Now you know.
This is me on the balcony of the offices of the Chicago Maroon in the Ida Noyes building at the University of Chicago in the summer of 1989. In the summer the newspaper did one weekly edition, so as editor-in-chief I had to stick around for it. The plant, incidentally, belonged to my girlfriend. She left it with me for the summer and I took a picture of it to prove I hadn’t killed it yet. The picture was taken by James Warden, who is now at it professionally. Go check out his site.
Were you thinking “I wish that pot plant was a cupcake”.
The hair… the hair…
D’aww. Look at you, all young and innocent-ish.
Good looking hair, man. That’s not a cheap shot — my own hair looked similar in my college days in the early 90s. Wish I had that much now.
You should talk, secondgenfan.
Is that a mullet?
Aw, adorbs!
@cturkel: I’ll have you know that a mullet was a PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE HAIRSTYLE in the late 80s.
And the fact I also rocked a mullet then has no bearing on my statement. Really.
Contrary to statements made, you DID truly have that much hair…
Mmm…hunka hunka burnin’ love! Krissy’s a lucky woman.
:-D
Hey I have nothing against mullets…I am a child of the 80s. I was curious if that was indeed a mullet,
John’s recollection of the plant in the photograph is inaccurate. I, as the portraitist, insisted that the plant be included in the image. I knew that they were both young and small and the plant served as a visual symbol echoing John’s youth and inexperience.
The plant is now 6 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds and so does John.
Did you do poetry slams then?
Wow. The trees have grown a lot since then.
I, too, had hair in 1989. Truly those were happier days.
last post: I was goofing
this post: In all seriousness – if that looks like a mullet, it is the flaw of my photo. his hair was too long flowing and luxurious to be a mullet . . . really!
In 1989 I had a 3 year old daughter. I wouldn’t trade her for the plant any day. :-) I also had shorter hair than I do right now. I cut it when she started to reach up and pull at it as a baby.
Well, everyone was young and good looking once upon a time. However ….
That’s why I told my kids as they were becoming adults that they shouldn’t look for a beautiful/handsome spouse. Looks are guaranteed to go bad, sooner than you think. Personality lasts.
dude… I….. you….
duuuude….
Also, I dont know what you were thinking but the potted plant is doing ASL for ‘ oh no, not again’.
What did you do to that poor thing?
I do, frequently even. I’ll grant that I look young, less so on the innocent-ish part. The evil smirk is trademarked, btw.
The next time you’re in PDX, I’ll show you my college ID, and we can compare mullets.
What a cutie! I’ve got a pic of myself at around 24; I look at it now and then and sigh heavily…
gadzooks what is all of that stringy stuff attached to the top of your head???
Didn’t this guy play bass for Van Halen?
Were you in a New Wave band by any chance?
Hair. Sigh. I remember hair…
Dear Krissy: *highfive* (Pls pass that along John, kthnx)
(Also I look back at pictures from my twenties and think “damn, I was CUTE!” I had no idea at the time, sadly. Youth is, indeed, wasted on the young!)
With no clues or dates, I’d have said that was Jerry O’Connell. You’ve posted your byline photo and some others from your Fresno days and I could look at those and say, “That’s John Scalzi.” This one not so much. Maybe it’s the angle or something.
Looking good!
Wow, a “proof of life photo” for a plant – first time I’ve ever seen that!
ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba, ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba, I will follow….
MULLET! AAAHHHH!
I didn’t know you played hockey in college/were East German/were an East German hockey player. Nice Vorkuhile.
My hair was longer in 1989, too.
As I noted on Twitter, it’s not a mullet, it’s me being too lazy to cut my hair.
Dude…and your girlfriend was worried about leaving the plant?!
I spent a lot of time in Ida Noyes Hall, albeit in the basement at the grad student pub.
Good God, Scalzi, you were a *doll*!
Likely excuse, Scazli. Admit the mullet! Own your mullet!
Aww, what a cutie! Almost makes me want to grow my own hair long again.
Scalzi @8:41: it’s not a mullet, it’s me being too lazy to cut my hair.
I thought that’s what a mullet was! ;-)
Awww! What a cutie!
Personally, I always held to the standard that if it was long enough to wear in a decent pony-tail, it wasn’t a mullet. That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ with it.
I never did have that look back then … my hair’s so wiry that I keep it as short as possible, to the point where it rarely even needs brushing (trying to comb it would guarantee destroying the comb).
There’s (or was, haven’t checked in ages) a photo of me at one of my psoriasis-support groups accompanying an email interview the site operator had done with me, in which I was not only overdue for a trim, but my hair looked like I had my fingers in an electric socket.
I’m currently at the other extreme, and look almost like a skinhead. The grand-kids, who probably spend more time here than at home, have been having problems with stubborn head lice, and my wife wisely decided that at least one of us should deprive them (the lice, not the kids) of a place to nest.
Dawww, you were such a cutie!
And that’s not a mullet, folks. A true mullet is an in-your-face kind of thing. You can’t ignore a mullet, no matter how you wish and pray to god that you could. That? That’s just like he said, he was too lazy to cut his hair, so he trimmed the sides and brushed it back.
Just like Farrah Fawcett.
@steve from the internet: Better than a Volahiku.
Nice twinkle in your eye there, Mr. Scalzi. #cute ; )
Forget the hair. Forget the plant. What I want to know, having spent a little time in the area during the season, is what are you doing wearing long sleeves in Chicago in the summer?!
Wow, the Midway looks different nowadays. Also, I know what I am naming my next cover band…John Scalzi’s Hair. Will there be any copyright problems with that?
OMGoodness Brother…. You and Isaiah look VERY much alike. Crazy!!!! Especially with that look your giving….
Wow, I’d date that guy. In a flash. Probably would have dated that guy when I was 20 myself (not that he would date ME in any scenario; I’m just saying).
But I would cut his hair. Probably with electric clippers.
Xopher:
You wouldn’t have been able to date that guy, I’m afraid. His girlfriend of the time was not the sharing sort.
Right back atcha!
http://curmudgeonsociety.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-i-looked-like-at-20.html
You’re marijuana plant is coming a long nicely.
It’s a joke. Folks.
You were just as cute as a button, weren’t you!
But let’s be honest: a mullet by any other name, intentional or unintentional, is still a mullet. It’s ok – remember, it was actually stylish for a few seconds back in our mis-spent youth :)
Wow, now I know that we never met when I was back at the U of C in ’88-89.
Jason
That is a picture of one fantastically suave bastard, who had no idea of the glories awaiting him. Unless past Scalzi had a time machine, which would decrease his ignorance of future Scalzi, and increase the already stratospheric suavity.
I think that plant is illegal in 37 states. I’m turning you in to the proper authorities..
Wow, no wonder Krissy fell for ya…
DH, of course it’s a joke. That’s a spider plant, and if you remember to water them, they’re pretty hardy (unless you have cats around, in which case they get batted around, knocked over, and eaten down to stubs.) The marijuana plant’s behind him, just off the left side of the picture.
Xopher, I was with you right up until you mentioned the cutting of the hair. Ridiculous.
Absolutely adorable, John!
But I have to echo @eewhite85Eddie’s question… what the heck were you doing wearing a long-sleeved shirt? I still lived in Chicago back then. I remember that summer. That was the summer I gave birth to The Offspring. That was not a chilly summer (well, except in my apartment where my two roommates were at each others throats, but that’s another story).