1987

1987 is but a few moments ago. If I cast my mind back to Harrisonburg in 1987, I can see the inside of Calhoun's like it used to be before it was shut down; the long philodendron vines snaking around the walls of the bar, the odd assortment of random 'decorative' crap hanging all over, the stage and soundbooth, the table where the archeology students sat, the green of the walls, the smoky musty smell of long night of partying that simply wouldn't ever come out of the carpet, the half-wall to the atrium that Billy fell over one drunken night.

In those moments of mind-casting, the mid- and later-1980's are but a memory away, not 20+/- years.

That time of my life was rich; I was young, single, surrounded by friends, totally free. Wonder what it would be like to go back there with the 'me' I am now so that I could fully enjoy that time and place, if only for a short time.

If I had these looks again, I'd go in a heartbeat:


Yep, that's a blondie Tiff back in 1987, a fresh-faced 25-year-old with nothing but time on my hands (when I wasn't working or going to school or teaching labs), and a ton of friends to help me find trouble and fun.

Sheeeeyit. What being young, carefree, skinny, and having estrogen in your system will do for a body.

This picture came courtesy of my buddy Puffhead, who has been uploading some pictures from back in the day to her Facebook page, and it's been a wonderful trip thus far down memory lane. All those folks who were a part of daily life back in the day reappear in full color, folks who are unfortunately now gone are still there with a smile on their faces, we're all so much younger. Puff says there are more pictures to come; as holder of 'the goods' from when that bar shut down (as the bookkeeper she was in POWER!), she's been carting crap around for over 20 years and is just now going through a bunch of stuff, airing out old memories and subjecting the past to the electronic light of day.

Parts of the past like this:



And this:




PROOF (if you can look past the fact that I'm not in any of the pics with these guys) that I knew these now-famous people well before they were famous. I TOLD you!

(In case you didn't know, that's Butch Taylor, recently of DMB fame, on the top with part of "Secrets," and Tim Reynolds, currently of his own fame (and good buddy of the DMB) on the bottom playing with his group TR3)

From the 'now' perspective, I'd have to say that we had nothing but wonderful times in that bar. Of course if you'd asked me back then, I would have griped about slow shifts, hating clean-up of the happy hour buffet, stupid drunk college kids, and having to clean the bathrooms after any given Thursday through Saturday night, because I can ALWAYS find something to whinge about. But now of course the lens of sentimentality caps the clearer vision of youth, and I only remember the good times.

.....good damned times, y'all.


So, my dear friends, lurkers, and stalkers, I challenge you this: go on and post a post sometime in the next week with a picture of YOU from 1987 or thereabouts, then leave a comment here that you did with a link to the post. I'd be happy to compile the posts into one big linkapalooza so that we can all get a gander at who we used to be. Come on, it'll be FUN!!

(Don't let me hang here, all alone, exposing myself.....)

And have a glorious weekend. See you Monday.