day to day

it's about as clear as mud

brent hamilton blackstone pg.5

after graduation i tried continuing my education at osu(newark) and cotc(newark), i didn't do very well at either school, my grades weren't really all that bad but i had absolutely know interest so i quit and moved to columbus where brad and several of his friends and me rented an apartment, brad and his friends were going to school at osu, i was partying, working at a store called the union, and growing up,i was 19.after my short stay in columbus it was back to mom and dad's in thornville, working at the elevator or at the quaker state gas station in thornville , and dating linda hommrich. in 1977 linda and i got married at a church in thornville, brad and his girlfriend jane edskowski were the only people we had invited, we had an apartment in newark and for the moment everything seemed fine. we both were working linda for state farm and me at the elevator, money didn't seem to be much of a problem since in 1977-8 the cost of living wasn't quite as bad and we didn't have kids. in the spring of 1979 linda and i went with friends bob and kathie bevard on vacation in florida we drove down in bevard's van, everything seemed fine then on the way back to ohio the feelings changed, even though it's been years now(30) i can still remember that strange feeling, i can't put it in words but it was sick. days later linda informed me she wanted a divorce and i was crushed. so once again i moved back to thornville partying and being bad daily.my friend dan"ernie"shade and i cosumed mass quantities of beer and did a huge amount of partying but we did find time to play tennis, and despite everything else we weren't half bad, but we were young and dumb, ernie was married and had a child he was a construction worker and i worked at the elevator,lived at home, so it seemed we had plenty of money, oh i failed to mention i had a new 1978 jeep renegade.then the evening of sept.9th came, i was at the hole in the wall bar in somerset, somerset was down the road 11 or 12 miles south of thornville, at the hole in the wall i drank like i had never drank before, beer and wild turkey(whiskey), the next thing i remember is wakeing up 3 weeks later, from what i've been told i wrecked(totaled) my jeep about 2 miles from home. maybe an animal dashed in front of the jeep, maybe i passed out, i probably passed. any way i was in the hospital. i later found out they had put me in a drug induced coma, and gave me a 4% chance of survival. i remember thinking i could still walk so i got up to use the restroom and down i went. it was probably the drugs they had me on but everything seemed unreal. i spent 2 months in university hospital and 2 months in dodd hall a rehab. hospital. while in the hospital i lost quite abit of weight i went from 170 to 140.i've always liked food so when i arrived home from the hospital i ate and ate, and i was thin and weak so i spent quite a bit of time exercising and eating, for three months besides everything else i was doing at least 500 pushups a day. at that time i think brad was in portugal, and bruce was still in college, betsy was at home and barbie was at home.

today III

and tomorrow insta-summer in the 80's

2009

so now i'm 52 getting up there i guess and i probably should be more concerned with health issues especially since cancer seems to run in the family. just recently i went to the dr. and had my prostate checked, along with blood, the prostate is always a thrilling experience, you can be sure brent would never had made it in prison, but then who knows maybe it's something that you could learn to love like an ugly puppy. but i'm 52 and you know what they say, you can't teach old dogs new tricks. it's not that i'm ready for the "HOME" or anything or the eternal resting place, just don't touch me there. i also went to the dr.(dermotologist) to see about a unusual growth on my head, my sister betsy who is a nurse suggested the visit and my mother and for my own peace of mind i thought it would be wise. at the dr. i discovered it was only an old age barnacle not cancer a barnacle. in some sick, vain way i sort of would have perferred it to be cancer,"non-fatal." anything but an old age barnacle.

aaron and sara emily

first of all if you're reading this i must be dead? i hope i'm dead or i'd be really embarassed. so hi! how are ya? i just want you to know i love you, very much, really

awesome(totally)

i really don't care for anything being awesome, i didn't really care for groovey so why can't it just be ok? eg. that shirt is awesome,narely,radical,bitchin,cool,groovey,swell,ok. it's only a word,but it's not awesome

brent hamilton blackstone pg4

it was 1965 when we moved into the  home in foster manor, or was it 1966 i'm really not sure but things were alright, brad, bruce and i slept in the basement but it was finished to resemble another floor of the ranch home, mom eventually went back to school for her degree in teaching, dad took up flying homing pigeon's as a hobby, barbie was still a baby, and it was the weird sixties with the vietnam war,hippies, and bell bottoms. when we moved we were still sort of young but in several years we discovered girls, cars, marijuana, beer, and a new type of fun.brad,bruce, and our friends were constantly playing football,baseball, and basketball and some of us were really good but i guess no one was really that good, but we did have our individual moments of greatness. if only we would have devoted all that time to something like the piano or guitar, but i suppose it doesn't really matter,no matter what it would be first you need the natural ability. junior high school was quite a time it started out with my brother(brad), ans several friends and me going to the ohio state fair with the intention of seeing the james gang featuring joe walsh this would have been 1971 and the long hairs were thick and we were just young and all eager to be cool dudes, i don't remember ever actually seeing the james gang but i was definately tired for my first day of 7th grade. junior high was held at glenford, east of thornville approximately 7 miles the building it was held in was once glenford's high school and was really in need of demolition, the boys locker room actually had a dirt floor,"it was disgusting," the music room/industrial arts room wasn't any better, but it was 7th grade and everyday was new, sort of. in 7th grade i had my first taste of rejection, i can still remember the feeling of not making the basketball team it really hurt. i also began to discover girls in 7th grade. in 8th grade we were the first class in the new jr. high building, the building was located next to the high school between somerset,glenford, and thornville. it was in the 8th grade that the hormones went bezerk, it was where i also met "ERNIE."ernie was a strange kid not a very good athlete but fair to poor not a good student, and not very good looking, but he was sort of fun to be around and always eager to party. in athletic's i grew some between 7th and 8th grade so i developed into a good football player a fair basketball player, and a fairly fast track runner and high jumper. high school was quite an experience the discovery of girls was fabulous, at that age my hormones were going a little more than berserk. my friends and i were now experimenting with drugs and alcohol, nothing serious but on occasion. in school i had above average grades but i always enjoyed blue collar jobs like farming, working at the elevator,etc. in fact during my years in high school i had jobs at the elevator and at bob cooperrider's farm and driving a grain truck, so i always seemed to have a little money for a six pack or a bag of pot. the summer after my sophamore year i along with some friends were out partying one saturday night and while driving through thornville the police stopped us i was setting in the back of pat hunt's father's van stoned, the van pulled over in front of the lutheran church on rt.204, i must have crushed the girls(nan kelber,kathy montel?) who were sitting in the front seat with pat hunt driving, but i was frantic. after getting out of the van i ran and i was scared, i out ran one of thornville's deputies, all i can remember is my heart beating, i later found out the deputies thought i was jim walser's older brother donald which i felt was a compliment because of his speed.when i arrived home i hurriedly took my clothes off and hopped into bed as though nothing had happened, i woke brad up who was sleeping in the bed beside mine and he asked me why i was breathing so hard? i really don't remember exactly what i said. i was really scared what my mother and father would say, it just so happened that when this occured my father was mayor of thornville and they had left brad and me at home while they were in canada on a fishing vacation,"i wonder if they caught any?" the court of perry county didn't charge me with anything but i was kicked off the football team for my junior year of high school, and thank god my mother or father never really said much about it. i failed to mention all the passengers in the "big bust," brian jones,brian cooperider, charlie billings, some guy they called moondog(it was the early 70's), pat hunt,nan kelber,kathy montel,lisa van sickel?

it was really exciting but at the time i was scared shitless.