Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Growing Up Clairemont

I went to Outback Steakhouse last night and thought I saw someone I went to school with. This is difficult for me as I went to Elementary and Jr. High in Clairemont but to a magnet school for High School. So, what I'm saying is my memory has to stretch a lot to get that far back.

I will call her Valerie. She was a Clairemont hottie. She wore jeans that were tight in the waist and belled at the bottom. Her spaghetti-strapped tank top was topped with a plaid flannel shirt and feather earrings topped off the ensemble. This was in the 70s, not last night.

Last night she was possibly the mother or possibly the grandmother of two children who yelled "hey!" to each other for the entire hour I was in the restaurant. There was another woman there and she could have been the sister or daughter. The men were tall, barrel-chested and sporting ponytails.

Long hair on men is not exclusively The Clairemont thing but it is certainly a Clairemont thing. So's being stuck 20 or so years behind the times. My brother had long hair all throughout our time there but I got mine cut after being mistaken for a girl one too many times in the late 70s.

Of course, moving to a theatre school and taking up acting and ballet did nothing for my Clairemont Stoner Street Cred. Of which I had absolutely none. I was amazed at seeing a dude riding a BMX bike in Clairemont the other day. He was an adult, way past driving, smoking and even drinking age, but he rode a mini BMX bike, his long hair and plaid Pendleton trailing behind him in the wind.

Just like the coolest guy in Clairemont circa 1977. In those days, my best friend John and I would go to the pinball arcade (a slice of pizza to the first one who remembers what it's called) that used to be a fern bar and is now a bank in the Clairemont Renaissance mall. This mall will always and forever be The Clairemont Square, thank-you-very-much.

Anyway, this guy was the best pinball and video game player I ever saw. His name escapes me but the point is he rode to and from the pinball arcade, that once was a fern bar (with tons of rough wood and stained glass all over the place), on a BMX bike, had long flowing hair and smoked Marlborough Reds. And he could beat any machine in the place.

It was years before I realized that I couldn't play, look, ride or smoke as well as Mr. Clairemont. The 70s progressed into the 80s and I adopted the high-high heart-shaped hair do, the flashier clothes and drove my parent's VW Super Beetle while Mr. Clairemont, it seemed, stayed on the bike and bread.

You will see these iconic Clairemontians in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which was set in Clairemont High. I have friends who went there, who remember Cameron Crowe going there and who spoke Paul-Cooper-ese. If Jeff Spicoli was not modeled after Paul Cooper, I'll eat my 80s hair do. Spicoli's cronies look just like my brother, his friends and, it would seem, people who still live and ride in Clairemont to this day.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule

I went to Outback Steakhouse last night and thought I saw someone I went to school with. This is difficult for me as I went to Elementary and Jr. High in Clairemont but to a magnet school for High School. So, what I'm saying is my memory has to stretch a lot to get that far back.

I will call her Valerie. She was a Clairemont hottie. She wore jeans that were tight in the waist and belled at the bottom. Her spaghetti-strapped tank top was topped with a plaid flannel shirt and feather earrings topped off the ensemble. This was in the 70s, not last night.

Last night she was possibly the mother or possibly the grandmother of two children who yelled "hey!" to each other for the entire hour I was in the restaurant. There was another woman there and she could have been the sister or daughter. The men were tall, barrel-chested and sporting ponytails.

Long hair on men is not exclusively The Clairemont thing but it is certainly a Clairemont thing. So's being stuck 20 or so years behind the times. My brother had long hair all throughout our time there but I got mine cut after being mistaken for a girl one too many times in the late 70s.

Of course, moving to a theatre school and taking up acting and ballet did nothing for my Clairemont Stoner Street Cred. Of which I had absolutely none. I was amazed at seeing a dude riding a BMX bike in Clairemont the other day. He was an adult, way past driving, smoking and even drinking age, but he rode a mini BMX bike, his long hair and plaid Pendleton trailing behind him in the wind.

Just like the coolest guy in Clairemont circa 1977. In those days, my best friend John and I would go to the pinball arcade (a slice of pizza to the first one who remembers what it's called) that used to be a fern bar and is now a bank in the Clairemont Renaissance mall. This mall will always and forever be The Clairemont Square, thank-you-very-much.

Anyway, this guy was the best pinball and video game player I ever saw. His name escapes me but the point is he rode to and from the pinball arcade, that once was a fern bar (with tons of rough wood and stained glass all over the place), on a BMX bike, had long flowing hair and smoked Marlborough Reds. And he could beat any machine in the place.

It was years before I realized that I couldn't play, look, ride or smoke as well as Mr. Clairemont. The 70s progressed into the 80s and I adopted the high-high heart-shaped hair do, the flashier clothes and drove my parent's VW Super Beetle while Mr. Clairemont, it seemed, stayed on the bike and bread.

You will see these iconic Clairemontians in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which was set in Clairemont High. I have friends who went there, who remember Cameron Crowe going there and who spoke Paul-Cooper-ese. If Jeff Spicoli was not modeled after Paul Cooper, I'll eat my 80s hair do. Spicoli's cronies look just like my brother, his friends and, it would seem, people who still live and ride in Clairemont to this day.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.