For the years of 1993 - 1997, I was in junior high and then high school in San Diego finding out what this thing called life was all about. I didn’t know what I was doing half of the time and that was totally alright. I hung out with my friends constantly and we listened to rap music and played and watched sports with each other all of the time. I even hate using the word “friends” sometime because those dudes were and are my family. They are my brothers. As teenagers, some of us started hanging out with girls, some got their first cars, and some experimented with drugs at house parties and at ragers at the local parks. I never sipped a beer, took a drag off of a joint, or ate any mushrooms for these years. I never got into a fight and was never down with that hood sh*t. But believe me when I tell you this…. I observed everything. I was the designated driver for the crew and we had some of the most hilarious times you could have imagined during these times. And don’t worry… The stories will all come out in due time.

KevBonesSlice wants the podcast to be called Storytellers and Mijo and I will probably host it. My true goal would be for our story to be played out on a full series on Hulu but I need some major funding before this could happen. So Jonah Hill…. get at me dog! You got the Mid90s movie (beautifully done!) and I want the show. You struck a chord with me on that movie and you told a lot of my story growing up. I have so many stories to tell homie. They are stories that people wouldn’t believe with 90’s gangster rap music as the soundtrack. I need you on board as the Executive Producer to make this all work. I didn’t buy the Mid90s URL to bite your style… I bought it to keep your same vision going through our San Diego stories in the 90’s. I know you won’t read this story quite yet but you’ll get here in due time. I’ll hustle to make it happen.

The title of this story is Clairemont Roots and some of my friends might read this and wonder how I could even write this. I’m from UC 2103 but a lot of my friends are from Clairemont aka Blairemont depending on what set you claimed. But I’m not a Clairemonster. But you know who was? My parents! Did you know that they lived on Clairemont Drive from 1966 - 1971? My parents are both Clairemont and University City OG’s so I have this all on my blood. So when I say Clairemont Roots, I’m saying it with pride. UC and Clairemont were always one in the same to me. Here’s a classic channel 8 news story about Clairemont from 1978.

In the years of 1966 - 1971, my Dad was in the Navy and was stationed out here in SD. My parents were originally from Southern Illinois so my brother and I have Midwest Roots as well. While my parents were living in Clairemont back in the 60’s, they loved baseball and would cheer on their local minor league baseball squad. This squad played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) down in Fashion Valley at Westgate Park which is now where Macy’s is. In the late 60’s, the Padres were an affiliate of the MLB squad, the Philadelphia Phillies. My parents lived at the Villa Pacific Apartments in Clairemont (over by you Ringer!) and paid $165 per month for their apartment. They spent a lot of time at the pool there where they would hang with the Padres players and their wives. My parents would never admit it but I bet they had some wild times every once in awhile back then!

My parents were both teachers and while my mom taught down in Chula Vista (Castle Park High), my dad was getting his student teaching in at Clairemont High School. In 1968 - 1969 you could find him there teaching Biology to 10th graders. Here’s a dope little snapshot in time from Clairemont High’s class of 1968. CLMT homies…. Were any of your parents going there in those years?

If you follow me on any of my socials, you know that I’m a big Spicoli fan and if you grew up with me, you know that I love the 1982 movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I think I have watched it over 100 times and I believe that the movie just bleeds UC and Clairemont’s vibes. It makes sense too because Fast Times was written by Cameron Crowe about Clairemont High School. While Crowe went to Uni (University of San Diego High School, now Catholic Cathedral), he posed as “Dave Cameron” while going undercover at Clairemont High School to draw inspiration for the movie. I just love dropping knowledge on people when they say they love that movie. “Oh by the way, did you know that Fast Times is about Clairemont High and that my dad was a student teacher there?” It’s probably my favorite flex of them all! Here’s some good Spicoli footage for you guys.

Some of my earliest Clairemont memories were going to Baseball Cards Plus (shout out to Dave Shore!) and Clairemont Sports Cards in Clairemont Square back in the 80’s and 90’s. You could also catch me playing some video games or taking some hacks at the cages at the Family Fun Center. My first recreational basketball league was played at the Clairemont YMCA with Luke Walton which was so dope! Bill Walton is a legend and I got to play with his kids when they were first learning how to play hoops. I also got to play with Blake Jensen who I remember being like 7 feet tall at that time. No really…. I think he was 7 feet tall. Shout out to Manute Bol by the way!

I eventually came back to UC to rec ball at Standley and when I was about 13 or 14 I vividly remember one season played there. There were these 2 new kids on one of the squads that I had never seen before. They were surfer kids with super blonde hair and they played with thick knee pads on. They played the game of basketball in a way that I had never seen before. They slid all over that floor and would dive for balls like mad men. Their mom was classic too… She would cheer for them loudly just like my mom would for me. I noticed these kids and needed to become friends with them. I just enjoyed their vibe. It turns out that these kids were actually from Clairemont and their names were Nick and Adam Grenier. And their mom? Joanie Grenier! It was the Grenier fam that opened me up to that Clairemont style.

Around that time that I met Nick and Adam, my freshman year at Standley brought a lot of new kids to our school. The Clairemonsters had officially infiltrated UC with the sickest crew of peeps. Our crew linked up with their crew instantly and we had a straight posse now. That Clairemont crew was Nick and Adam, Toombs, Shawna, Jesse, Corey, Franklin, Crystal & Paige, Shawna, and Koa…. I know I’m missing some others so please shoot me a DM or text and let me know who I need to add to this story.

While playing soccer, we had some new kids on the squad around that time too. This kid with long hair named Chris joined our team and was laid back as hell with the waviest vibes imaginable. Clairemont native Chris Salvatierra (aka Sal) and I were unstoppable as a duo on Brian Chester’s soccer team and we actually won a County Cup one year. Shout out to Boomer and Clapick! Sal and I became instant homies and I think it was because of the creativity we saw in one another on the soccer field along with our overall vibes that made us click. We also didn’t let people punk us (we were the skinniest) and fed off each other’s energy. He had my back and I had his. We would beat teams with our footwork and speed in the middle of the field. We would run for days!

One year, Chris brought a couple of his CLMT homies along to join our squad. There was one kid who never stopped running and wasn’t scared of anything and then there was the more reserved kid who played sick defense and would just laugh at our shenanigans. I now introduce you to Gabe Bolden and Bryan Makinson. When our soccer team added Gabe and Bryan we were officially unstoppable. Gabe gave us another scorer and he literally played all over that damn field. Bryan was our brick wall on the final line of defense. We talked sh*t to other teams and didn’t let anybody push us around. These kids put that Clairemont attitude in my game which I needed. I was always too soft.

UCHS squad in 1997-1998 season. Ringer and I throwing up signs as usual.

Sal never came over to UC but I know he was very close to. That would have been so dope to have had him on our squad and with our crew on campus. Gabe, Bryan, and KevBoneSlice came to UCHS in 1995 and I helped them get acclimated to their new surroundings. I took them around everywhere and brought them into our crew. It was a seamless transition for them and our UC / CLMT posse kept growing in numbers. There weren’t enough lunch tables to house our crew. Our OG crew of Tony, RPeezy, George, Ringer, Mahler, and Mickey, now had Toombs, Gabe, Bryan, and the Greniers in the mix. We also had waves of homies behind us like Kevin, Joel, Alan, and Zach. We were deeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

No idea how I got this! This is amazing.

Our weekends were the best. We bumped good music and would all catch up and whatever party was going on. If somebody’s parents were out of town we would kick it there. If Patty P was at the Padres game we would be there. The Caldwell’s pad was always a good spot. George’s pad for video game seshes all day. We stayed tight even when we all started graduating. I’m so proud to say that we have a 20 person text chain still going strong right now that is full of our OG US CLMT vibes. Even got that Luis and Ru flavor from Clairemont High to bring back those Fast Times’ flavors.

So much to love here but I think Bobby steals the show. Plaid game on point.

All of these homies and these times were some of the best of my life. I always remember Bryan riding shotgun in my ‘91 Volkswagen being down for whatever. Seriously, Bryan was down for anything. We would listen to rap and punk music in my whip and then go back to his house to raid the 2nd fridge and crush some mega snacks. The Makinson snack game was on point. What up Linda?! When the parents weren’t home, we would climb up on that roof and jump into the pool. When the parents were home we would watch surf videos in Kev and Bry’s room while Alina would peak her head out wondering what all of the commotion was about. The Makinsons were a lot of our 2nd families. So many good times over there at that pad. Here’s Bryan’s favorite surf video… It’s so fitting that it’s called GOOD TIMES because that is what Bryan was all about.

It sucks that Bryan isn’t here to be here with all of us. I don’t think I’ve ever come to grips with it all because it was so f*ckin hard to even think that he was gone. I loved Bryan. Bryan and Kevin were the little brothers I never had. Bryan and Kevin were all of our little brothers and that’s why our bond with their family is so tight. Bryan’s spirit lives in all of us. Every June 29th, we pay respect to Bryan aka Magnus. I won’t be with Kevin this year so I had to do something to pay my respects. Kev and I have been going through memories. Alina has been sending me a bunch of pics. I have a bunch of pics. I just want to pay respect to Bryan and celebrate his bday together just like we always do. And if you guys have a story about Bryan, drop a comment. I wanted to reach out to you all for this but I ran out of time. This whole story is kind of all over the place and that’s alright. This is dedicated to Bryan. This is dedicated to Clairemont. This is dedicated to UC 2103. This is dedicated to us. Bryan is alive in all of us.

Kevin, Alan, Zach and I put a playlist together for Bryan too. All SoCal Punk Vibes and songs that Bryan loved. I also included a bunch of Bryan pics… If you have more, send them to me and I will add them to this for everybody to see.

Duuuuude…. how great is this? Breakdancing Bry!

Flannel game on point with the NY hat? 💪

Volleyball CIF championships… one of my fav pics of Bryan… We all reopen so hard at games to support the homies!

Bry is the star here. All of us focused on his energy.

So many great times while Paige and Bry! And that ride!

Good chains and cigs in the ear meant we were raging

Vegas raging…. 5am probably? Yeah Clappy!

As long as we called our pimp and ho parties a 70’s party the school let it slide. One of my favorite pics of Mick

Magnus could lift anything. Strongest man in SD at the time

Check the Doritos bag… Colin with 6 chips in his hand… Gabe prob pulling taquitos out of the oven or crushing a can of Coke.

Summer of 1999 to-do list. Surprised Bryan for his 18th at my parents pad! Yellow carpet thrashed.

Cash money in Vegas. My goodwill jacket is 3 sizes too big but it was dope so I rocked it

Joel…. I don’t look at anybody but you here. ❤️