Life, Love, Long Hair, Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth, and other mysteries

All this and more, from a semi-Serbian, slightly sane, former editor for physicians and surgeons, who is the mother of seven kids.


Wednesday 29 February 2012

When I Was a Teenager

(If you're getting this by email, click the blog title to see the pictures and video).

I was recently asked to tell stories of when I was a teenager.

That could become a whole blog in itself, and I am sure I will have more specific entries in future in that regard, but a lot of it is stuff I am not sure I should publicly share!

The challenge lies in deciding what is worth mentioning.

Age 16.




Those who knew me back then probably assumed I was a pothead.  In actuality, I smoked very little compared to others in my circles.

Circles.

I had these circles of friends, some of which overlapped, but others which clashed.

Some friends from one circle didn't want anything to do with those in other circles.

I felt I was in the middle of different groups.

Can you relate?

Always, though, there was my best friend, who I refer to in my blogging as Shakira.

The stupid things we used to come up with - and still do sometimes when we get together - could fill a book.

Again, though, the challenge exists in figuring out which stories are acceptable to repeat in mixed company.

Oh, I know!  I'll post a separate blog entry on the short story Shakira inspired me to write called "Neil Of Fortune".  (Done - here!)

But back to the topic - when I was a teenager.

I admit, I was bad:  among other irresponsible and unwise behavior, I used and sold various drugs, I drank a lot of booze, I stole - and received due punishment from the law on all of those - but worse, it all meant harm to myself which has taken years of hard work to correct, and on which I am still working.

And worse still, I caused pain to those who loved me.

Now that I am a parent of teens, I can relate to how my own parents felt.

But there were non-bad things, too - everyday stuff, like getting up in the morning and listening to a Led Zeppelin record while doing my hair and makeup...

Grabbing a cup of yogurt, throwing some granola into it, and eating it with a spoon on my half hour walk to school...

Spending some of my lunch hours locked in the darkroom processing pictures...

Age 18 with the camera I frequently used from high school photography club.
Arriving home from school famished, slathering an inch of peanut butter onto a piece of toast, and piling a further half inch of butter on top of that so it'd melt in pools of delightful yet unhealthy fat...

Passing out in the rays of sunshine on my bed at 4:00 in the afternoon...

Walking to the beach at the bottom of 200 steps and writing poetry in a notebook... (see my Poetry blog entry).

Playing guitar in my room and dreaming of going to a beautiful land away from it all...



(There is a video here that won't show up if you're receiving this by email.
Click the blog title to get to the blog).


Stretching the phone cord from the kitchen to my piano and calling Shakira to teach each other songs...

Playing one of my hundreds of records or tapes in my room, by the likes of Led Zeppelin (naturally), Lynyrd Skynyrd, CCR, Pink Floyd, Bad Company, Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, Queen, The Who, Aerosmith, Rush, The Doobie Brothers, The Allman Brothers, Jethro Tull, Boston, Steve Miller Band, The B-52s, Joni Mitchell, The Eagles, Neil Young, and so much more...

And, yes, even secretly Mozart... (see my Mozart blog entry).

So much more I can, and probably will, write from my teenage years.  Thank-you, "S-Gurl", for asking me.  :)

With love,


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