Random Things I Remember From 20+ Years Ago

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

Ryan Likes Cars.... Leyla Does Not

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 Hated Me (all of his friends hated me)

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

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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