1981 - Year of the Rooster

[X_4AD_84]

In any given year I will often reflect on past years, 12, 24, 36 .... and nowadays ... gak! ... 48 years in the past.

Today I reflect on 1981, like this year, Year of the Rooster.

I entered the year age 17 and exited age 18. I graduated from High School and started my Freshman Year of Uni.

Whereas in High School, we were in this somewhat isolated world, wondering if our punk / wave, our wrap around shades, our skater vibe, our attitudes, were just another campus clique, at uni, and in the adult world, there arose a larger consciousness about it all.

I went down to SoCal for uni. What I'd barely tasted here in the 2nd tier Bay Area become total immersion. Talk about the punk/wave revolution. I discovered KROQ, small venue shows (at the few that had all ages shows), and so many cultural variations.

Meanwhile, my roommate in the dorm was a South Central LA homie. We compared quite a few notes. We also had on our hall some other cats who brought in early hip hop, lots of lesser known Rasta tunes, and so much more.

We didn't quite have a generational identity, but it was clear by then the 70s were long gone. Disco, are you kidding? Even when I was among the black group there was no such thing.

That year was so transformational for me. It really was my point of departure on the journey I still find myself on.

I'm about out of time for posting tonight but will continue later.

Until then, enjoy:

[pbrower2a]

First year of the Reagan Presidency. Gaak! The highest-ever real price of petroleum. High crime rates as early-wave members of Generation X came of age. Real estate started to get expensive, and job opportunities for many college grads were often 'retail' or 'food service'.

[Eric the Green]

Remember the Strauss and Howe formula about the 3T: institutions suck; personal life expands. 1981 was toward the end of the 2T; it was winding down, and was pretty much about "counter-" awakening since the late 70s. But, although the social-political awakening was winding down, and people wanted to relax or reverse it now, the old conformity and limited self-awareness of the 1T was gone, and permission was available for various lifestyle experiments to continue. Opportunities were opening for self-liberation and for following your own spiritual and economic path. Of course, pop culture was sleepening as fully as the political culture was at this time. Inspiration was ebbing fast, and may never return. But, on a personal level, people could hang out on lots of fringes, stay inspired, and do their own thing.

[gabrielle]

Hmm, 1981.

First part was 4th grade which sucked, being bullied by both teachers and other students, and I was pretty miserable.  But I had a fun summer, and in 5th grade my teachers actually liked me and I was improving artistically and academically.  So things were looking up a bit. 

[Galen]

I rather liked the eighties but then the seventies were a decade I would rather have done without.

Keep in mind that this is when all of the Boomers got religion whether is was Christianity or the secular humanism of the progressive and modern liberals.  Truth is they both sucked and were a blemish on what was otherwise a pretty good decade once the idiocy of the Carter years was washed away.