Wednesday, December 19, 2012

And then they sent me to the yacht club...

...with a bag full of cash.




Nostalgia is a funny thing. A friend of mine is in the area and I drove to Newport Beach to take him to lunch. We tooled around and as sometimes (always) happens, I nervously filled the space between us with a running commentary on how I'd worked in a couple of upscale hair salons in Newport as a stylist's assistant. Roughly speaking, back in the late seventies and early eighties, a stylist's assistant was someone to whom you could say, "Honey, baby, sweetie, darling, go get me..." fill in the blank.

I was the only woman in the salon. The men I worked for were all straight, all womanizers, and all brutally plainspoken about what they wanted in a stylist's assistant. When they said jump, it was my job to ask, "How high?"

Today I realized how much fun I had during that brief period of my life. From the Palm Reader in the storefront next door where no one ever came to work after the first day when an immense, beautifully dressed man with hands the size of hams introduced himself to me and then left mysteriously, never to return, to the clients who thought it was a brilliant idea to get the stylists drunk while they were doing hair, there was never a day when I was bored.

Here's to all the the Jacks*, the Allens*, the Stewarts* and the Umbertos* (Names changed to protect the not so innocent.) Here's to high stakes backgammon and poker--although in retrospect, taking a bag full of cash to hotel room filled with strangers doesn't bear thinking about.

Here's to working for pirates, because that's what it felt like.

Here's to fielding angry girlfriends and angrier wives.

Here's to Candies mules and Qiana, and DuPont, and the brief way they married with disco to become one big happy, synthetic family.

Here's to all the things I didn't caught doing by either my mother or my pastor, thank heavens.

And here's to the very best Christmas party I ever went to and the Newport Beach boat parade, and for oh, so many reasons, here's to youth and stupidity, how can I miss one so much and be so glad I've gotten over the other.


This is DAY SIX
of the GREAT HOLIDAY ZAMFEST!
what's in it for you?



Welcome to the twelve days of ZAMfest All you have to do is comment to enter the daily drawing and I'll pull a new name from the hat each night to win an ebook from my backlist. The TWELFTH day will be Christmas, that's when I'll put the name of anyone who leaves me a comment on all twelve blogs, into a drawing and one very lucky person will win the grand prize-- a $50 dollar Amazon Gift Card. If you're new to the ZAMfest, it's not too late to go back and comment on earlier blogs. Good Luck!

DAY Five's winner is Crissy! I'll be contacting you to see which ebook you'd like!

In the meantime, how about a little nostalgia from a member of generation Jones, (Me)


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What was popular when you were young and stupid?
(Okay, I admit it, you were never, ever stupid.)

53 comments:

  1. I'm near enough to your Generation, ZAM so those song are all part of my memory bank too.

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    1. Hi Helen! I especially remember Pink Floyd's the Wall because my boss played it constantly.

      ZAM

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  2. I was closer to generation Thriller, although I do have dim memories of white polyester suits, men in platform heels and Saturday night fever....

    abraalpacas at gmail dot com

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    1. Hi Tawny! Thriller! Oh yes! What a great album that was...

      ZAM

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  3. My 6 year old was getting ready for their Christmas Event yesterday and told his teacher they needed music for the Party. "We need Michael Jackson," was the direct quote. I find it funny because I haven't listened to Michael Jackson since the early 1990s and I loved him when I was little. Some apples don't roll far from the tree.

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    1. Hi Tarragon, Michael Jackson music gets a party moving for sure. And kids love it!

      ZAM

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  4. I am from the disco generation though what is now termed "classic rock" is now more my style. While my friends were busy "discoing" I was working for the local concert promoter and no one would believe what I saw backstage.

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    1. Hi Kaytee, I love "classic rock" Is that what Dean plays in the Impala in Supernatural? I would definitely believe what you saw backstage... LOL

      ZAM

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  5. I used to have to go to the Boat Parade for work. Hours on the cold water chatting with clients--trapped. After about an hour everyone ran out of things to say. I was always glad to get out of the parade. LOL : )

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    1. Hi Tara, I don't think they're doing the boat parade this year, rising dock fees or something...I think that's kind of sad, but I guess going out there in the cold would get really old after a while...

      ZAM

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  6. Oh, you were right the first time. I was definitely young and stupid...LOL. I certainly remember all three of those songs very well. I was into classic rock for the most part...Aerosmith, AC/DC, Queen, Peter Frampton, Pat Benatar, Eagles. I went to some great rock concerts. I even went to a Prince concert once in the early eighties. Fun times! :)

    lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Hi Lisa! Thank heavens some of us outlast young and stupid, huh? I went to some great concerts too, but when I was older. My parents would never let me go while I lived at home. (That evil rock and roll music drives kids to do all kinds of nasty things.)

      ZAM

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  7. Oh yes, late seventies/ early eighties for me too, as those devil may care days! Always remember sitting on a disgusting sticky disco floor doing the row boat 'dance' to Oops upside Your Head by The gap Band - joyous days!

    Suze
    Littlesuze at hotmail dot com

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    1. Hi Suze, The Gap Band, haven't thought of them in years!!! Good times indeed.

      ZAM

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  8. When I was young and stupid...hmmm...Boyz II Men was definitely popular then. U2, Toni Braxton, Salt 'N Peppa, Soundgarden, Counting Crows, Oasis, Hootie & the Blowfish, Bel Biv DeVoe, Sugar Ray, and *NSYNC. The 90's was a mash up of catchy music and horrible fashion, but I still love it!! :D

    morris(dot)crissy(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Hi Crissy! I LOVE all those bands. I enjoyed the nineties. Especially Counting Crows and Hootie. I loved Blues Traveller too. The fashion wasn't too horrible, but I spent a LOT of the nineties pregnant, and seriously, the maternity fashions were NOTHING like they are today...

      ZAM

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  9. Never heard of the Boat Parade before now, but I did go on a few boat dances as a teenager. Amazing how the dynamic changes for an event when it's on a boat, even a little silly one that doesn't move much. Mine were all in the alterna-'90s, so scrapy guitars and floppy-haired boys still slay me...

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

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    1. I've always lived close to the beach and I enjoy boating in all it's many forms. I sail, but of course, the tiny little personal craft I've sailed between 10 and fourteen feet, aren't much good for dancing, unless you don't mind getting wet!

      ZAM

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  10. I love 'Another brick in the wall'! Also like most by the Beatles and Eagles.

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    1. Hi Gigi! Me too! I like Don Henley's Building the Perfect Beast, as well...

      ZAM

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  11. My foggy and not so young brain is trying to remember. Um, Billy Joel, Journey, Michael Jackson, Blondie.

    strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com

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  12. I was always bookworm, so I can't really say what was popular in my youth ('90)... Roxette(?), Madonna (?)... I don't know.

    0401romance(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Hi Joanna, Madonna is a perennial favorite! I can't remember a time when she wasn't!

      ZAM

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  13. Boats? shudder. I can feel the motion sickness kicking in just thinking about them.

    Issa
    cojazzchick AT yahoo DOT com

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    1. Hi Issa, I don't get seasick, mostly, but I know people who do, it's miserable, isn't it?

      ZAM

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  14. Oh my god, disco and doing the bump, and long hair down to my ass. Those were the days, my friend! LOL

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    1. Hi Marge, That's the way, uh huh, uh huh I like it, uh huh, uh huh... LOL

      ZAM

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  15. Oh God, boybands! Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Take That, …
    goingtoreadnow(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Hi Julie, As long as there are girls, there will always be boy bands. :D

      ZAM

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  16. We must be about the same age, because I distinctly remember an ice blue Qiana formal I wore to a dance in college. It was lovely and I had the body then to carry it off. So, disco and Fleetwood Mac and Blondie. And platform shoes. OMG! I sprained my ankles so many times falling off those stupid things.

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    1. Hey Saruby, my Quiana dress was for prom, and it was blue as well... I never sprained my ankles back then but I don't dare wear them now. Every time I see a great pair of shoes with heels, I want them, but I just can't trust myself anymore. I'm too chicken.

      ZAM

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  17. I must be about your age because your memories are my memories. I loved Queen, Styx, Eagles, REO Speedwagon,etc... and for some weird reason, I always loved Donny Osmond (still do).

    aelnova@aol.com

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    1. Hi Barbra, Those are my guys. I'd HATE to tell you how obsessed I was with Donny Osmond in the fifth grade, when they were just coming on to the music scene and in every issue of Tiger Beat Magazine. I saw them at the forum in LA, from the nosebleed seats. My poor father took me and my friend Debbie and had to sit there listening to all those screaming pre-teen girls!

      ZAM

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  18. When i was a little kid I just listened to what my mother liked which was Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Prince (when I was 4 I liked to make the howling like sound in "Doves Cry") Then there was this brief period when the family was forced to listen to the one christian music radio station only. By the time I got into finding my own music taste I was probably past stupid age.

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    1. Hi Tara, My parents listened to super easy listening music, worse than MUZAK and it made me crazy. They let me listen to whatever, but I had to use headphones!

      ZAM

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  19. Late 70's early 80's for me also! So many great concerts. I even saw AC/DC Back in BLack tour!!

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    1. Hi Susan. Oh, wow! My parents would have been HORRIFIED by AC/DC! Go you!

      ZAM

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  20. I'm of the generation that could dance to Oops I Did It Again... That's right, I know the moves to Bye Bye Bye as well, I practiced at recess... Remembering it makes me feel like a baby!
    Juliana
    OceanAkers @ aol.com

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    1. Hi Juliana, We had Bye, Bye, Bye on our Karaoke thing and my sons used to dance and sing it... LOL Good times.

      ZAM

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  21. Boats....I have nothing good I can say about them, lol...okay..maybe one word..terrifying.

    *Shudders* I used have to listen to the stuff mt siblings would put on...Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart, Meat Loaf - I would do anything for love, and Madonna - Like A Virgin...still haunt me to this day.

    H.B.
    humhumbum@yahoo.com

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    1. Hey H.B, I've never listened to country, but you couldn't swing a dead cat back in the day without hearing Achy Breaky Heart. Meatloaf! I like Meatloaf. He was around back in my day too. I just recently got Paradise By The Dashboard Light again, for the iPod.

      ZAM

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  22. I lived on an ocean going yacht for 10 years when my husband retired and I loved it. Nothing like jumping off the boat into warm tropical waters. Not to mention the sun is always over the yardarm somwhere.
    I was lucky enough to be in London in the 60s so my soundtrack is The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who and all the great bands of that era.
    My theme song now is "When I'm 64". And yes my husband still feeds me and still needs me at 64.

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    1. Hi Zanara, Wow! That sounds like great fun... I wish I'd been able to go to concerts back then! My parents were pretty determined that concerts = satanism and certain death... LOL

      ZAM

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  23. I have no idea what was popular when I was young and stupid. I didn't listen to the typical rock songs, I liked angsty, emo songs by The Carpenters, lol.

    penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com

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  24. I never listened to the really popular music. My favorite groups from my youth were INXS, Depeche Mode and Green Day.

    books2read69(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  25. I grew up with good 'ol rock n roll and I'm still there! I like 'some' of today's music though. I love dancing so I'll listen to just about anything except country and rap.
    Happy Holidays!

    ~Rush~
    taina1959@yahoo.com

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  26. When I was in college, oh man! I was a Talking Heads freak! Also Prince, Funkadelic , Elvis Costello, Queen, David Bowie, Earth, Wind and Fire. And The B52s. Sad thing is, I still listen to most of these, with a little Kanye West and Maroon 5 for flavor. Happy holidays!

    brendurbanist at gmail dot com

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  27. Oh no! I forgot to comment yesterday. Busy with Christmas prep.

    Love the MJ video ^.^ I used to be a huge fan.

    Erica
    eripike at gmail dot com

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  28. I'm in my early twenties but I do get nostalgic for the old Disney and nickelodeon shows/movies. I feel bad for today's kids all those shows are the same: girl X and/or boy Y are singing/dancing/acting and trying to get famous. Meanwhile crazy thing A B or C happens on their quest to stardom. Whatever happened to Rugrats or Are You Afraid of the Dark or Clarissa Explains It All etc.

    cherrieluv4 @ gmail .com

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  29. Both my parents played a lot of music when I was little, so I grew up on a staple of 60s and 70s classic rock. The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac. Music that was contemporary to my childhood/teenage years included Michael Jackson's Thriller (I remember begging to stay up 'yield midnight to watch the premier of the video!), Kocomo, Tainted Love, What A Night, Bryan Adams' Run To You and Summer Of '69.

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