downstairs to Rudy’s pad and pound on the door.

Rudy, his usual sloppy self, opens the door. Several girls sit around smoking dope, munching chips and pretzels.

Words won’t come. Instead, I bawl.

Excerpt--January 15, 1969: "Sioux City Blues"

*
Harley Semple
______________________________________________________________

(Hollywood)


Dee Dee’s bugging me in the worst way--says I have three choices: go to my mom’s, Auntie’s (no way), or go back to Sioux City. He’s really acting scary, and Auntie’s turning up the heat.

I’ll pass on Auntie’s and Iowa, thank you.

I’m going stir crazy in this joint. I want to go out for a walk, but Auntie says no.

Memoir Madness: driven to involuntary commitment (Blurb)

*

Blurb revised and moved to MemoirMadness.com

Memoir Madness: driven to involuntary commitment (Summary)

*

Summary moved to MemoirMadness.com

Memoir Madness: driven to involuntary commitment (Synopsis)

*
Memoir Madness Synopsis

Memoir Madness: driven to involuntary commitment (Notes on Narrative Threads: Flashbacks, Other Voices, and Dramatization)

*

Notes on Narrative Threads: Flashbacks, Other Voices, and Dramatization


Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)

Disclaimer and Copyright Notice

*
Memoir Madness: driven to involuntary commitment is a work of non-fiction.
*
However, some names and/or minor characteristics of real persons have been changed to protect their privacy. Nicknames have been used for some real persons, most notably, Stoney.
*
Some minor locales have been changed. The Crystal Ship was a real rock/head shop, but the name and locale have been changed.
*
For coherence and literary purposes, some passages have been compressed, expanded, or shifted around. Some scenes and dialogue have been recreated.
*
The time lines, late 1968 to May 9, 1969, April 2002, and August 2004 are accurate, and the facts of the case are correct, including the amount of time I spent in the Cherokee Mental Health Institute in Cherokee, Iowa.
*
Events for which I have no documentation and/or memory of exact dates have been presented as flashbacks.
*
Most of the illustrations shown on this website are symbolic and artistic representations of 1968-1969 and should not be interpretated literally. Some video clips have been embedded; copyrights remain with their respective owners.
*
Minor factual errors, albeit unintentional, are mine alone.
*
Website and all text copyright 1969 - present, Jennifer Semple Siegel. Text/images may not be republished or reposted without permission.
*

Special Thanks and Acknowledgments

*
To Dr. Mariano A. Favis, Jr., for being one of the good guys. Your wisdom changed the course of my life. Thanks to Michael Klein, author of Track Conditions and The End of Being Known and my former Goddard advisor, for his careful comments on my draft; he helped me to decide what to add and delete–mostly delete.
*
Thanks, also, to York College of Pennsylvania’s Faculty Development Committee for a much-needed grant so that I could finish this book in a timely manner. Last, but definitely not least, thanks to my husband Jerry Siegel who read several drafts and offered me many valuable comments and insights.
*
Apologies to Jeff Brown, a starring player and still my friend, for his immense understanding. I can only imagine what it might be like to have one’s past life dragged out and exposed to the world by an ex-spouse. Also, thanks to Jeff for reading the drafts and commenting on them.
*
Apologies to one bit player: although my husband Jerry had no role in my life during the late 1960's, he has patiently accompanied me in my various quests for information. It must feel strange to read about that other Jennifer, not quite the Jennifer he met, courted, and married.
*
Additional apologies to three offstage players: Eric, my son by Jeff; Casey, Jeff’s present wife; and Rhia, my granddaughter–Eric’s daughter. They have absolutely no role in this drama, and yet, by association, they are a peripheral part of it.
*

Privacy Notice

We do NOT use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.