I'm not really sure why but here the other day I stopped and took a closer look a my world, it occurred to me that not only am I more or less the same guy I was when I heard "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel for the first time but - not surprisingly - my home haven't changed all that much either.

My music collection is still 99 % vinyl, my dressing style, hair and language is more or less the same and I still have posters of Rolling Stones, Sandra, a Lamborghini Countach, Samantha Fox and a black-light panther on its branch in the jungle, on the floor is a white, longhaired rug (Don't know the english term) and in front of the stereo are two bag-chairs.

My personal theory about why our generation are so attached to the era between the Death of Disco and the Fall of the Berlin Wall is that we were raised (Even if our parents didn't realize it) to be adults in a Cold War world but guess what; by the time we grew up the Cold War was over and we had to be adults in a world we weren't prepared for.

That theory might not pass closer scrutiny and I did come up with it after smoking weed with some buddies.

I guess you can say I've embraced the best of both worlds-I still love listening to my old vinyl records, cassettes, and CD's, yet I have my iPod and take it everywhere I go; I also continue to enjoy watching movies and videos on both VHS and DVD, that sort of thing. I'm just not in tune with the current music scene for the last 10 years.

In terms of taste in music/clothes etc. I haven't really changed too much. In terms of my outlook on life-BIG TIME!!! I am more aware of what is going on in the world than I used to be. In the 80s, I was a registered Republican (yeah, yeah, I know.  :-[ ) Now, I am a liberal independent. And I TRY to learn from my mistakes-which I didn't used to do.


Cat

I'm somewhat taller, abit over weight, and live somewhere else.

Even though I am 30, I am still the biggest dork that I was back when I was in my younger years. LOL! I've learned to embrace it nowadays....and what used to be considered as "dorky", or "geeky" is now...well, "quirky".  I still love things from my childhood (old shows/cartoons, kids books, toys..etc)...I am and always will be a kid at heart.  I still like to listen to music from when I was younger...and I have learned to embrace music/movies/styles/etc...from many years before my "time".

"You've been reading some old letters
You smile and think how much you've changed
All the money in the world
Couldn't bring back those days."

--The The

1987 -- Orange Mohawk
2007 -- No orange Mohawk

Oh, a couple of other minor things -- I developed the capicity for reason and learned how to earn a living..
:P

But here I am listening to Fad Gadget w/ Einsturzende Neubauten, and I love it now like I loved it then!

When I go to the '80s board I pop in an '80s CD or when I pop in an '80s CD I go to the '80s board, either way...

I'm not a guy who goes on about the good old days because the old days weren't so good...but there they were.

"You can laugh aloud at those middle-aged fakes,
well I hope you don't make the same mistakes as me..."
--Fad Gadget


In terms of taste in music/clothes etc. I haven't really changed too much. In terms of my outlook on life-BIG TIME!!! I am more aware of what is going on in the world than I used to be. In the 80s, I was a registered Republican (yeah, yeah, I know.  :-[ ) Now, I am a liberal independent. And I TRY to learn from my mistakes-which I didn't used to do.


You....but how?
I voted for Reagan in my gradeschool strawpoll if it makes you feel any better!
;)

Well, even in 1989 I was only 7-8 years old, but I've always had a pretty keen sense of things, so I'll try and answer this question.

I guess my similarities are that I still like the same video games and music I did then. On a basic level, I have some of the same personality too (then again, I think most of us never entirely change in that regard, just our surroundings). Obviously my daily life is different, and I've definitely changed in the things I'm aware of in the world - some for the better and some not. It does feel strange that this is starting to get far enough away to seem like a stereotypical vision of "the future" from an '80s perspective.

This is a good topic, something that deserves to have some genuine Harvard level research thrown at it.  I have, of course, changed but I still believe that the value system I had then is more appropriate and sensible than a typical adult value system in the new millenium.  My music tastes are preserved in aspic and are representative of 1982 - 1988.  I know there has been good music since, I'm just not interested in pursuing it. I think it has something to do with the fact that as I get older I begin to see through pop music, yet the music I grew up with is immune from this criticism.  Humanity, to a greater or lesser extent, in the new Millenium seems to be existing like the protagonist in the Don Henley song "All she wants to do is dance".

The lyrics are a personal commentary, critical of Americans for being more concerned with self-gratification than with the domestic and foreign policies of their government. It uses pre-revolution Cuba as a metaphor for this.

the above was taken from wikipedia.

So I tend to look backwards for the my inspiration to keep going forward.

Well, I spent most of my time in the 1980's as a baby, so I would say I've changed quite a bit.

I have not changed very much. I was in high school from 79 to 83 and college till 87.  I guess I wear a lot less day-glo colors, but my taste has not changed.

i was actually a sullen, angst-ridden, vaguely gothy shoe-gazing depressive fixated on the misery of the world and resolutely fixed in my determination to never ever smile. i'm pretty much the opposite person i was then. a night in jail and the Becky Crane experience colluded to make me realize life is too short to be miserable all the time.

I voted for Reagan in my gradeschool strawpoll if it makes you feel any better!
;)



In high school (1980) we had our mock election and I did vote for John Anderson. (Who?  :D ;D ;D ) I didn't vote in the 1984 election because of the shift I was on and couldn't get to the polls. Then in 1988, I voted for Pappy Bush.  :-

1987 -- Orange Mohawk
2007 -- No orange Mohawk



Do you have pics? I would LOVE to see that.  :D ;D ;D ;D



Cat

I've grown up a lot. Mostly I'm comfortable in my skin now which I definatly wasn't then.

I thought Regan was "God".  Now I don't believe any politician can and should be a "Godlike" figure.

Back then I would have been caught dead hanging out in a library, now they have to push me out at closing time.

Back then I wanted to be like everyone else.  Now I think conformity is lame.

Do you have pics? I would LOVE to see that.  :D ;D ;D ;D



Cat

It wasn't a fan Mohawk, it was more of a Clash Mohawk, like the one Joe Strummer had.  I went through several phases dyeing and bleaching and spiking it up.  I was at my most despondant when I did the Mohawk with a straight razor one night....

I think there are some pictures my sister has, but I find the whole episode rather embarrassing.  

I was more cerebral/political than the "punks."  I found the whole scene vapid and anti-intellectual.  I never liked sleaze either.  I suppose I might have found more compatriots if I was going to art school or something.  By the mid-80s, punk became nothing more than an adjunct of white trash, and ten years later, the same thing happened to Goth.  Check out a site called suicidegirls.com, and you'll see what I mean! W.T. all the way!
::)

In the summer of '87, my hair started falling out from all the chemicals, so I had the barber give me a buzzcut and I've worn it close cropped ever since.  

People think this sounds like something from an '80s comedy, but it's true--

My mother absolutely hated those flat top haircuts.  They reminded her of the '50s.  So I had this ex-hippie mom saying, "You're not getting another haircut are you?  When are you going to let your hair grow out?  I think those crewcuts are just awful!"
The rebelled against their parents' values by growing their hair long.  As it turns out, I rebelled against my parents' values by getting it cut!"
:D

Physically a lot,i was 11 in 1989.

I'm less rebellious,i love and understand my family more,i've seen and love the world outhere,i grew up and still behave more like a child than when i was 11 :-[

But...i still love to dance,pink is still my favorite color,going to the beach is still my favorite thing to do(well,ok 2nd favorite),right now i sleep in the same bed i did back then,and my dreams are still waiting to come true.

A lot

Except that I still like animation, though mostly from the theatrical era

Hmm. Let's see:

A few more aches and pains
A little less hair on top of my head
A college certificate of expulsion (don't ask)
A college degree and two years of seminary
A wife
Six cats
No more D&D

In high school (1980) we had our mock election and I did vote for John Anderson.


I remember John Anderson very well.  My mom worked at his campaign office in Boise.  She liked and supported Reagan, but thought that Anderson was more "substance".  And there is no doubt that Adnerson had a lot more substance then the next big independent candidate: Ross Perot.


I thought Regan was "God".  Now I don't believe any politician can and should be a "Godlike" figure.


I agree with you there.  And there is one thing that nobody can deny:  Reagan made people proud to be an American again.  When he came into office, our economy was on the rocks, we were under gas rationing again, inflation and unemployment were both in the double digits.  We had hostages in Iran, and Carter gave the opinion that he would fold at the first sign of resistance.

I always tended to view Reagan more as a modern incarnation of Teddy Roosevelt.  Teddy frightened a lot of people when he became President, and it was assumed that he would have us in a war at the first opportunity.  But his strong diplomatic ability was credited far and wide, and he was even able to help stem off direct fighting.  And his apparent willingness to fight to uphold the Monrow Doctrine helped keep the European Powers from trying to reclaim their former American colonies.

Seen as a "Radical Industrialist", he not only forced the coal industry to negotiate with the fledgling unions, he also enacted some of the first industry regulations.  He was the one that forced Congress to pass the first Food and Drug act, as well as the first Meat Inspection act.  He also created our National Park Service, setting aside huge areas of our nation to protect it from run-away exploitation.  He was the last person verified to have seen a Passenger Pigeon in the wild, and put in place the foundation of what would become the Endangered Species laws.

And while everybody was sure that he would start off major wars, the US was not involved in any major conflicts during his presidency.  In fact, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Russo-Japanese war (which was spiraling so far out of control that it almost became the "First World War").  He also prevented a French-German war by helping to negotiate the division of Morocco.

Yea, Ronnie scared a lot of people to death.  But in reality, what he did was not much different then the actions of Teddy.  And I have always been a believer of the "Big Stick" policy.

*****

As far as how I have changed, it is hard to say.  I was a strong "Reagan Republican" in the 1980's, and was an Infantryman in the Marines.  I wore short hair, drove a motorcycle, and listened to The Doors and The Beatles.

Now, I am a fairly Liberal Republican in many ways.  I have short hair again, and am going in the Army next week.  I still drive a motorcycle, and listen to The Doors and The Beatles.

So the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Reagan made people proud to be an American again. 
:-X
I have a great rejoinder here, but I'm not gonna start trouble....

I do get more "conservative" as I get older and the older I get the more I realize those who defined conservatism for my generation were not conservatives at all.  They were a lot of things, conservatism wasn't one of them.

The older you get the more consequences you see to actions--your own actions and the actions of others. 

The paradox is when you're young and foolish, ain't nobody can tell you you're young and foolish.  You won't listen.  I sure as hell didn't. 

I'm not thinking in terms of "liberal versus conservative" so much as "what works versus what does not work." 

I concluded a whole raft of social changes in the sixties and seventies did not work.  It's not that they were an abomination before the Lord.  They just flat out did not work.  Specifics?  That would require a post on the politics board.  However, I will say the social dysfunctions we see as a result of that era do not come close to outweighing the social advances of the same period.

Let's say from the 80s to now I went from A to B....


(aaahhhhh! stirrup pants!!!)

I voted for Reagan in my gradeschool strawpoll if it makes you feel any better!
;)



We had one of those that year.  I was in 4th grade, and I was the only one in the class who DIDN'T vote for Reagan!

I wasn't old enough to vote in either of the two elections where Reagan was running, and my school wasn't progressive enough to have things like straw polls. I did once ask my dad if he had voted for Reagan, and his reply was "Well... I don't recall."

We had one of those that year.  I was in 4th grade, and I was the only one in the class who DIDN'T vote for Reagan!

I was being a rebel.  See, I went to a private gradeschool patronized by progressive families.  Jerry Brown won the strawpoll hands down. A mere 12 years later I thought Ronald Reagan was the anti-christ and volunteered for Jerry Brown in '92!
;D