alameda county fair 1985

    The Alameda County Fair! We'd go and HANG OUT. One year I went and I was wearing a 60's mini dress and this pervy old man followed me around and tried to grope me and this lady called the cops on him and he was arrested. So children, let that be a lesson to you: Don't wear a 60's mini dress and go go boots to the Alameda County Fair. because that isn't at ALL inappropriate or anything...

    But that wasn't this trip. This trip -- I had just gotten my license, it was a hot summer night, and it was either hanging out doing nothing at Dolce, the cafe/ gelato place all the weird kids hung out at, or go to The Alameda County Fair. Obviously, this night we chose the latter.

    The town we grew up in used to be agricultural -- it had lots of horses and a grange -- but then they started building houses and shopping centers and more houses... now it's out of control. (I was just there and was shocked that the Grange is still there and hasn't been turned into an overpriced house and garden store or something.) There were still, back then, a lot of cows, and even a llama farm. But we didn't have 4-H at our school or anything like that -- we had a lot of BMWs and Mercedes and Volkswagen Rabbit convertibles in the parking lot. So... the Alameda County Fair was the one place to see farming close up.

    We SO did not go into those exhibits. We walked around and maybe went on some rides and looked for cute boys and got made fun of for looking so weird. (This was my "Let's Active Phase," after a band I loved -- choppy, Aqua Netted hair and lots of eyeliner with shirts buttoned up to the top.) We probably ate cotton candy and threw ping pong balls at goldfish, did the photobooth (and obviously, carefully, split up the pictures)... and then probably wound up going to Dolce anyway, because that's what we did EVERY night. (Except Mike. Mike was always grounded.)

    The absolute greatest part about these pictures -- I was able to send them to two of the people in them -- Lisa and Mike. The third girl, Erin, I haven't talked to her in a long time. (If she looks familiar to you, it's because her sister is a supermodel, and beauty runs in the family.)

    PS -- I will say, as an adult, we SO missed out not going to the farm exhibits! the last time I went and fell in love with a pig whose eye markings looked JUST LIKE Zsa Zsa Gabor's eye makeup. We bonded, this pig and I, and I called her Glamour Pig. I tried to think of ways of buying this pig, thinking I could keep it on the balcony of my apartment, but, alas, it didn't happen. I hope whomever bought that amazing pig realized how lovely she was and she is enjoying a sweet life on the farm and being catered to. I hope she wasn't, you know...

    Now I'm sad. She was Some Pig.

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