the spring of ’82—exeter, california

27 December 2009. At my childhood home this Christmas, I found my daily journal from when I was 12 years old. For each day, I gave ratings from 1 (terrible) to 10 (great-super-terrific). Here are some of the riveting excerpts:

by Robert Perry

Wednesday, March 17, 1982 Today I had a great St. Patrick's Day. I had no homework. And when I wore green, nobody pinched me and said, “I'm color blind.” Rating: 10

Friday, March 19, 1982 I had a great day. Tonight we had a surprise housewarming party for Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim. We watched The Car on TV, too. Rating: 10

Thursday, April 8, 1982 I had a fair-minus day. I went to the dentist. Dad yelled at me because I had the TV on. Steve Pocock's bike was stolen this morning! Rating: 4

Friday, April 9, 1982 Today we went to the convalescent wing at the Exeter Hospital with 3 of Steve's rabbits: Bryan, Rocky and an unnamed albino. Mom said I could spend the night at Steve's. Rating: 10

Sunday, April 11, 1982 I had a super Easter. We got candy and an Atari with cartridges for Pac-Man and Combat! Rating: 10

Sunday, April 18, 1982 I had a great day. I went skiing and got really sunburned. Jeffrey knocked off Dad's sunglasses and we couldn't find them. Rating: 10

Friday, April 23, 1982 I had a happy day. I won 4th place in the 440-yard dash. I got 3rd place in the 50-yard dash, and 2nd place in the standing broad jump. Today we had a track meet at school. Rating: 9

Saturday, April 24, 1982 I had a terrific day. I went to Marc Tisher's house to celebrate his 12th birthday. We went to Quarter Slot and played as many games as we wanted to in an hour! I am tired from the track meet and baseball practice from 10:00 to 12:02. Rating: 10

Sunday, May 2, 1982 Today we had pizza from Hole in the Wall. Someone tried to hit my cousin Scott with a van! Rating: 6

Tuesday, May 4, 1982 Today was a happy day. I got high score on Atari Pac-Man: 17,421. My class won a tug-o-war contest against Miss Stanley's class. We went bike riding. Rating: 9

Friday, May 7, 1982 I had a happy day. We went out to dinner at Bob's Big Boy. We lost against Mrs. Stover's class in tug-o-war. Dad got high-score on Atari Pac-Man: 24,558. Rating: 9

Saturday, May 8, 1982 I had a terrific day. We watched The Amityville Horror on TV. We lost our baseball game against Sportsman 19-11. Rating: 10

Wednesday, May 12, 1982 I had a fair-plus day. A lady called me stupid because I crossed the street when she was going 70 mph in a school zone. I got my high-score today on Atari Pac-Man: 18,153. Rating: 6

Thursday, May 13, 1982 No practice today! I had a strawberry Slush Puppie. Rating: 8

Saturday, May 15, 1982 I had a nice day. I went to the arcade and Ardfarkle's with Marc Tisher. We lost our game against Monarch Ford. We watched the movie City on Fire on TV. Rating: 8

Sunday, May 16, 1982 I had a good day. We went to church and out to lunch at Perko's. Aunt Sue's car broke down, so we had to go to K-Mart. We went swimming over at Tom Wallace's. Pizza for dinner! Rating: 7

Wednesday, May 19, 1982 I had a fair-minus day. Still sick. I stayed home from school and got tons of homework. “The Facts of Life” wasn't on because of that stupid Marco Polo miniseries. Rating: 4

Thursday, May 27, 1982 I had a nice day. We went to Bob's Big Boy for dinner. I got a haircut at Fantastic Sam's. Rating: 10

Monday, June 7, 1982 I had a happy day. In spelling, we had to make words out of the letters that spell SUMMER VACATION. The record of words out of all sixth grade was 129. I got 1st place with 149 words. Kari McFarlan got 140 words. Rating: 9

Wednesday, June 9, 1982 I had a super day. I got the Citizenship Award for the 3rd year in a row. I hit a homerun, but we lost 5-6. Rating: 10

Tuesday, June 15, 1982 I had a nice day. We saw E.T. at the movies. It was good. Rating: 9

Friday, June 18, 1982 I had a fair day. We tried to set up the doughboy in the backyard, but it fell down—and we were half way done. I'm going to Steve's to spend the night. “Bye!” Rating: 5

Saturday, June 19, 1982 Today we got our pool up. The fathers opened their presents. Rating: 10

Saturday, June 26, 1982 I had a fair-minus day. Going to Crystal Cave, our car broke down. So we didn't go to Crystal Cave. On the way home, the Karjala's car broke down. We lost our baseball game 2-19. Rating: 4

Friday, July 2, 1982 Today we won our last game 6-3. I found out that I'm in the All-Stars. Rating: 4

Sunday, July 4, 1982 Today we won our All-Stars game 10-8. At night, the city fireworks went crazy! A low dud firework blasted and lit all the other fireworks on the ground and the ballpark blew up! Everybody on the field had to get up and run. It was like City on Fire! Rating: 9½