First, a few weekend vignettes:

Who says AMTRAK doesn't have a sense of humor? We'd just pulled out of New Haven, when the conductor gets on the intercom and invites everyone to go to the Cafe car for refreshments. "And I would like to point out our children's special today -- Campbells Liver Soup! Extra chunky!" I later did go up to the cafe car, and there was a young girl of about ten deciding what to get. I looked at her mother and I said, "I heard the special is good today." The mother agreed, as did the lady selling the food. The little girl looked horrified.

This was the first time I went back to campus and realized that I was of a totally different generation than the kids on campus. For kids they were. The times I'd gone back previously, while I knew that we weren't all the same age, I felt some commonality. Now? Just babes.

And those babes must have a hell of a lot more money than we ever did. They've replaced all the great cheap stores of our time with an Urban Outfitters, J. Crew, Origins and ... horror of horrors... an Au Bon Pain. That's the worst one, as we used to rag on Harvard-ites for the big honking ABP in the middle of Harvard Square. "Commercial Yuppie Bastards". There for the grace of God, went us.


Oh, what the hell. I'll also go along with Flipsycab's quiz. I did cut and paste it from Heidi's site, though, as I'll have to change fewer of the answers...

What year was it? 1985-86
What were your three favorite bands or musical artists? Squeeze, Elvis Costello, and somebody else. It's now long enough ago that I'm trying to remember what I liked when. We liked whatever was "alternative" and wasn't Madonna or U2
What was your favorite outfit? Another thing lost to the mists of time. I wasn't particularly fashionable, more "classic". I probably still have some of that stuff somewhere, like sweaters.
What was up with your hair? Still classic. Thankfully, my yearbook picture has me with normal hair, tied partially back in a barette. When you realize I'm from a wealthy Jewish community on Long Island, it's a miracle that I didn't succumb to "big-hair-itis'. And I don't have the black eyeliner thing going on, either.
Who were your best friends? I was in transition -- what I remember about senior year was that many of the folks that I had been inseparable with up until that point had gone in a different direction. They were still my friends, but I also hung out with a lot of people that I hadn't spent so much time with before. However, I will let the inside cover pages of my yearbook generate the names: Lisa, Laura, Howard, Michael, Ian and Robert. These are still the folks I'd call in the middle of the night if I really needed to talk, even if I haven't spoken to a few in many years.
Where did you work? As a teacher's aide in a gifted and talented program for kids at a local university.
Did you take the bus? Yup. Driving age was 18, the school wasn't near anything, so we all did. Wasn't a sign of shame.
Who did you have a crush on? My crush had expired by senior year. I was looking forward to new things. (That, and the unrequited one had broken my heart somewhere around tenth grade. The requited one? Eleventh)
Did you fight with your parents? Nope. I saved that for my 20s
Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on? It was, of course, Glenn Tilbrook. I'm sure there was a side of something else English, though.
Did you smoke cigarettes? Nope.
Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack because you were too nervous to find your locker? Why would I be nervous about finding a locker? I did carry a bunch of stuff around because my locker was all the way at one end of the building not near most of my classes.
Did you have a 'clique'? Depends on your perspective. I would say no, but it turns out later according to other people, I did. They tracked students, so most of us had been in all the same classes since about eighth grade. I guess I wouldn't have wanted to come into the middle of that either.
Did you have "The Max" like Zach Kelly and Slater? Okay, I'm now so old that I have no idea what that question means. What show am I culturally deficient on?
Admit it, were you popular? Define popular. I did okay, especially with the brainy and arty kids. Most of my life, I've usually gotten along with all groups, although never central to any one of them. I controlled enough of the school's resources and was in good with most of the faculty and administration that I turned out to be a good person to know.
Who did you want to be just like? Me. Isn't that the goal?
What did you want to be when you grew up? No cloo. Still don't.
Where did you think you'd be at the age you are now? Also no cloo, although there certainly was some idea of married with kids. Imagine not having done that at 36? The horror...