My Mum's Bad Diaries
You're invited to eavesdrop as a mother reads out her teenage diaries to her daughter. Funny, candid, poignant and brave, this podcast is both living memoir and an investigation into what makes (and breaks) a woman. No scripts, no prep; just 40-year-old (diary) gold being unearthed. Even Jenny doesn't know what's going to come up as she lays bare her inner teen world to her daughter Lilika. Their motto is 'we go there', so what could possibly go wrong?
My Mum's Bad Diaries
Rob me two times baby (Vol.6, 1983)
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We're straight out of the gate into the reading, back in September 1983, as this is part 2 of our mega-recording sesh.
Mum has a sore throat and is feeling 'rotten' so no Golden Bowl, is doped up on Sudafed and something called 'Disprin' but thinking about her photography folio for RMIT and raking in the cashola from Leader: $160 in folding this week!
Her nights are spent watching shows like 'I want to be a nun' and wondering whether granddad is, he's out late and sometimes doesn't home! And the Melbourne Show is on, and mum takes herself off with her camera to take pics for the folio, but ends up only taking ONE. She thinks now, from her 2026 viewpoint, that she was probably lacking in confidence, but then granddad gives her her money. Is this the $800 he owed her? The diary does not say.
Mum manages to get a job at the Palais -- she turns up thinking it's an interview but he tells her to get changed and start on the floor. She does drinks waitressing and gets $4 in tips and then promptly loses $2.
We talk about Buffy as a name and can't think what proper name it's a diminutive for, but we googled since recording: ELIZABETH.
During this episode mum goes to see Sydney ska band Allniters twice (once at somewhere called the 'Prozzie Hill' and the other at The Prince Of Wales, I know that place!! And there a 'cute guy' asks mum to a party in Fitzroy but she doesn't go, there's that lack of confidence again.
Hawthorn beats Essendon in the Grand Final, mum goes to Inflation and the America's Cup start is postponed. There are vol-au-vents for lunch (!!!) and 1 x oysters kilpatrick and 1 x spaghetti marinara, not all together.
Cat Sid gets sick and mum makes a note to buy 'Yardley black eyeliner (soft)'. We talk about the history of eyeliner in some detail, from the ancient Egyptian times to Amy Winehouse, mum tells me about a show called Return to Eden, we discuss our questionable work ethic, and then Australia wins the America's Cup and mum's work (Leader) bring out the champers at 11AM. Wild.
The F-Plan diet appears again, and mum is really happy to tape the end of a song on the radio. Then the house is broken into, and mum's camera is stolen. Two days later the house is broken into again and while mum deals with CIB cops, Sid is diagnosed with cat flu. Must have been all the outdoor prowling he was doing.
Poor Sid! Poor mum! Dramatic times!
As always, listen to experience: cringe, giggles and some real-life shit.
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