I grew up in the 60's in LA. It was all about surfing & the war (protest songs & peace songs). The Beach Boys were huge. The Beattles came on the scene in '64 (I think?). 'Inagodadavida' was the huge underground song. In 1963, the Kingsmen recorded Louie Louie & we sang & danced to that song a million times. Protest songs were 'Eve of Destruction' & 'One Tin Soldier' &, of course, the BIG ONE...Arlo Gunthrie's 'Alice's Restaurant' (You can get anything you want...at Alice's Restaurant...) He still performs the song each year on Thanksgiving Day in Stockbridge, MA just like the song...in the Church. Jefferson Starship recorded 'Miracles'. Wolfman Jack, on KRLA, once played 'Miracles' over & over for 24 hours! Our dream cars were "pony cars" like the Pontiac GTO & a Chevy Camaro Z-28 with a 454. We all carried surfboards in our cars...sticking out the window or tied to the roof. We wore boots (Nancy Sinatra 'These Boots Are Made for Walking') & our skirts got shorter & shorter. Our hair got longer & longer. We used to iron our hair on the ironing board to make it completely straight. In the LA area, we cruised Pasadena Boulevard & Whittier Boulevard on Friday nights. Whiskey-A-Go-Go was the place to see & be seen. Eight-track tapes were THE thing to have in your car for tunes. Bonanza was huge (Sunday nights). Jackie Kennedy did her White House Tour & President Kennedy didn't watch it on TV 'because Bonanza was on! In the later part of the decade, we attended way too many funerals of our classmates who'd come home from 'Nam in a flag-covered coffin (25% of the boys in my graduating class). So, we cried together a lot. I graduated in '68...the year MLK was killed. So was Bobby Kennedy. I've always considered myself fortunate to have spent my teen years in the '60's on the beaches of southern CA. Until the "War" ruined our innocence it was an idealic time & place to be a teen. We entered the '70's a much more subdued crowd.

I was about 5mos old when this happened - Brown V. BOE. I can't begin to know where this country would be had this not happened. I'm so happy that I was only 5mos old and didn't have to experience it, but I'm so greatful to those that did. Yes, ronm80, there have been some scary moments in this country's history. Even though we don't always celebrate them in the way it was intended, I'm glad we have holidays to help keep us in the know about our history and heritage. "ON MAY 17, 1954, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that it hoped would irrevocably change the social fabric of the United States. Asking whether segregation on the basis of race deprives minority children of equal educational opportunities, Chief Justice Earl Warren and his colleagues emphatically stated: We believe it does. In spite of nationwide resistance and reservation, even among those who penned the decision, the Brown ruling, more than any other of the last half century, altered the landscape of American society."

When I bought my house, the realtor drove me around. But then again I met her through an organization we were both part of, even though we weren't especially friends. I was glad we drove around together because it enabled more frank conversation and spontaneous questions. (And some laughter after the House with The Indiana Jones stairway down into the basement, or after escaping the House with the Severely Bowed Roof, which we hadn't noticed until we had crossed through it and were out on the deck.) She was willing to show me the neighborhoods, too. When I hunted for the land I'm currently building on, the realtor just gave me the address and I went on my own - she never showed up at all. (I met her when I first signed up with her, and just once after. She hadn't indicated at our first meeting that she'd not actually be walking these properties with me.)

No. Born in a small town in Wisconsin and knew since childhood that it wasn't for me. Gradually moved to larger and larger cities, including New Orleans and Atlanta. Visited New York City and IMMEDIATELY felt at home. I remember thinking, "Other people get to live there. Why not me?" Quit my job, sold my car and moved here in 1982 with no job, no apartment and no real plan. I don't think a day has passed since that I haven't at some point paused, looked around and thought about how lucky I am to live in a place that I love so much. Around sunset in the East Village, with the light glowing on the red brick buildings, it just makes my heart sing.