Senior Year of High School

Current mood: nostalgic

SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL...

What year was it?
1981-1982. The beginning of the Reagan years. *wretch*gag*

What were your favorite bands?
It was all about the ska/mods. The Specials. The Selecter. Madness. Bad Manners. The (English) Beat. The (Quadrophenia-era) Who. Check out a movie called "Dance Craze" for an idea of my musical taste back then. They showed it at midnight at the Marina Pacifica theatre. I guess now the movement is referred to as "second wave ska", but we didn't know it at the time.

It was about The Pretenders (in concert, Valentine's Day). It was most definitely about The Clash (in concert, the night after graduation). And the outlandish Oingo Boingo (I've seen them play several times, but don't remember exact dates or years). But The Jam was my absolute favorite.

What was your favorite outfit?
At the beginning of the school year, it was a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt and straight, khaki trouser skirt. After Christmas break, when I got back from a visit to San Diego (birthplace of the aforementioned Ska/Mod revival/movement/wave), it was a white miniskirt, white go-go boots, and weird leopard-print sweater-jacket thing. Also, anything blackandwhite was aces.

What was up with your hair?
For the Pretenders concert, my friend Lisa and I died our hair with food coloring. Lisa, a towheaded blonde, used red dye, which turned pink. She got grounded. I, a "dirty blonde", used blue dye, which turned green. I got a haircut. A short one.

Who were your best friends?
Katie Bridges, Allison Warner, Lisa McKim. I can proudly say I'm still good friends with two of those three (Love ya Ali and Katie...Lisa, where are you?).

What did you do after school?
I went to work. Boy, did I work! Frying tacos at Jack-in-the-Box, hostessing at Park Pantry, getting hit on by 40-year-olds while working at Winchells, making beansprout sandwiches and squeezing carrot juice at the Naturway health food store.

Where did you work?
I think I just covered that in the question above!

Did you take the bus?
No, most of the time I walked. Sometimes a guy would decide he liked me and walk me home. I took the bus to Park Pantry, though.

Who did you have a crush on?
OMG! Pretty much every closeted gay guy in my class! I sure knew how to pick 'em. Oh, I also really liked the Big Punk On Campus, Bill, who didn't know I was alive.

Did you fight with your parents?
Often. In fact, I got kicked out of the house when I was 17.

Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on?
Adam Ant of Adam and the Ants! Dave Wakeling of The English Beat! Paul Weller of The Jam!

Did you smoke cigarettes?
YES! Clove cigarettes. They were the height of fashion in the early '80s.

Did you have a "clique"?
No, at least I don't think so. I wasn't the type to hang out with just one kind of person. I flowed between several groups...everywhere and nowhere, ya know? Just trying to find my identity.

Did you have "The Max" like Zach, Kelly, and Slater?
Huh? I know who Zach, Kelly, and Slater are, but have no idea who or what "The Max" is. I only watched a couple of episodes of "Saved by the Bell" (and found it nauseating). This survey must've been written by someone much younger than I am!

Admit it, were you popular?
Hell no! I was several echelons below popular. I remember one of the popular kids called me a "freak rocker" (referring to my being a punk rocker). He was an asshole. You were an ASSHOLE, Dan Larson!

Who did you want to be just like?
Judy, who looked like a model and sat in my English class. Lisa McKim and I studied her every outfit, haircut, and move.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer. Instead, I became an English teacher. Not a big stretch.

Where did you think you'd be at the age you are now?
I thought I'd be the intentionally single mother of a Quinn Cummings-cute ten- year-old girl. Turns out I can't have children. Tragic. I think I'll go to bed now.