Welcome to The Den of Ward, circa 1987. (Best viewed larger.) I found this photo after going through a box of old photographs of mine, most of them dating back to my years in high school. I'm very glad that I took this because it says so much about me and what I was into when I was a teenager. (I was 18 when I took this shot.)
I was a big Pink Floyd fan, can't you tell? And Led Zeppelin. And The Doors. And for some reason, Bob Geldof, but mostly because of that whole Live Aid thing he got started up. A whole wave of memories rushed over me while taking a closer look at all the little details here. Forgotten friends, long lost bits of paper and trinkets. Stupid stuff, silly stuff, fun stuff, serious stuff: it's all me here and it's all my past.
(Be sure to visit this image's Flickr page to check out all the goodies I've noted.)
Compare this with my current inspiration board at work. Some similarities in the way I construct the board: basically a hodgepodge of things that interest me, inspire me, tickle me, makes me think -- you name it. I still love music, but don't promote any bands or musicians like I used to. Something about when you're a teenager who and/or what you listen to is such a BIG DEAL. It's what defines you and makes you an individual. Now, my life is defined by Andrea, Ava and Ezra. They make me the man that I am today.
And that inspires me to no end.
That's a very cool inspiration board!! I try to do that at my deak areas, but end up get too lazy to print things out ... so my stuffs are mostly in the form of 0 and 1 in the computer. :P
ReplyDeleteHe leadeth me...
ReplyDeleteWOW...it's so weird to see how your new stuff is different from your old stuff. I bet you were fun to know as a teenager. Just think, if we'd been in the same high school, we'd probably have done whp-its together and smoked pot while watching "The Wall". Then we probably would have spent hours drawing funny caricatures of all of our annoying teachers.
I miss the talks in the Primal cubes.
man you did dig floyd huh? yeah me too. haha.
ReplyDeletewell, we know what the ward of 2006 thinks about his younger self. i can't help but imagine a time warp in which the ward of 18 stumbles into the workspace of the ward of today... wonder what he'd think about all that tiki, and 50's retro, and those photos of the smiling munchkins?
First of all, I'd probably freak out at how hot a wife I ended up marrying. That'd be my first thought. Then I probably would be perplexed by all the old, vintage items -- I had yet to enjoy the virtues of mid-century art and design (in fact it would not be until around 2000 when I first started collecting that sort of stuff).
ReplyDeleteAnd I've always felt that every 16 year-old boy has to go through some sort of Pink Floyd and/or Led Zeppelin stage. It's inevitable!
Justin, there were times when I did sit around with some of my more artistic buddies and we would draw hilarious pictures of our friends and teachers. Good times. And, man! I miss those Primal talks, too! I miss you terribly, my friend. Come back....come back....come back.....
Thanks for the perspective of how now your life is with your family and not promoting those bands.
ReplyDeleteIt gives me some good perspective. I feel torn at times with the desire to live the single life when thats not where I'm at.
And a cool Basquiat calendar. Nice perspective on your history.
ReplyDeleteThis was fun, thanks for sharing. My bedroom looked very similar; lots of rock star pictures and ads ripped out of "Pulse" magazine. I even made small shelves to prop my favorite album covers on the wall.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, even back in high school (Class of '87), I loved vintage graphics and design. Other kids had pinups or sports stars hanging in their lockers -- I had a drawing of Reddy Kilowatt. Yes, I was a dork!
i think it's amazing you still have this board and that you even had a board like that back then. i don't remember doing anything like that, cept for hanging a robert plante poster above my bed.
ReplyDeletei love your writing. it makes me
ReplyDeleteF E E L
I so wish I could've known you in your high school days. kind of remember this first inspiration board of yours, though. and honored to be a part of your current inspiration landscape.
ReplyDeletealso, thanks for calling me 'hot'.
love the collages. i think the floyd and zeppelin posters add the perfect touch, right on!!! thanks for sharing the old and the new!
ReplyDelete