Comments on: Some Kind of Sixteen

By: nimbus

nimbus — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:10:09 +0000

Where is your flickr set of old graphics files from BBSs? All I see is vintage computer photos, scans and pics of the cat.

By: Jason Scott

Jason Scott — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:21:04 +0000

That said, “Dustbuster” would have been an AWESOME nickname for a lineman’s handset, back then.

By: Jason Scott

Jason Scott — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:14:18 +0000

No, the dustbuster being referred to is an actual dustbuster (hand-held mini-vacuum), being held under my left arm. As a bit of a conceit, every posed photo of me in the school yearbook had me with a dustbuster. I believe this totaled 5, so it’s a pretty weird little thing. I’m happy I did it.

By: Church

Church — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:10:01 +0000

I’m guessing ‘dustbuster’ = ‘buttset’ (or ‘lineman’s hand set’ as per above?) I’ve never heard that term in this context.

By: robohara

robohara — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:32:01 +0000

As a kid I never had an official lineman’s hand set, only cheap phones with stripped wires and alligator clips attached to them. It wasn’t until several years ago when my wife went to an auction and came home with one that I finally got a real one. That’s true love, right there.

I have a similar picture of myself at close to the same age (I think I’m 14 or so in mine). I’m a few years younger than you so some of the time references are a little different (more D&D toys, and I think I’m wearing a Don Johnson jacket) but the idea’s the same, and I love those moments frozen in time.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:25:34 +0000

Same here, nice lineman’s set. I also built a few of my own from those $5 throwaway telephones that you could buy at Kmart or Caldor.

Ah, to be 16 again. I’d like to be 16 again in 1982 , but this time with a copy of Biff’s sports almanac so that I could do a little wagering.

By: Chuck Farley

Chuck Farley — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:15:38 +0000

Nice beige box… Mine was just a moded phone, but yours the posh lineman’s handset.

By: Jason Scott

Jason Scott — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:29:41 +0000

I loved the world of imagination!

By: Erin

Erin — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:40:18 +0000

Great post. Whenever I see photos of people, I love to look at their surroundings.

One thing that stood out to me: you have a Figment hat (top left corner). I had that same hat as a kid.

Looking forward to seeing more…

By: Grimmtooth

Grimmtooth — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:28:14 +0000

If I’m not mistaken, that’s the cover for Radio K.A.O.S., by Roger Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd, so I guess that counts.

Apropos of nothing; at that time I was deployed to the Persian Gulf; depending on when this was taken, it was very close to when the Stark was inadvertently attacked by an Exocet missile from Iraq. Photographically speaking, some of the images of the Stark that you might have seen were taken by me and my shipmates as we closed in to render assistance.

I had yet to indulge my fascination with the BBS scene, but it was coming. My C64 was about to die, I would replace it with an Amiga, and my first BBS software encounter – Atredes – was just around the corner.