Where did you grow up?
i grew up on the south side of chicago in the late 1960s, but the 1970s was when i really experienced life’s details. girls, teachers, music played by real bands, basement parties, LPs, peer pressures—they all were catalysts for who i am today.
where did you spend your early childhood years? what difference did it make?
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Small town Iowa. After living 22 years in Texas, we came back 3 years ago to the same town. It’s nothing special…it’s just home.
that one basement birthday party for a girl named “jorie.” we “slow-danced” on a certain jeffrey osborne song and i knew i was “grown.” well, at least i thought i was.
Suburban Los Angeles with a dash of Hollywood and a sprinkle of LA grit. Love that shit. Never a suburban girl looking to go bad, just finding bad wherever I looked.
i grew up when bands played for real. we had live bands. i grew up when you had to go over to a girl’s house and ring the doorbell and meet the father first.
14 and I am in my fourth home.
Started out in Rhode Island. I went and lived in an Italy apartment for a few months, then moved out. We still own it. Then we moved to Massachusetts and only my brother and me have lived in New Hampshire because we go there in the summer. Nevada pushes it, saying that it is my Grandparent’s Home and I have only stayed there a month.
in 29 years i have lived in 10 states, some twice with another inbetween. i have moved oh about 17 times. but mostly the Northeast and mid-atlantic.
Yeah I’m similar to 90s_Kid, Born in Nottingham then moved to Auckland, NZ. Then moved to Hamilton, NZ, then back to Auckland, NZ. Then finally to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Where i live currently. (I’m 16)
In a tiny suburb of Detroit. If Detroit had a wart growing on its arse, that would be where I grew up. Luckily, it was next to a very good school district and I was able to claw my way out.
Las Vegas, 1977–1987 (before all the new casinos). I lived there from 1st through 10th grade. My junior year I moved to a small town in Illinois. It was a big change for me and I really hated it for a while, but Illinois has grown on me. In fact, I could never live in a large city again.
I love the small town life
I grew up in Davis, CA.
Parents, teachers, and kids are nice.
You learn to ride a bike before you walk. (Ok, not really, but it seems like it.)
Education is highly valued.
It’s a liberal town – you learn to be accepting of other people and respect the environment (for the most part).
In high school I was in classes with kids I had known since we were five… sometimes younger.
besides chicago in the 1970s, i spent a lot of years in L.A. i met a girl named “clia.” where are you clia!?
Littleton CO in the nineties and early part of this decade. It was exactly like the movie American Beauty.
i can still remember ice hockey in the middle of the street in chicago. we get our share of snow and ice here.
@charliecompany34
Hockey in the middle of the street every day in Boston. But not me, I am not a hockey player.
@joeysefika I’m with you too. I lived in Illinois, southern California, Arizona and then northern California, before settling down in Las Vegas at the age of 6. It didn’t help being the shy kid.
@Bluefreedom I bet you have no desire to gamble, do you? Growing up with slot machines at every grocery store and gas station. My dad had a bucket full of quarters in his sock draw for shopping trips. :)
I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada all through the 1970’s. The whole gambling scene had no effect on me whatsoever. I was too young to notice or participate.
I have relatives that still live there and they say it is way overpopulated with too much crime and serious traffic problems, among other things.
San Francisco Bay area alternating with Connecticut on the Long Island Sound, followed by Houston alternating with Caracas, then Miami, then North Florida, then Arizona, and then South Texas, all with jaunts to Spain, Ecuador, Peru, Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas in between.
I went to 12 schools by the end of 12th grade, and 5 colleges counting the ones in Spain and Venezuela.
So I learned how to quickly find my niche in a new place, how to handle packers and movers, how to look for the good parts of a new town, and not to look back too hard. I also discovered that when you are out of the US for a year the entire music scene changes. When I went to Venezuela, US bands had colorful names like “Tangerine Explosion” and “Jefferson Airplane.” When I got back the Airplane had become a Starship and all the other bands had short names, like “Yes.”
In a somewhat small suburban town in central New Jersey from 1985–1997. Kids would play outside until it turned dark. I remember on hot summer days we would cool off around an open fire hydrant or run after the ice cream truck. I miss those days. I also miss the Jersey diners :(
hey supermouse! where ya been!
Ditto Gimmedat, suburban Los Angeles (not behind The Orange Curtain). Though I never lived there, I spent a lot of time in the San Fernando Valley.
What difference did it make in my life? I was a bit too close to Hollywood and The West Side for my own good. One thing I did get out of growing up so close to a big city was a more big city perspective of the world. In one of my first jobs I worked for a large company in LA with a mix of different ages and cultures and classes, it expanded my outlook.
Knuckle touch SuperMouse!
@daloon i concur. i’m still my old self.
All over. Went to eight different schools by high school graduation.
@Marina cool. i went to a different high school each year of high school. i didn’t know anyone in my graduating class.
@eponymoushipster I can relate. Senior year it was a new school for me too. It’s tough.
A not-very-nice part of Milwaukee. Mid-70s – late-80s. My neighborhood was such that it made me want to get the hell out, and I did.
@aprilsimnel Did you at least stay in Wisconsin? I love Wisconsin.
The exact same house i live in right now. Western Oslo, Norway.
@wilhel1812 That is really interesting. Sort of the opposite of me. I sometimes think with envy of people who have those deep roots in a community. I sort of always feel like an observer in life.
born and raised in small town in SE Iowa…left to go to CA…getting ready to go back home
Springfield Oregon. Not much came out of it. After that I lived in Copala, Mexico for a few months. I was ten and the poverty was amazing. Kids had stray cats in bags . That was in about 1998.
After that I ended up in Redlands California. I learned to never look at anyone in the eyes. It usually ended up with someone telling me they wanted to kick my ass for staring at them. I just learned to always stare at the ground.
When I was fifteen I ran away from home to live with my sister in Oregon. Random people would give me hugs on the street for no reason. I knew I was home.
even though i was born in chicago and spent many years here, seems my real life experiences were in california and i brought it all back with me. camped in the sequoias with redwoods and stuff and saw bears from the motor home. discovered tacos and doritos at a place called 7–11 before doritos had cheese flavors. back then it was taco flavor.
Appleton, WI
Population….not quite sure
SAAAAAAAAALUUUUUUUUTTTTTEEEE!
@charliecompany34 – A nice part of NYC.
I went to the Dells when I was at college. Too poor to go as a kid. I steered clear of tourist traps. It can get pretty tacky.
@jonsblond – I’ve been to the northwoods. It’s very pretty up there.
Next stop (and I don’t know how I can pull this off yet) – London! That’s where I’d like to end up.
hey, where did astrochuck grow up?
@aprilsimnel I group the Dells with Cancun and Vegas, I agree, tacky. We vacation near Eagle River every summer. It’s heaven to me up there.
@allie – I moved to Davis, CA in 1993 and lived there for 6 months or so. Awesome place. You could ride your bike anywhere. I worked at Graphics Express and Videos To Go.
@ jonsblond – eagle river is BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Annapolis, Maryland. A smallish coastal town with an obsession for all things water related. I had my first whaler (boat) at 12 years old. Swimming, sailing, boating, water skiing, fishing, crabbing, and eating a lot of rockfish, oysters, and blue crabs. It’s an old city, steeped in history and the Naval Academy is there, too.
Everybody knew everybody, which was good & bad. Couldn’t wait to leave for college; then couldn’t wait to get back. It instilled in me a need to live near the water and to be out on the water as often as possible; it’s like a drug.
It’s changed & grown a lot, but I still love it.
@bythebay I agree. Living by the water is like a drug. I lived near the ocean for a short time before moving to the Midwest. I thought that I would always go back to California, then I visited Lake Superior. Now the lake life beckons me.
It’s a goal of ours to move up north
Until I was thirteenish I lived in Florida. I grew up in Northern Virginia.
@Bri_L Houdini. meh. Mrs. Gehrrett – HOT DAMN!
would love to live in one of the carolinas. what’s it really like? hurricanes? but so scenic. think i’ll retire there…
@asmonet you live(d) in Ecuador? It says it on your profile.
@Bri_L she could teach me the facts of life any.day.of.the.week.
@90s_kid: For less than a year.
It’s easier to not mention that I was born in Florida, lived for a while, moved to Ecuador, moved back to Florida then moved to Virginia.
@asmonet You changed your hair color. Love it! ;)
I grew up in the Tampa bay area of Florida . Left at 18 to move to San francisco. Moved back to Florida and now I’m in Houston Texas.
@jonsblond: Only in avatar world, I’m also Marilyn Monroe today! Ain’t I talented?
@asmonet
just wondering. :)
It is interesting because it is out of the country, even the continent.
I grew up on LI, NY and I think Billy Joel said it best: either you date a rich girl from the North Shore or a cool girl from the South shore. Except South Shore girls are actually cooler. South shore beaches are the best(Robert Moses and Jones Beach). We live for the summers,bbqs and the beach. With the city nearby you have the best place to grow up.
@90s_kid *L*ong *I*sland (east of New York City on the island)
@asmonet Isn’t avatar world so fun. You’re one talented bitch, lurve for the pointy tits!
@babirurtle36: Now I’ll be singing Hey, Hey, Tampa Bay! The Bucs are hot and ready to play! I’ve been to many Bucs games in my life!
On earth. But I’m thinking about raising my kids somewhere else.
ooh. And I only live few hours away…:S
I have cousins who live there. I have family everywhere for God’s sake!
Let’s count:
1. Massachusetts
2. Connecticut
3. Rhode Island
4. New Hampshire
5. Vermont
6. New York
7. New Jersey
8. Pennsylvania
9. Maryland
10. South Carolina
11. Florida
12. Nevada
13. Alaska
14. Italy [everywhere from Sicilia-Fiorenze]
@babirurtle36: I was born in St. Pete and lived my whole life until I moved in the Tampa Bay area, what years were you there?
@jonsblond Really? What’s the real estate situation like? I mean if I have to share a duplex with some ogglenorbs the deal may be off.
born and raised In Santa Monica, California and I’m still here!! :)
@NaturalMineralWater Orson says that there is plenty of room for newbs. He also says that racism is not allowed.
Born in Clearwater 1980. Eventually moved to Brandon (my parents are still there) and left in 1998. What about you?
out in the rural areas of NW Illinois. Small neighborhood of no more than twenty houses in the 60’s and 70’s. The best thing about it was that we had hundreds of acres of forests, fields and streams to call our back yard. I wouldn’t trade where I grew up for anything, and I often wondered as a child, just what did kids do that lived in town, I thought it had to be boring. I had a million things to do, camping, hunting, fishing, trapping, and just generally running through the trees and fields like an uncultured little savage.
I live in a town of about 65,000 now, but I’m only about 15 miles from where I was born and raised. Of course, all the trees I climbed (and fell out of) as a boy are gone now. Progress, you know.
@babirurtle36: Born in St. Pete, like I said, in 1986. Live in St. Pete, Clearwater, Largo and Safety Harbor. :)
And a brief stint in New Port Richey. Well. The shit town right below it that isn’t on maps. And I do mean brief, less than three months. When I was 19.
Left really, in 1999.
My moms womb. Than it was 8 years in Poland, 3 years in Italy, 19 years here in the good old US of A. :)
Jersey.
An hour from the Shore, and hour from The City.
‘Nuff said.
pink houses. small town. sound familiar?
just playing. i ain’t from there, but somebody is…
just for kicks and giggles.
@Bri_L I was about 5 or 6, but I used to go get movies from Videos To Go when I stayed with friends or had friends over to my house. You may very well have seen a 5–6 year old Allie.
1961— AstroChuck is born in the southside of Sacramento
1968— Moves to a new house in the southside of Sacramento
1980— Mistakenly marries one of Satan’s minions and moves into an apartment in the southside of Sacramento
1981— Moves to a larger apartment in the southside of Sacramento
1983— Moves to a townhouse in the southside of Sacramento
1986— Stays in same townhouse but Satan’s minion moves out. Happiness ensues
1987— Parrothead moves into the townhouse with AstroChuck, later joining him in matrimony
1990— Moves to a duplex in the eastern part of the southside of Sacramento
1990— Moves to a house in the southside of Sacramento, this time in an unincorporated part of the capital city
2009— AstroChuck and Parrothead are still in the same house in the southside of Sacramento
So you can see, I’ve come a long way.
But not that far. :)
I love how evil your ex-wife always sounds in your quips. I have no idea why, but I always smile. ..About the ex part!
Sho’ nuff.
I be a Viking!
@AstroChuck I wasn’t that drunk the other night. I remember my fellow Viking from another state!
Rockville and Gaithersburg Maryland. Both big-ish towns with some history to them. About a half hour from Washington, DC. Grew up steeped in politics, and attending the theater at the Kennedy Center and the National Theater and all sorts of shows at the old Capital Center (now MCI Center) and the very old Shady Grove Music Fair (where my parents worked). I’ve been to just about every museum in DC multiple times. The area made for some very interesting field trips, which I of course took for granted. I could never understand why people would come to my home town on vacation! I was so accustomed to the sight of the White House and the National Monument, etc that it seemed ridiculous to me. The only time I was ever really impressed by the importance of the area was passing the CIA headquarters on the way to the airport :)
Of course, I haven’t really grown up. Have I?
SO what do you call yourself if you went to three different high schools? In my case it has to be some combination of Matador, Cardinal and Mustang. A bullfighter with feathers who horses around?
@augustlan Very intriguing indeed. I had the casinos and mobsters in Vegas, but you’ve got the Men in Black. :)
@AstroChuck Your avatar says, “no”.
several different places, mainly London, a tiny little village on a muddy Welsh mountain and a Greek island.
@Jack79 I’m about an 1/8th muddy Welsh mountain. Haven’t been there, but I’d love to visit.
it was quite beautiful, but it was pretty muddy. Gets on your nerves after a while, especially if you have to wait in the rain for the bus to take you to school.
Oh and as to the second question: the three places were so far apart that I’m schizophrenic. I can swim like a fish but can’t stand the heat. I can climb mountains, but I can’t stand sheep. And I can find my way around on the tube, eyes closed, without a map, but suffocate just by looking at a car. I guess the loss is that I don’t have a “hometown”, which might explain the constant travelling.
@jonsblond Well there’s no worry there. I would never judge someone based on the color of their worbettygortz.
@augustlan: You made me nostalgic; we did all the same field trips, we just cruised up 50 to the Beltway. My Dad’s business was in DC so I spent a lot of time there and learned to drive on Georgia Avenue. I still get sad when I pass the old Cap Center and I went to Shady Grove Music Fair also (now the Metro goes there!).
@Marina well, i’m 18 years old, so i guess it’s not that weird. :)
Grew up until 14 on a chicken farm in Howell, NJ. Small close-knit community, lots of freedom. I was a tomboy and a reader. At 14 moved to the shore near Asbury Park, more suburban but I made friends and the ocean was terrific. My original home is now under water; we moved because it was taken for a rsevoir project. (One plus is that there’s a hiking trail around the reservoir so I can walk on my “ancestral” land.)
College in NY state, two years in England for school and then living there with my “to be” husband. Now back in central Jersey near A.P. We bought a place three years ago in Dunedin, Florida where we go to play house. (go rays? go bucs?) I also try to spend time frequently in England and France where my “true self” lives.
Is no one else here a military brat? I’m amazed.
I was born in Indiana; my dad was in French Morocco at the time. When he came home, we moved to Florida (McCord AFB.) Then I went to 1st grade in Bossier City, Louisiana (Waller Elementary, and I lived on Waller St. and my teacher’s name was Mrs Waller.) 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades were Puerto Rico (Ramey AFB). Fifth and part of 6th in Washington state (Larson AFB, near Moses Lake). Then to San Antonio, Texas; Houston, Greenville, and San Angelo (Goodfellow AFB). After I joined the USAF I lived in Champaign, Illinois; Tucson, Arizona; Guam; Rapid City, SoDak; and finally home to Texas (but North Central this time; humidity makes my curls unmanageable). I never had roots until Azle.
Foothills of the Rockies in Colorado
“She grew up tall and she grew up right, with them Indiana boys on an Indiana night”
I am personally not a fan of this 90’s song, but it is fitting.
You had a scandalous childhood if that’s fitting.
@90s_kid – serious lurve for the most intertwined linked answer I have ever seen!
@Bri_L
I don’t think I have a life…
@Tiffyandthewall is still making a response! How long will it be?!
@Sorceren – I wasn’t a military brat but I was an oil company brat. We moved a bit more often than the military but just as much. However, my father turned down most overseas duty except South America. I was always sorry he refused New Guinea because after a year there we would have gotten London or The Hague.
However, I have united the two groups by marrying a career Navy man.
That’s just kind of sad.
Way to not respond to my comment but rather push your own self-hating agenda again.
Good job. You validated my opinion of you.
[mod says:] Flame off please.
Oh No! Tiffy has been abducted, just like RandomMrdan was yesterday…
What has the world come to? Someone hold me.
If you have an accent, maybe do more. ;)
Southern California; total of 14 rented houses, two apartments, and one motel.
< Hippie kid. I actually had a lot of fun, but it left me feeling rootless, like Marina. Just to give you an idea of hippie living- when I moved into my own place, I bought, sat at, and ate on a table for the very first time, outside of a restaurant or school cafeteria.
That’s right, folks… we didn’t even have a sofa in our house(s). Floor pillows, indian rugs, and a few rattan chairs. Good times!
Yeah. @Tiffyandthewall is rather writing a 500 page novel, or has been “Abducted”.
Maybe she started crafting a response, had to go to the bathroom, and realized she didn’t have toilet paper, so she had to go to the market, in which she remembered she needed shoes, so she searched every store in the mall, and got carried away.
hahaha oh my god guys, i forgot i had this page up and i’ve been out all day :p
i feel bad for letting everyone down with my incredibly not epic response.
well i grew up (and still am, really) in south florida – and i’m a 90s child. as dull as my neighborhood is, i do appreciate it. though now there are hardly any kids my age here, i did meet my best friend right down the block when i was like 3 years old. and i’m in walking distance from a walgreens and cvs (convenience!). not to mention i’m one of the only white folks in my neighborhood, too, and honestly i feel like it helped to raise me to be very accepting of diversity, as i should be.
Hey charliecompany, do you know Leroy Brown? Wasn’t he from the Southside of Chicago? He’s fictional…oh well.
I just figured it out. I “grew up” where I finally developed roots enough to support my genetic height.
Born and raised in Indiana. City girl with good Midwest values.
Oh, so you’re saying we Farwesters don’t have good values, huh?
@AC They don’t call it the left coast for nothing. (And I love it so!)
Farwesterners have values, just not good Midwestern ones.
@janbb, yes we Farwesterners have good Farwestern values.
Hey – I’m from the East so I don’t have any values at all. Fageddaboudid!
I just like to stir the pot.
I’m from the East, too. If I had know earlier that I didn’t have to have any values, that would have changed a lot of things! ;)
Who wouldn’t want to be a road raging, always cursing, somewhat of an accent kind of person. I mean really!
Yeah – I’m in love with a Jersey girl!
Whassamatter wid you?
Maybe you’re talking farther North than me! I think we’ve got no accents in Maryland…
@ bythebay – I’m really just joking around. I am from New Jersey but neither I nor anyone I know has the type of accent depicted on shows like The Sopranos.
I’ve known people with accents like the Sopranos but they were all garbage men in Connecticut.
@janbb & @Darwin: I had some friends from Jersey when I was at UofMD. I went home with one for the weekend, and I swear her Dad must have been the model for Tony Soprano! Her Mom was so stereotypical, too. Gum chewing, high heels, big hair and neon orange fingernails. It was an experience, that’s for sure! In my town, everyone wore khakis, deck shoes & headbands.
@bythebay – Ooooooh! You were a preppie! Did you have friends named Biff and Buffy?
@bythebay Are you an 80s girl, too? I was a total prep, still am to some degree :)
Hey, guys, preppies were the same in the ‘60s, too, ya know.
Greenwich H.S., 1967–1969
Are you kidding me, I could have written the guide to Preppy; Lisa Birnbach just beat me to it! I did know a couple of Buffy’s, Tad & Trent’s. When I moved to California for school, it was complete & total culture shock. Nobody there had embroidered whales or ducks on their pants! And yes @augustlan, born in ‘63, I embraced the 80’s with great fervor!
I still love preppy – it’s not sloppy and it’s harmless!
@Darwin – No doubt. My dad brought out a photo of himself with the exact same shirt, sweater pants. Even loafers with the coin in them.
@Bri_L – What goes around, comes around – my teenage daughter here in Texas likes madras plaid, headbands and topsiders. However, while I knew preppies at the time, I preferred hand-embroidered bellbottoms and shirts from India (but I did have topsiders because every minute I wasn’t in school I was “messing about in boats.”) I wasn’t a stoner, though, because I didn’t indulge or hang with people who did.
@Darwin:
My 12 year old owns more madras/plaid than I ever did and I just gave my 19 year old god-daughter the pink topsiders she was “dying” for! The more things change the more they stay the same.
@Darwin Those embroidered shorts would have looked grrrooowlll to me. I despised the preppy look. I was a “john cusak – lloyd Dawbler” in high school.
As far as EVERYTHING repeating, let us hope that is not true for everything
@Bri_L: That was so scary it was funny!
@Bri_L – Aaaaaauuuggghhhhh!!!! (runs screaming from the room)
Born in Argentina raised in Boston
God, I loved Lionel Richie when I was a kid.
Incase any of you are curious, the misinterpreted link was Comedown
Just in case. Too late to edit
That guy needs to seriously take a chill pill, especially during the third chorus.
Another thing, you all should check out the “kid” link HAHA!
I grew up in New England and a few other places.
growing up in chicago, we had to be home by the time the street lights came on. i remember disobeying this rule just so i could spend a few more minutes with a girl around the block named lisa brownlow. i got “the kiss” and it was worth the ensuing punishment.
@Darwin I have a slight sopranos accent. Bawl. Cawfee.
My mom is worse, she’ll say, “Chel, take out tha gahhhhhhhh-biiiiidge.”
or
“Go get in tha caaaaahhhhhh”. I’m like, mother, it’s CAR, with an R.
And she says,
“Whatevahhhhhhhhhh”
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