Reality++
In 1988, I'd lie on the roof of my house all night long, listening to Pink Floyd, in secret, because my dad and I were the only people I knew who thought they were cool. To my friends it was embarrassing 70s music.
I still went to junior high dances. This year the girls danced with me, because the other guys were still too busy watching them from across the room. The girls still didn't recognize me at school the next day, though.
My best friend aspired to become Ducky, from Pretty in Pink. I thought he was crazy, but I still respected him. One day his dad got drunk and beat him up. I never new things like this really happened. After a day or two, he pretended they didn't either.
I tried to convince the "popular" kids at school that the college radio station was cooler than the Top 40 ones. They didn't understand, but I didn't care, and I stayed up late at night listening to New Order, R.E.M., Peter Schilling, Kate Bush, Peter Murphy, the SugarCubes, and the B-52's.
I fished for my retainer in every trash can in the school. Every day at lunch I'd buy a bag of M&M's and a Coke so I could sit outside and talk to my friend Jennifer. She enjoyed hanging out with me because she said I was the only guy around who was only interested in being her friend. She was beautiful. I felt like a fraud.
I traded in my Jams and surfer shirts for Levi jeans and white T-shirts. I pegged my jeans legs. I traded my old friends in for new ones. I wasn't sure what to believe in. everything I owned had a peace sign on it.
The Violent Femmes' Add It Up was the most subversive song I'd heard in my life. I learned to slam dance, pogo, and tuna fish. Moshing is for wimps.
In a fit of frustration my Earth Science teacher gave up teaching astronomy coordinates, and put me in charge. I taught the class. They learned it. Never underestimate the power of understanding your audience.
One night I happened across a New Age program on the radio. Mixed with some of the typical whale-song drivel I found something miraculous: Tangerine Dream, Harold Budd, Brian Eno.... It started another whole ritual of secret musical tastes: The Joshua Tree when my friends were around, and Zeit when they weren't.
I still went to junior high dances. This year the girls danced with me, because the other guys were still too busy watching them from across the room. The girls still didn't recognize me at school the next day, though.
My best friend aspired to become Ducky, from Pretty in Pink. I thought he was crazy, but I still respected him. One day his dad got drunk and beat him up. I never new things like this really happened. After a day or two, he pretended they didn't either.
I tried to convince the "popular" kids at school that the college radio station was cooler than the Top 40 ones. They didn't understand, but I didn't care, and I stayed up late at night listening to New Order, R.E.M., Peter Schilling, Kate Bush, Peter Murphy, the SugarCubes, and the B-52's.
I fished for my retainer in every trash can in the school. Every day at lunch I'd buy a bag of M&M's and a Coke so I could sit outside and talk to my friend Jennifer. She enjoyed hanging out with me because she said I was the only guy around who was only interested in being her friend. She was beautiful. I felt like a fraud.
I traded in my Jams and surfer shirts for Levi jeans and white T-shirts. I pegged my jeans legs. I traded my old friends in for new ones. I wasn't sure what to believe in. everything I owned had a peace sign on it.
The Violent Femmes' Add It Up was the most subversive song I'd heard in my life. I learned to slam dance, pogo, and tuna fish. Moshing is for wimps.
In a fit of frustration my Earth Science teacher gave up teaching astronomy coordinates, and put me in charge. I taught the class. They learned it. Never underestimate the power of understanding your audience.
One night I happened across a New Age program on the radio. Mixed with some of the typical whale-song drivel I found something miraculous: Tangerine Dream, Harold Budd, Brian Eno.... It started another whole ritual of secret musical tastes: The Joshua Tree when my friends were around, and Zeit when they weren't.