Thursday, March 02, 2006

An 80's Thursday Thirteen!



Thirteen Things about Carney in the 80's!


1. This Thursday 13 80's theme was inspired by Barry over at the Fiction Scribe who was reminiscing about life in the 80's.
2. You're not allowed to laugh at this picture, because I'll know if you do!!! This is my senior pic, it was 1984. Do you know how long I had to fight with my parents to be allowed to get that hair cut??? The only reason I had to fight was because I saw the hairstyle on an album cover.
3.One of the biggest local bands in the area was The Sharks who were an MTV favorite as well. This is the band, with the album cover that I got my hairstyle from for my senior picture. This is the band that has now been reincarnated as the Luv Gods which I went to see recently.
4. Some of my other favorite bands of the 80's were The Stray Cats, Bow Wow Wow, X, U2, The Who and The Violent Femmes.
5. MTV, who wasn't glued to that station in the 80's?? We didn't have cable at my house but my friends did. And fortunately, so did most of the people I used to babysit for. I remember one of the last things out of the parents mouth before they left for the evening was "no MTV." And as soon as they walked out the door, MTV was the first thing I put on.
6. Atari...Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Space Invaders, Combat, Asteroids. When I wasn't watching MTV, I'd be playing Atari. I hope I paid attention to the kids I was babysitting at least a little.
7. 1982, the year I first saw the man of my dreams, Alex Ressetar. He was so cool because he was a punk rocker and liked The Clash and The Ramones and wore a leather jacket and Chuck Taylor high tops.
8. The 80's were when I discovered pointy toed shoes. This somewhat had to do with a group of French kids that were touring with an orchestra that was visiting the U.S. Because I was in the band, we were expected to host a kid. My family ended up hosting the conductor of the orchestra. He didn't speak much English and my French was really bad then. However, we kept in touch over many years. When I went to France and Belgium in 1985, he and his wife met me at a restaurant. He has since died but his family was kind enough to send me the memorial notice.
9. The 80's were also the time I made the conscious decision that I didn't want to be "normal." The more bizarre I could be, the better. Some things haven't changed!
10. I got my first job in the 80's. After I graduated from school, my parents weren't buying into the "I think I should have off over the summer and then get a job in September." I had a really good argument for that all cooked up. It didn't fly. So I got my first job at a department store.
11. After working for a while and getting a new group of friends since most of my high school friends went off to college, I discovered, I looked old enough to get into bars.
12. My friends Michele, Jeannette and I also discovered cruising the Circuit. It was in downtown Harrisburg and consisted of driving in circles, smoking, listening to music and meeting "guys." Whoohoo! Now that's what I call fun! I was the only one of my friends who was open and honest enough with my parents to actually tell them that we were downtown cruising. Maybe they weren't quite clear what it was we were actually doing.
13. I finally turned 21 in 1987. I remember my friends gave me a cake with condoms all over it. I don't know what they were trying to say. Finally, I could get into bars and clubs "legally." Our favorite here was The Metron. Well it was my favorite. My friend Rhoda called it a "drug haven." Problem? It was an old warehouse with painted black walls and the most disgusting carpet that squished when you walked on it. But it was the coolest club. I was there every Friday, sometimes Saturday too.

Happy Thursday all!!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)



4 comments:

Barry S. said...

Hey! Thanks for the link! I loved Chuck Taylors...I have a pair even now!

I also loved Atari. Isn't it weird how crapy Atari really is? Nowadays, kids in utero could master it in no time flat.

mattandriver said...

I loved games too. You can still play them

Unknown said...

I missed out on all that 80's fun stuff. No MTV, no atari (or any video games at all).

Hehe, I was only 6 when you were a senior :P

Luvs ya lady

Bone said...

We were playing my Atari Flashback a few weeks ago. My sister asks "How do you jump?" I'm like, there's only one stick and one button. If one doesn't work, it's obviously the other.