1983 through 1993

Ahhh...the 80's and 90's.

Not only the years that spawned Breakfast Club and Rocky, but also Reaganomics and Nirvana.

Let's recap the second third, shall we?

1983- I turn twelve. Twelve is a funny age because all of a sudden I feel a lot older, but I'm still not quite thinking about girls. I am, however, thinking about the basketball hoop that my dad installed in our driveway. When I'm not playing basketball, my next door neighbor and friend John Cox and I play "Jumpman" or "Montezuma's Revenge" on his Commodore 64. This is also the year that I move from the comfortable environment of "South Londonderry Elementary School" into the less comfortable and more intimidating "Londonderry Junior High School." For some reason, I decide to play trumpet in Band.

1984- Lucky thirteen. Junior High is pretty cool at this point. I'm officially a teen. The math feud continues. For the first time in my life, I struggle with a subject in school: Algebra. Also for the first time, I'm forced to leave all of my familiar friends in the smartest math and move to less prestigious middle math class. It's not quite "dumb kids math" but it seems disappointing to me. I'm told that my immature mind can't quite grasp the abstract concepts of Algebra. I feel like a loser. BUT, in slightly better than "dumb kid math" I meet my next "girlfriend," Chrissy B. Later that year, after a trip to Washington D.C., I give her a sleeveless souvenir from our nation's capital. It's a horrible looking 80's style shirt with "Washington D.C." in cursive writing over an annoying checkered rectangle pattern. That pretty much ends that relationship. This is they year I go to my first "dance." I ride the wall the whole time and long for the courage to ask someone to dance. Zeppelin closes out the dance, and the year with "Stairway to Heaven." I still feel an adolescent, confused longing when I hear that song.

1985- Fourteen. My short career as a trumpet player comes to an end as I opt instead for Chorus. One of the songs we sing is "Old Time Rock and Roll." Weird. This class is one of the few classes where I am actually exposed to the "bad kids," who sit in the back of the room. I make a crucial error one day when one of the scariest girls in school (named Lisa) wears a pin on her denim jacket of a musician of some kind in strange makeup. She asks me who I think it is and I naively guess, "Pat Benetar?" No. Not Pat Benetar. It ends up being Tommy Lee decked out in his full Motley Crue, "Shout at the Devil" era garb. I am ridiculed by all of the "bad kids," but also somehow become their project. This begins my descension into terrible 80's glam rock.

I also compete on the "LJHS Warriors" gymnastics team. After a heartbreaking SECOND failed attempt to make the baseball team, I realize that maybe my forte is bouncing and flipping around the floor on mats. John Cox and I play a lot of Tennis and have moved on to a Commodore 128. Load time for games has been cut to only a few minutes. Our family uses an Apple IIe. I become a Mac person.

1986- After my first day of High School, I come home shocked and announce to my mother, "Mom, some of the boys have MOUSTACHES." I felt like a five year old at this big new school. Later in the year, I take Driver's Ed with Mr. Royal and am excited to discover that I'll be learning how to drive in his brand new, 1986 Chevy Monte Carlo SS. Some of the other unlucky kids get stuck learning in his wife's Toyota Corolla. Suckers. Again, I miss the cut on the Baseball Team. On the flip side, I kick the shit out of the Presidential Physical Fitness test. On the agility portion, I'm the best in my grade. I continue my career as a gymnast and also ski in the ski club. Mrs. Giddings, my freshman English teacher inspires me. I still hate math.

I get my first job at Shaw's Supermarket as a Carry-Out, quickly advance to bagger and then cashier. If I thought Junior High Dances sucked, they were nothing compared to High School dances. I'm as awkward as ever, but now I have girls who look a lot more like women to be scared shitless of.

1987- Sophomore year had to be one of the best years. I get my driver's license and my first car: My grandmother's 1975 baby blue Nova with only 21,000 miles on it. It was by no means cool, but it's free and better than no car. I continue to work at Shaw's as a cashier. I also attend International Gymnastics Camp in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and discover that I'm really not ever going to be a world-class gymnast. My growth spurt has begun and I've already outgrown the average gymnast by 4 or 5 inches. Still, that doesn't prevent me from buying queer bumper stickers from IGC that say, "Meet me at the Bar," and "I Flip for Gymnastics." I stick the two ugly stickers on my bedroom door at crazy angles, much to the chagrin of my parents. The remnants of the stickers remain to this day. Irving the parakeet has been dead for a couple of years and I've upgraded to a Cockatiel named Tyler. She lays fruitless eggs non-stop. At some point I decide that having a caged bird is a horrible thing.

Oh, and one afternoon, while working on my new BMX bike that I bought used from Keith Lewis, my brother decided he didn't want to help me anymore and kicked my bike after an argument. I chased him around the cellar and out the back door, but my arm got hung up on the storm door and I ripped it wide open, requiring 22 stitches (it should have been 100) and leaving a six inch scar.

1988 Junior Year. I met my first real girlfriend, Sharon W., which would last into college. The Nova is still running strong and even though it's not a Camaro, I drive it like it is. Up the street, Dave Wood DOES have a 69 Camaro and whenever I see him around town I try to race him. I get killed all the time and endanger lots of people. I didn't care. I was invincible. I begin to think about college and tell myself that I'm going to get serious about my grades which have averaged around a 2.5. Mostly, I'm bored by school except for English and computers. John C. gets an Odyssey gaming system and we play "Pick-Axe Pete." Ultimately though, we go back to the Commodore 128 to play Ultima and Jumpman 2. I get fired from Shaw's for cashing in coupons and keeping the money. I do one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life and confess to my parents that basically I got fired for stealing. They are wordless and that makes it worse. I feel like Yankee's shit. Barney, my dog since infancy, finally dies at 17. On a lighter note, I take a class in high school called "Operation: Venture," which is like no other class in school; hiking, rock climbing, outward bound activities. It's amazing.

1989 Last year of high school, first year of college. I've been a good kid all through high school; no drinking, no drugs. In college, that lasts about a month. I get drunk for the first time on horrible wine coolers called "Purple Passion." I make up for years of repressed living in college. That leads to a split between Sharon and I. I also join the KSC Diving Team. My short career as a diver is highlighted by a drunken evening breaking into the pool and doing shots of tequila while diving off the high dive. Sometimes I don't know how I survived my youth. I do numerous other stupid, dangerous, fun things that should get me killed. None of them do. I do more of them. My grades suck. But I'm 18 now so I can fight in a war, vote and am officially "legal."

1990 College is blending into a haze. I'm still working summers at a local amusement park called, "Canobie Lake Park." As the nineties begin, I leave my glam rock behind for grunge (although I still do go see Poison and Slaughter at the Springfield Civic Center the next year.) My grades are SUCKING in college. Even my old favorite, English, has become just another class. I choose to party instead of study. I am aimless, but free.

1991 Twenty years old. I pass the Nova along to Todd and buy my first used car: A red Honda CRX. My dad co-signs the loan and then ends up paying for most of it because I'm the worst ever. Despite my promises to make the payments, I more often than not, fail to do so. It is the beginning of my mismanagement of money. Coincidentally, I get my first credit card: A Citibank Visa with a $600 limit. I manage to max it out within days. I also buy my first beat up guitar at Retro Music and start learning to play.

My grades are so bad at this point that I'm afraid to show my parents. KSC kicks me out of school for poor grades. I write a letter pleading my case and they put me on academic probation.

1992 I'm living in the TKE house. The house is so disgusting that portions of it should be condemned. Because no one pays the bills, we have no heat. It's hell. I work at Stratton Mountain Vermont over the winter break and one day on the way home, I made a guy throw up with some noxious flatulence. My brother and I still talk about that day with reverence. It was a proud moment. I decide to audition for a musical when I get back from winter break: "Little Shop of Horrors."

1993 My life changes this year. I get cast as the dentist, Orin in "Little Shop." I meet my future wife in the show. I finally have a direction. It's the best time of my life up until that point and the first time I not only feel looked up to by my peers, but also proud of what I'm doing. I begin to call myself an actor. I work my last summer at Canobie Lake Park and long for a career in Acting. I can barely concentrate on anything because of my newfound passion and direction. I want everything right away and I read every book I can get my hands on about the business of acting. The cockatiel is still alive and laying eggs. Fool.

Next: 1994-2004!

Comments

[Paul]

Oh man. Canobie lake park... boy has that seen better days. I got my first job at demoulas.

I went to school at ulowell and their tke house was probably as bad.

How very odd that people a continent away can have such similar life experiences. Either that or it's just that southern nh/northern mass it's all the same kinda thing

[radmad]

zeppelin's stairway to heaven watched me dance for hours

on different days

and under brighter and dimmer lights

but they all glittered

all i can remember is the shoulder of the boy

[lara]

hey now! i was an honor's student and yet - i was in 'dumb kids math'. ever since 3rd grade when i got my first D in math. we have our strengths and weaknesses.
it amuses me no end that you were a shaw's boy. :p
yay to elisa for cleaning you up - you scruffy frat boy! ;p

[Julie]

Found your blog through WWdN. Ahh, the memories. I had feathered hair as a kid in the 70s. By the 80s I discovered hair spray and, well, I'm probably entirely responsible for the whole in the ozone today.

These days I can barely get up, dressed and out the door on time, nevermind take the time to orchestrate my hair. And back then, I ALSO spent TONS of time on Atari. It's a miracle I got good grades.

[steph]

you know, i used to go to canobie lake park every summer when i was growing up. i may have even seen you way back then! :)

[your hegemon]

When did you live in the TKE house? or is that an example of exaggeration? It was gross when you pledged and partied there, but..I am proud of your accomplishments, and of your using English skills now by documenting your life experiences. Best of luck

[Shane]

Turgeon-

Well, I guess technically I lived at 84-86 Davis. It was not the Blake Street TKE house, but it was considered a TKE house due to the fact that about 14 of us lived there. Paul and Evan lived on the top floor with Timmy. I lived in the living room of the left side with Ben, Dan and Rich and Hitchcock. Brian and Rob lived on the other side with a bunch of other TKE guys. Everyone in the house was a TKE brother, so I'm calling it a TKE house; not an exaggeration. But you're right. It was gross. I still have the pictures.

[Dianna]

Wow!! I can't believe I found another Londonderry Shaws person on the internet. I'm a little younger than you -- graduated LHS in 1996 and worked at Shaws senior year and on breaks during college. I came upon this page completely by chance (I'm not even sure what I was looking up). Anyway, it's bizarre what a small, small world it is.

[Brian C]

Wow, nice web-blog Shane. This is Brian Carroll, I lived across the hall from you in college, worked in the KSC theater with you, I was actually the plant in Little Shop, remember the night the lift didn't work and your chair didn't rise up from the floor? How about the gerbel in the dining hall? My roommate Jeff? Say hi to your wife for me, if either of you can even remember me. -BC PS-Cameron Diaz, holy crap, pretty good for a KSC boy! Just kidding.

[BenH]

Whoa...I can't handle the memories! Turgeon, Brian C, Davis St (it took a lot of therapy to get through some of that shit). Good to see some the Keene State grads are still going. Shane, technically I introduced you to Elisa first in Freshman year so if you go with Cameron, can I have Eisa? Anyone remember Appian Way when it was dirts and potholes with the lovely sheets hanging off of the Tennis Court in front of Huntress Hall? Beautiful I say, just beautiful. Be good, Ben Holobowicz

[Slinger]

That 11 Blake st house was truly a five star accommodation, everyday was like a day in the zoo. There were Sloths, Roaches, Gunther-Beasts, and many other zany characters straight out of a Dr Seuss book on acid.

Ahhh the memories