Right then, before I head out to the Pot and Glass and celebrate the dawning of 2009 with a few lime cordials and a pickled egg, here’s my grand scheme for the next year’s worth of blogging…
For Christmas 1983, exactly 25 years ago, my parents bought me a lovely WH Smith’s Desk Diary, and for a full year I filled it in religiously… every single day I wrote a full page about what I’d done at school or in the streets, who I’d ‘mucked about’ (my favourite phrase) with, what I’d watched on the telly and what I thought about Doctor Who.
I’ve still got the diary, and it’s probably my most treasured possession – it certainly came in handy during the writing of ‘Wiffle Lever To Full!’ and even gains a couple of respectful mentions in the book. I was 11 throughout most of 1984, and just reading it back now instantly takes me back to an innocent age of school trips, ZX Spectrums and Frankie Goes To Hollywood (who, in retrospect, probably weren’t all that innocent, but I didn’t know that at the time…)
So I thought I’d try, every day in 2009, to type up my diary entry from exactly 25 years earlier and have a little bit of a misty-eyed but cheery prod at a time long gone, illustrated by photos wherever I can. I’ll happily poke a bit of fun at my 11-year-old self (who would have been mortified, but that’s 11-year-olds for you) and I’ll try to expand on loads of the details, as (gasp) my Mum occasionally read my diary in 1984, so I kept it fairly clean. The gloves are off now though, because a) I’m 36 years old and she’s not the boss of me, yeah? and b) she’s offline for a few months. Phew.
It’d be lovely to have a few of you along for the ride, and maybe chip in a few of your own memories of the time? Or your own diary entries if you’ve got them? Whatever, I’m really looking forward to doing this, and I think it’ll be a lot of fun.
And just to prove the diary actually exists and I’m not just inventing this for sake of a few (very) cheap laughs…
There it is, open at Sunday 1st January 1984, ready for tomorrow’s entry. And, in tantalising style, I can reveal it contains the words ‘Terrahawks’, ‘Videopac’ and ‘Aladdin’.
So I’ll see you back here for retro fun tomorrow sometime, in the meantime – Happy New Year!
Wiffle Lever To Full! 
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