The Sunset Strip Diaries (35 page)

So what happened to The Strip? Half of the people we normally partied with left Hollywood. They realized that their glam bands were being overlooked by the record companies for the new sound of Grunge. They returned to the states from which they came, with no record contract in hand. Others stayed in town and tried to adapt, landing jobs in the film or television industries. They took off the tight pants, cut their hair a little and took off their makeup. It was weird to see the guys that had been in makeup and pink suddenly wearing lumberjack flannels and Doc Martens. There were a few people that stuck to their guns and wouldn’t change their look or their musical aspirations, but they only looked outdated. With the exception of a few bands who made it in Japan, there was no place for them.

No matter what look they chose, the people who stayed seemed to be hitting the drugs. Many of them chose heroin. I blamed the Seattle clique for that. Some of the party crowd committed suicide. Some went to rehab. Some of the girls in our crowd started working for a Hollywood Madam named Heidi Fleiss and others disappeared. And surely many of them just went elsewhere and got new crowds.

The Glam Rock, “hair band” scene was over. And just like the rest of them, I was left standing at a crossroad. Would I continue on with these people? Follow them wherever they ended up? What would become of me? I didn’t think I could ever live a normal life after all that I had been through. I was afraid of regular people; I only felt comfortable around people who were wild. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn't sure who would have me. I closed my eyes and prayed to God to do whatever he wanted with my life. I figured he would know much better than I would.

The first thing that happened was that some guy at my telemarketing job told me he knew someone at a nice restaurant in Encino, and that I should apply there. He said he would hook me up with a job. I went into the restaurant the next day. I took an escalator past potted palm fronds up onto a beautiful brick patio. Gorgeous people of both sexes were walking around with handled shopping bags. Everyone looked so…
manicured.
I saw hair that was highlighted, skin that was dewy and taken care of. I saw tasteful nails in hues of barely-there pink. I saw soft leather handbags. I saw white teeth and delicate tank watches. Men wore starched shirts and had shiny leather shoes. I walked through two huge, glass doors and was immediately blinded by the sunlight pouring through the place. Half of the walls were also glass, so they let in natural light. The other walls were mirrored. It was tidy and crisp-looking, with glass tabletops over bleached white tablecloths. The servers were wearing burgundy aprons over white polo shirts and white pants. They all looked freshly showered and scrubbed. The place was the exact opposite of where I had spent the last three years of my life.

The next thing I knew, everything turned slow motion. This beautiful creature behind the counter looked up at me and we locked eyes. I saw thick, dark eyebrows, smoldering honey- colored eyes, and short, dark hair. He looked rather preppy, like a fraternity guy who played lacrosse or something. I asked him for an application, and he looked right into my pupils while talking to me. I felt sick to my stomach. I hadn’t been nervous over a guy in years. But this guy was so striking and so different from the guys I was accustomed to, that it took me aback. I was very surprised at myself for the reaction I had.

My life changed in that moment. I had been waiting for something to make me lose interest in the people I was keeping company
with, but nothing was as interesting, so I kept going back. But now…now there was this new possibility. I actually found a normal looking guy attractive! I would simply start dating him, then-

*tire screeching sound*

It suddenly dawned on me. My shoulders dropped a little as I stood with the application in my hand and he went back to packing a ‘to go’ order into paper bags. He wanted nothing to do with me. I looked at myself in the mirror next to us. My makeup suddenly appeared very heavy. My hair looked dull and brittle. I had gained weight from all of the late nights at Del Taco. I looked dirty and bloated. I did not know how to groom myself properly.  I was no longer “fresh” or beautiful. I had become a sloppy drunk during my nights out with Missy. On any given night, I was slurring, foul-mouthed, and ill-mannered, with a complete lack of morality. I did whatever I wanted, indulged in any behavior I felt like. I gave in to any impulse I had. There were times when that was awesome. If someone was an asshole, I said, “You’re an asshole” to their face, or slapped them. If someone did me wrong, I punched them in the nose. And hell, it was always great going to the store in my bright blue mud mask and pajamas. But I had no pride in myself. I was violent and abrasive, cursing and yelling at people, throwing food or bottles when I became angry. I fell over tables, out of car doors, danced on bars and then came crashing down. I was an embarrassment. A total mess.

As I was leaving, I knew I had to change it up. I wondered,
Where will I go from here? What is next for me?
Would I play it straight, become ‘normal’? Or would I get into even
more
trouble?

What becomes of Amy?

It’ll shock you!

Read the sequel to

The Sunset Strip Diaries,

CONFETTI COVERED QUICKSAND

Fresh from the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, Amy Asbury is at a crossroads. The grunge scene took over and left her hair band crowd in the dust. Where to go? What to do? It was as if a three year long party had just been broken up and no one remembered where they lived.  Everyone was left with an identity crisis.  Those who turned to drugs found themselves spinning out of control, especially Amy’s friend Birdie.

The Sunset Strip girls migrated into the mainstream L.A. club scene and took over the VIP rooms.  Read about lots of run-ins with 1990's stars like Anna Nicole Smith, Pamela Anderson, and many others.  What happened inside the clubs? Read about the insane nights of young twenty-somethings on the loose in Los Angeles.

When Amy became overwhelmed by L.A., she headed for Aspen, Colorado. Read about the total chaos inside the closed doors of Aspen ski lodges, where cocaine was king. The death of a close friend caused her to sink into an ugly depression. Will she turn to drugs to comfort herself?

Confetti Covered Quicksand is a true story of a girl in Los Angeles, trying to survive on her looks and struggling with her identity. It is about using drugs and alcohol to cover up pain and humiliation. Can she find happiness in the emptiest, numbest city in the world?

Want to know what happened
before
The Sunset Strip Diaries?

Make sure to pick up

VALLEY GIRL: CHILDHOOD IN THE 80’s

Pop some pink bubblegum and turn up the boom box: It's time to visit the 1980's. Crazy cartoons, wacky food, crackhead-like candy and the most important decision of a pre-teen's life: new wave or heavy metal? Jelly shoes or checkerboard Vans?

Growing up in California's San Fernando Valley in the 80's was chock full of sunshine and skateboards, but author Amy Asbury takes us through the lesser known issues such as creepy pervs in cars and overly sultry sixth graders. Amongst these lively essays are the questions of 80's pop culture: Why did Simon LeBon's sexy stare work straight through the TV? Why did Cabbage Patch Kids start to run out of good names like Jennifer and start coming out with names like Bertha and Edna? Why did we love camel-toe inducing designer jeans? Why did the bass of "Billie Jean" make us stop in our tracks like a dog hearing a silent whistle? Why did a boy's entire social life depend solely on his kickball skills?

Read about fights with neighborhood kids, taking down bullies and trying to fit in with the cool chicks. Slumber party games, crushes, scary teachers, rivals, finding one's talent (double joints, rolling tongue or wonky eye tricks), looking at boobs in the Sears catalog and forays into capitalism by way of lopsided homemade carnivals and melty sno-cone stands.

Jump into the salty waves at Zuma beach, eat your 30-scooped zoo sundae at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor, and get yourself down to the Northridge mall: It's time to dive into the world of the
Valley Girl.

Still can’t get enough?

Read about Amy’s younger sister Becky’s crazy life in

Smells Like: Music, Drugs, and Life in the 90’s

Mosh pits, Venice Beach, raves, mind-blowing concerts, snowboarding, hipster record stores...This was the 90's for Becky Asbury. She was part of Generation X, the MTV generation. They were the first generation to be heavily affected by divorce and broken homes. They were the generation whose mothers went back to work in droves. The generation of many latch-key kids, raised in after-school programs. They grew up searching for their identity. They were numb, they were bored, they were angry, cynical, and alienated.  They were called unfocused, uncommitted, apathetic slackers.  But the truth was, they were
lost.

SMELLS LIKE is a true story about a girl who came from a typical eighties middle-class family and what happened after her home life was shattered.  Some kids ran off and caused chaos, but Becky Asbury turned quietly to drugs, namely Crystal Meth.

How did she get drugs? What did it feel like to do them? What did it do to her physically and mentally? Read true diary entries from the life of a girl in 1990's Los Angeles trying to figure out who she was; working in record stores, listening to Grunge, and all the while wishing she could get it together and become a ballet dancer.

Grab your flannel shirt and put in your nose ring, it's time to dive back into the decade that reminded us that sometimes you have to lose yourself in order to find yourself.

Want to know what I looked like in my Sunset Strip Days? Check out my Amy Asbury Facebook page

And don’t forget to ‘like’ The Sunset Strip Diaries on Facebook so I can feel all cool and special

Follow me on Twitter (although I have nothing interesting to say whatsoever) @
AuthorAmyAsbury

Amy Asbury
still has a few band flyers, continues to love old films and still misses her bunny rabbit. She is the author of three books, and is co-writing a fourth for release in Spring 2013. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.