Totally Punk Rock in Stockton

A couple of weeks ago, Justin and I went to a Sunday afternoon movie matinee (Transformers II, if you're interested). A couple dressed similarly to those in the above picture were in front of us in line. We had to wait several minutes before we could get into the theater, so I had ample opportunity to assess their attire. A thorough search of flickr and google images couldn't turn up anyone that could even compare to the kids I saw. The girl had bright pink hair that was done up in a pony tail. The guy had purple hair that was less mohawky and more emo, bangs over the eyes kind of thing. They both had impressive make up jobs that matched said hair colors and included upper cheek bone star art and other shading. And the piercings! Don't even get me started on the number of accessories each one of them sported! (Including, but not limited to, 4 necklaces on the girl - including a pink studded dog collar choker and a belt buckle that said F**K in silver lettering. )

Now, don't misunderstand me. I am TOTALLY not judging these individuals and their choice of fashion, but I did have several thoughts:

1. It is an IMPRESSIVE level of commitment to go to that level of accessorizing, making up, and layering. It's a rare day that I even put makeup on to go to the movies, so their commitment to their look was impressive. But honestly, can you do the pink/purple hair goth/punk look without REALLY committing to it? I don't think it's something you can just do halfway.

2. It cannot be cheap to dress like that. Most of my clothes are from Target or Old Navy (if I really go all out), so the leather mini skirt over leggings over fishnets, PLUS knee high boots and three shirts from Hot Topic looks like an expensive endeavor to me.

3. Do people who dress to these extremes find each other already looking like that and decide they are a good match? Or, does the relationship start off with one person as the more agressive goth/punk dresser and persuade the other to step up their efforts? Or, do they decide to pursue the look together. Chicken or egg people? What comes first, the "look" or the relationship?

4. Props to pink and purple hair for being brave enough to go to the movies in STOCKTON dressed like that. I mean, we're not exactly known for our edgy punk rock culture here.

I know, I know

Yes. We are planning to name our son Luke. Luke Perry. Let the 90210 jokes commence!

A bit of background:
Justin and I have been talking about this name for our future child since we were in college. Over the years I've thrown out several names during our conversations and none of them have stuck except Luke. We like this name for several reasons: 1) Luke is biblical, wrote my favorite of the gospels, and was a doctor! 2) Luke means "light" which I think is cool. 3) Neither one of us had any negative associations with the name Luke.

In our discussions on the name Luke, and given our last name, we always assumed there would be comparisons to the actor Luke Perry, who played hottie bad boy Dylan on Beverly Hills 90210. Fortunately, unless actor Luke decides to be in some big summer popcorn flick, I think it's safe to say that our Luke will grow up free from any comparisons by his peers. And I'm hoping his teachers will remember their crushes on actor Luke Perry fondly and love our Luke even more. :)

And besides, actor Luke Perry was hot, so why wouldn't we want to draw comparisons.

Seems like a bad idea...

The other evening I was driving up to Elk Grove from Stockton on Highway 99. Along the way there is a skydiving center just off the road. As the parachuters descend, for a few seconds it appears that they are going to drop down right in the middle of the road, then they use their parachuting magic and drop into a field adjacent to the busy highway. I'm sure they know what they're doing and have done thousands of drops over the years, but as a driver it is very disconcerting to see 5 or 6 people hovering over the road in front of you. I can't imagine what it would be like from the other angle - descending from the sky on your first skydive attempt and seeing a bunch of fast moving cars directly below you. Moral of the story: In my opinion, putting a skydiving center next to a freeway = bad idea. Of course, if you're brave enough to jump out of a plane with a small piece of nylon (or whatever parachutes are made of) separating you from a painful death, you may not be that worried about freeway traffic. I've always had an unusually high sense of self-preservation, so I may not be the best judge of skydiving safety. It just seems like a really bad idea.