Yesterday I wrote my blog post on Ryan and The Smashing Pumpkins. I'm going to keep the teen-dream alive.
I sent Ryan a text asking him what else I should post about, he gave me a few ideas, but said, "just write random stuff, you'll remember things I can't." I decided bullet pointing highlights would be best. I will leave out how we broke up, because that is a story all on its own.
Here are just some bits and pieces from "My John Hughes Life" (which was the name of my former blog).
How I Met Ryan
- I always had a big crush on Ryan, in my mind's eye, I can still see him walking through the cafeteria at Niles West wearing his Vision Street Wear Tshirt with his long, blonde hair
- My sophomore year, Ryan was dating Kim R. (though he will tell you he wasn't)
- A bunch of us kids were at the beach in Evanston drinking on the rocks - there were dozens of us
- I was 16, intoxicated, and I had just thrown up in a dumpster behind the gas station when Ryan and Kim pulled up
- I saw him and walked over to the drivers side window, spoke to Ryan for a few minutes, and then stuck my head in the car and made out with Ryan - while Kim was sitting in the passenger seat
- Ryan kissed me back, puke breath and all, we started dating shortly thereafter
- I could also be making this story up, but I know for certain that I threw up in a dumpster that night from drinking too much vodka
"Partying" with The Vandals
- One summer we all went to see The Vandals
- All of Ryan's friends were out of their minds with excitement, I was clueless
- After the show, we hung out back by the tour busses (probably tour van) hoping to meet The Vandals, I just stood there
- We met them and then ended up inviting them back to Ryan's friend Batman's apartment (Batman was his nickname, I'm guessing because he always wore the 18 hole, blue, lace-up doc martens)
- The Vandals were straight edge, so when I say "Partying", I really mean we just ate Doritos and drank pop in Batman's basement apartment with The Vandals
- I missed my curfew that night and my dad almost killed Ryan
Speaking of my Dad
- When I met Ryan, he had shoulder length, silver hair - he would bleach the color out of his hair and put old-lady blue dye in it to get it silver
- The first time I brought Ryan home to meet my parents, Ryan was wearing ripped jeans
- My dad gave him the "once-over" and asked, "Are you poor?"
- Confused, Ryan answered, "No."
- My dad replied, "Then where are the rest of your pants?"
- I was mortified
- When I met Ryan, he drove a silver Nissan
- I think in 2 years he had 3 or 4 cars
- Ryan drove like a maniac and it would make me mental
- We were coming back from the auto show, I'm sure Ryan was fired up from looking at cars
- He was driving so fast on Lake Shore Drive, in order to avoid a serious collision, he had to drive between two cars - it was a tight squeeze
- How we made it out alive, no clue
- Ryan's best friend Chris, who is a girl, hated me and the feeling was mutual
- Chris was dating a guy named Ryan (I think) who worked at 99th Floor on Halsted
- Chris's boyfriend was the jealous type and a big a-hole
- I decided I was mad at Chris for something, so I picked up the phone and I called her boyfriend at work
- I then told him, to "Keep his girlfriend away from my boyfriend" insinuating that there was something going on, but knowing full well there was not
- That following Saturday night, at Medusa's, Chris walks up to me on the dance floor and punches me
- I had it coming, but if I could go back in time, I'd do it all over again
The Beach!!!
- Most of my memories of Ryan are from summer, but we lived in Chicago
- Dempster Beach and drinking on the rocks
- Lighthouse Beach and drinking on the rocks
- Ryan and his friends setting skating on the platform between Oak Street Beach and North Avenue beach (where everyone now roller blades)
GWAR
- Probably '88 or '89 GWAR played at The Cubby Bear
- No one really knew anything about this band, or what to expect, but all of Ryan's friends wanted to go
- (Let's keep one thing in perspective here, I was a Duran Duran, Cure and Depeche Mode fan, which made girls like me fodder for the likes of GWAR fans)
- I recall a plastic head spinning from the ceiling of The Cubby Bear and fake blood shooting through the audience, and machetes, and machine guns, and masks, it was outrageous
- That night, even the skin heads were not too keen on approaching the stage
- We saw GWAR the following summer when the returned to Chicago
Tom's Place, Cheese Fries, The Nissan and Some, Poor, Unlucky Bastard
Marlboro Reds and Roses
- In '89, we had "Off Campus" at our high school, which meant, if you had a car, you could go off campus for lunch
- Ryan, Jenny, Mike, Greg and I would eat lunch together most days
- Tom's Place, was a greek diner a few blocks from school, this was our lunch place of choice
- We were kids, so we ordered burgers and cheese fries
- At the end of each meal, we would all take our leftover cheese fries and put them into one container
- We would then top those leftover cheese fries with a ton of ketchup
- Next, we would pile into Ryan's car and drive REALLY, REALLY FAST
- One person (we'd all take turns, as this was a great honor), would have the cheese fries in one hand and lean as far out the car window as possible
- Then we would whip the ketchup-y cheese fries onto some poor, unlucky bastard's car
- Cheese fries and ketchup all over the car parked in front of their little, suburban home
- It was great fun, we loved Tom's Place
Marlboro Reds and Roses
- Ryan graduated in '88 and I graduated in '90
- Ryan went to community college while I was still in high school
- He would often drive to my high school, pick me up and take me to lunch
- Each time he picked me up for lunch, he brought me a rose and a pack of Marlboro reds (the brand I smoked in high school) from the 7-11 down the street
- That 7-11 rose and pack of cigarettes always put a smile on my face, in fact, I still think its sweet (but I no longer smoke)
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