Some times when I look back at my life I think “Man What A Trip!” There have been some really great moments and some not so great moments. When I saw this video I had a flash back to a keg party giving by a local biker club at Tame Mountain (I think that is the name of the place that use to be on Norton Rd in town). Every year they would have keg party and I use to attend with some of my high school friends.
Here I was the typical nerd, I was going to college for my electrical engineering degree and I was hanging out with biker dudes. Many of them I had known in high school and the nickname that they gave me was “Einstein” and they were nicest people.
This was the late sixties and the early seventies so you have to realize that it was the era of the hippie and of drugs and rock ‘n roll. It was a different time, and I was part of that sub-culture. In college I barely made it to graduation. When my homework was done, I went up to a dorm room on the next floor where we all hung out doing the drug du jour and it could have been anything from uppers to downers to psychedelics. You could smell the room down the hall with the pot smoke drifting out from under the door. Inside there was music playing, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, The Grateful Dead or if everyone was in a mellower mood, The Eagles or CSNY. When you opened the door the room was lit with black light and black light posters lined the walls.
The drug culture was so prevalent that the university actually had a place where you could drop of samples of drugs and come back in a couple of days to find out what was in it. On the bulletin board you would see something like… sample xyzzy = bad acid or sample 1234 = arsenic!
When I graduated all that ended except for the pot, work ended all the other drugs because the next morning came at 6:30 not at 10 o’clock for my first class. But the music and the black light lit rooms didn’t end until many years later (I still have my black light bulbs, but alas all the posters were thrown out and now they would probably worth money).
I went cold turkey on the pot in 1999 when I thought I had a heart attack. There was now withdraw symptoms, one day I was smoking pot, the next day I wasn’t. What was hard was the social withdraw, I missed the comradely of the ritual of passing the joint around the room.
One thing you have to realize is the late sixties and the early seventies was a time of change. There was an unpopular war going on, but what is different between then and now was the draft. It was not a volunteer war, but you had a very good chance of the “next stop is Vietnam…”
I was “1A” twice, the first time when I graduated from high school and again when I graduated from the two year tech college. When they had the first draft lottery in December 1969 my number was 342 (A friend’s number was 1 and he said, “The only thing I ever won in my life is a free trip to Vietnam!”).
It was also a time of the miniskirts and the burning of the bra, but most importantly it was the era of the birth control pill which leads to the sexual revolution.
Was there a link between drugs and sexual revolution and my crossdressing, I think that it wasn’t true for the drugs. I did crossdress once while tripping as an experiment, but I don’t think I did drugs to hide from reality. I think it was more about the era, of wanting to belong. However, the sexual revolution might be linked; I always wished that I could wear a miniskirt or a long flowing dress with a flower in my hair.
Here I was the typical nerd, I was going to college for my electrical engineering degree and I was hanging out with biker dudes. Many of them I had known in high school and the nickname that they gave me was “Einstein” and they were nicest people.
This was the late sixties and the early seventies so you have to realize that it was the era of the hippie and of drugs and rock ‘n roll. It was a different time, and I was part of that sub-culture. In college I barely made it to graduation. When my homework was done, I went up to a dorm room on the next floor where we all hung out doing the drug du jour and it could have been anything from uppers to downers to psychedelics. You could smell the room down the hall with the pot smoke drifting out from under the door. Inside there was music playing, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, The Grateful Dead or if everyone was in a mellower mood, The Eagles or CSNY. When you opened the door the room was lit with black light and black light posters lined the walls.
The drug culture was so prevalent that the university actually had a place where you could drop of samples of drugs and come back in a couple of days to find out what was in it. On the bulletin board you would see something like… sample xyzzy = bad acid or sample 1234 = arsenic!
When I graduated all that ended except for the pot, work ended all the other drugs because the next morning came at 6:30 not at 10 o’clock for my first class. But the music and the black light lit rooms didn’t end until many years later (I still have my black light bulbs, but alas all the posters were thrown out and now they would probably worth money).
I went cold turkey on the pot in 1999 when I thought I had a heart attack. There was now withdraw symptoms, one day I was smoking pot, the next day I wasn’t. What was hard was the social withdraw, I missed the comradely of the ritual of passing the joint around the room.
One thing you have to realize is the late sixties and the early seventies was a time of change. There was an unpopular war going on, but what is different between then and now was the draft. It was not a volunteer war, but you had a very good chance of the “next stop is Vietnam…”
yeah, c’mon on all you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
he’s got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Vietnam
so put down your books and pick up a gun
we’re gonna have a whole lot of fun
and it’s 1, 2, 3, what’re we fighting for?
don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn
next stop is vietnam
and it’s 5, 6, 7, open up the pearly gates
well there ain’t no time to wonder why
whoopee! we’re all gonna die
well c’mon generals, let’s move fast
your big chance has come at last
gotta go out and get those Reds
the only good Commie is one who’s dead
and you know that peace can only be won
when we’ve blown ‘em all to kingdom come
(Country Joe and the Fish, Fish Cheer)
I was “1A” twice, the first time when I graduated from high school and again when I graduated from the two year tech college. When they had the first draft lottery in December 1969 my number was 342 (A friend’s number was 1 and he said, “The only thing I ever won in my life is a free trip to Vietnam!”).
It was also a time of the miniskirts and the burning of the bra, but most importantly it was the era of the birth control pill which leads to the sexual revolution.
Was there a link between drugs and sexual revolution and my crossdressing, I think that it wasn’t true for the drugs. I did crossdress once while tripping as an experiment, but I don’t think I did drugs to hide from reality. I think it was more about the era, of wanting to belong. However, the sexual revolution might be linked; I always wished that I could wear a miniskirt or a long flowing dress with a flower in my hair.
I remember Country Joe singing that at Woodstock. (No, I wasn't there - if I was, the drugs would have destroyed what memory cells I had at that time.) It's hard to believe that "Country Joe" wasn't a leftie - but someone who felt like criticizing our actions in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteMarian
I remember Woodstock, never got involved with the drug scene, my lottery number was 50 and finally got drafted in 1972. Lucky to go to Germany instead of Viet Nam.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if we could all go back in time and experience this era how we would like to of, you in the flowing dress and a flower in your hair.
As for me, not sure what I would want to change, but definitely would like the opportunity to backspace some things in my life.
Jim