16

Lanandra

So your 16th birthday party. Tell me everything.

So I don't think any of my siblings got a sweet 16 birthday party. I remember my sister got a car, my older brother was very shy- I don't remember if we did anything for his birthday. My little brother... I don't know. But for some reason, I got an actual sweet 16 birthday. But at 15, I had just discovered underground punk rock in Reno, Nevada. So my dad decided that he was going to throw me a “not-so-sweet 16”.

Were those the actual words that he used?

Yeah. And he made a flier! Whenever I wanted to go to a punk show, I would bring home fliers. My parents were always worried that there would be white power people at punk rock shows, and they didn't want me there. So I would have to bring home the fliers to show them the shows I was going to were anti-racist spaces and that I would be safe. So my dad made a flier on Microsoft Word with Chiller font. "Lanandra's Not So Sweet 16." He asked some of my friends from the punk scene to play a show. He had a friend who owned the bar on the military base at the airport.

So he rented this bar, and since it was on the military base I had to have a guest list, because everyone had to go through the military gate. So it was weirdly official. I remember giving my friend Jeremy the list to put on all the band members, and the guys who would help move equipment, and he put a bunch of silly names on there. Like Dick McPoopface. And then we had to hand it to the military personnel.

My friend's band, The ShookUps, played. I turned the shirt into a quilt, so I have a shirt from the band. I think if I dig, I might still have a sticker that hasn't been stuck to anything. But there is no trace of this band on the internet- this is pre-Bandcamp, Youtube and things like that. I think Angel Fire websites were the cool thing at the time.

So there was a pinata, there was a punk band. The bartender, I remember, was just giving us all alcohol. We were all 15, 16, 17 years old! And on a military base! I probably had 20-25 friends at this thing, plus the band. So it wasn't a crazy thing, but I don't think anyone else got a sweet 16 out of my siblings except for me.

And they really did it up! Do you remember what you wore?

I think just like jeans and a tank top- my punk rock clothes. I may or may not have had like those Hot Topic pants with braces. There's definitely pictures, because there was a piñata.

What kind of piñata?

It was just a classic donkey piñata. When I look at piñatas now, here in New England, I'm just like what the fuck is that? I just want the regular donkey piñata. I don't want to hit Dora the Explorer with a bat- that's weird! Why are you beating a child for candy? Maybe it’s just me, but at a celebration, I find it strange to be beating an effigy of a cartoon character.

So there was a piñata, and alcohol flowing...

Alcohol for minors, flowing. On a military base. There were areas we couldn't go. Like, here's the bar, here's the bunker, but you can't go over there, there are literally people with live firearms that will shoot at you. There's a yellow line, and then at the red line someone's going to shoot at you. So just stay in the bar. Do not adventure around this military base.

Do not try to do something punk rock right now.

Exactly. The guy was like, you guys think you're all cool and punk rock, but we'll shoot at you.

Any other memories of this experience that you'd like to share?

So there was that very serious list of people to be let in, and I actually forgot someone. She was able to sneak her way in, but I still feel bad about this. I feel like I should message her. There's a lot of Mormons in Reno, NV, and one of my very good friends who I played soccer and did theater with was Mormon- her name was Carla Orell, and she was Hawaiian. She's just the sweetest, most genuine human being you could have ever met, and she's still that person today, we're friends on social media. I wish more religious people were like Carla, she's so open and excepting, a warm glowing light of a human being. And I forgot to put her on the fucking list. Somehow she was able to bat her eyelashes and work her sweet magic to get in. I felt so bad, because I felt like I almost got Carla escorted off of the military base. Of all people.