Dream of the 90′s (whatever you want it to be)

(Moi – Circa 1994)

So I was bitching, as I often do on this topic, on Twitter today about yet ANOTHER article that deliberately stereotypes people based what generation they grew up in.  For me, I’m “Gen X”. 1990-1999 was age 16 to 25 for me.

Many would assume things about me because of that, and I may want to punch you for doing so.  You cannot assume things about people because of the era they grew up in.  As someone awesome once said, there are assholes in every decade.

So I was reading some stuff (duh) and thought I’d just talk about myself (no shocker there).  But those who think they can categorize me based on my age?  Dang, you’ll love this.

I have never owned a copy of Nevermind.
(In 1989 I bought the Sliver EP which to this day is the only Nirvana I own and that’s only because the lyrics reminded me of going to my own grandma’s house as a kid.  The band was OK, but didn’t change my life.  I didn’t go into the fetal position when he died.  And yes, I’m a native Northwest girl.  When I moved to Seattle it was thankfully just after he died so I didn’t have to deal with all that hubbub.)

The sound of Eddie Vedder’s voice makes my skin crawl.
(And don’t even bring up Alice in Chains or Soundgarden.  To me they were all just hard rock without all the hairspray and light shows.  Why would a good little )

In the 1990′s, I fell in love with legends like Billie Holiday and Etta James, while also finding so much in the lovely voices of current artists like Cassandra Wilson and Erykah Badu …

I don't go 'round trying to be what I'm not
I don't waste my time trying ta get what you got
I work at pleasin' me cause I can't please you
and that's why I do what I do
My soul flies free like a willow tree
doo wee doo wee do wee

I grooved to acid jazz with my friends at The Crocodile, shook my thang to my new wave and got songs of old at The Vogue, and danced the night away atop a block at Neighbors.  Whatever I liked, I listened to.  Period.

I saw The Cure at the Gorge with the sun setting behind them for three hours of everything including my favorite song of all time, Catch.  I had this hot black velvet flapper number that I wore to see my fifth or sixth Love and Rockets show at the Showbox (where I promptly fainted as I overheated in the front row).  At the start of in the decade, I saw Sinead O’Connor, Book of Love, Depeche Mode, and others.

I dated a guy who took me to see Massive Attack boy did that make it obvious he wasn’t the one.  WTF – worst live show ev-ah and the music?  Overrated.

In the 1990′s I was shooting live shows with my Pentax K1000, everything from Sean Lennon to The Church to Suicidal Tendencies to local bands of varying levels of talent.  I was attending a much smaller version of the Photographic Center School, and living in the darkroom.

And yes, I was still, always, loving the evolution of my girl Madonna…

I’m too busy surviving
Whether it’s Heaven or Hell
I’m gonna be living to tell
~ “Survival” (from Bedtime Stories) 

I’ve never owned a flannel shirt.  And while I do have a couple pairs of Docs, they weren’t my first boots – I preferred pointy toes and lots o’ buckles.

I spent over half the decade working for Nordstrom, and still to this day have bits and pieces of them sprinkled in my DNA, from my appreciation of great designers, big and small.  (Yes, a new wave girl workin’ for Nordy’s – I tell you I’ve never been categorizable…).  I’ve shopped at secondhand stores, discounters, couture outlets, local artisan markets, and big ol’ chains.  But no matter what, it usually involves black, with the occasional foray into olive green, chocolate brown, or purple.  And red lipstick.

“I don’t even know what ’90s fashion is; I was dressed in black for most of that decade. I was never into grunge as either a sartorial or musical style, but I would hazard that grunge as a fashion or anti-fashion statement emerged from thrifting as scavenging practice for anti-corporate cultures…I plead pop culture blackout. (Ugh, plaid.)…I remember the ’90s as an outsider in an outsider subculture.”
~ Mimi Thi Nguyen, from an article on racialicious.com – check out her blog too

Kids, I listen to whatever I want to listen to.  I wear whatever I wanna wear.  Let’s stop making assumptions and delve a bit deeper into finding out who people really are.  I always tell my friends, “I love you because you don’t fit any mold.”  Kinda rad.

But hey, as my pops used to say, call me anything you want, just don’t call me late for dinner.