So, yeah.
Tomorrow morning, I will board a plane with my children, my sister and my neice. We will be hanging out in the old hood for a week. Oh yeah, and we're gonna scatter my dad's ashes off the Santa Cruz coast, where we did my grandfather's back in '84. My big bro Randy will be in attendance on the sail, and we're going to hang out in Santa Cruz for drinks that night, sort of an early birthday thingy for him.
Hoping to see a bunch of folks. Will likely be doing exactly that at the family BBQ for the Palo Alto High School class of '86. For you young folks reading this, I'm talking about 1886, when President Grover Cleveland wed himself a young girl in the White House and Karl Benz patented his newfangled gasoline-powered automobile. Coca-Cola was a nickel and Spain abolished slavery in Cuba.
Just kidding. I'm not quite that old.
No, we're talking 1986, when gasoline prices broke $1 per gallon and caused a major public outcry. We had funny colored hair and made sure our ties matched our socks, worshipped teen-avatar John Hughes and an art house Aussie named Mel Gibson. The space shuttle Challenger blew up, Germany was still two separate countries, and Ronald Reagan made jokes about starting World War 3. Huzzah!
It was also the year I released my first film, took a roadtrip to Canada with my future wife, and realized that the easy part was over - I was a legal adult and needed to act the part. So much for that. All that history was part of another life, and although I can look back fondly and remember the fun and challenging times I had when I was "that guy", I'm not "that guy" anymore. So it'll be interesting to see friends from that time, see how they've changed (or not). I have zero expectations and quite a few non-school chums to link up with.
While we're gone, the contractors should be hanging drywall. The garden window is in and the floors & doors have been chosen. There's electrical wire, coaxial cable and CAT5 network cable running everywhere. I hope to come back to solid walls.
I'll keep blogging from CA, if I can. Peace out, my homies.
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5 comments:
Ahh 20 years.
Don't forget:
New Coke! (you made mention so I thought it deserved recognition)
A certain blogger with a mullet (which I believe I sent you that pic!)
Turning out the lights and sound on what would be a very early predecessor to Ugly Kid Joe (and my understanding is Whit the Twit is planning to go to the reunion as well as Klaus, who I always liked)
A certain blogger doing stand up about burnt toast (yes, sir, it has stuck with me all these years.)
As for ties matching their socks, I always thought that Michael Kass had the franchise on that. You sir, if I remember correctly, had a tie whose pattern matched your Vans!
And, of course, lunches on the lawn behind the English building (which has been mostly taken up by permanent portable classrooms now.)
Say hi to folks for me.
Colin
The less said about New Coke, the better. Sam was a totally partisan Pepsi girl anyway, and I didn't care (not a huge fan of the carbonated cola nnnnnut, but gimme a root beer anyday).
I'll have you know I never had a mullet in high school. Didn't start growing my hair at all until '87 or '88.
The less said about Ugly Kid Joe (or, in this case, Live Wire), the better. Honestly, I felt sorry for Todd Tholke, who had a modicum of class and talent. Whit's comments after Dan Popovich's suicide, however, were totally inexcusable - he deserved the wrath of the booth guys (who, IIRC, were you, Clive & Jed?).
I stole that stand-up bit wholesale from a San Francisco comic I saw once. Wasn't proud of it at the time, but now it seems more like a band doing a cover. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I never matched a tie to my Vans, but I did come close with checkerboard Vans and my ultra-skinny striped rocker tie. The Marks (Allen & Hughes) were always way more snappy in the wardrobe department.
I want a copy of that photo of Pete Hoffman and me cruising onto the green at lunch and looking like the baddest mofos in history. You don't get too many 6'4" dudes wandering around a high school and actually supposed to be there.
I will convey your greetings, my friend. May have to kiss the single women twice, just on your behalf ("and THIS is from Colin!").
Like, oh my GOD... I was, like, totally gonna say the same thing about ties and socks and drama teachers. That is, like, weird to the max!
(P.S. See if you can translate that ye olde dialect, people of the future!)
Did I say mullet?
Well, I suppose I did. When really it was more of a subdued Thompson Twins do! (not really.)
I think you can add Eric Smith into the booth and put Jed as stage manager if memory serves. I was on the spotlight's I'd basically rebuilt (including one frantic cord rebuild in the middle of Senior Frolics with a hot wire after someone kicked the plug apart.)
As for stealing material, a: I had no idea, b: I loved it (you sold it very well!) and c: we'll call it an homage and leave it at that!
As for the kisses, I will leave that up to you.
I'll try and grab a copy of that photo when/if we ever get unpacked. The house is still in dire need of unpacking (my Greetings from the High Desert #4 sent out earlier this evening will explain why,) plus any more that I can find.
As for the hair, let's just say it was Let's Dance era Bowie.
And it worked for Sam.
'Nuff said. :)
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