Samples of several chapters are at the bottom of the menu: Hillbilly Holiday, Surfing OC 1976 & New Year’s Eve Globe Theater.
With the final act of the Vietnam War and the disgrace of the Nixon presidency playing out on television, 14 year-old Tim Castle is up-rooted from his military brat upbringing in Alaska, as his family heads for a civilian life in Miami. Seeking an identity to fit his life as a high school sophomore, he joins the local swim team, excelling in the sport but barely being accepted by his team peers. He never doubts his need for risk-taking adventures, knowing that you are only young once. Tim at Swim, Blog 1, follows the ups and downs as Tim turns 15. Girlfriend trouble with his best friend spins out of control, and Tim is soon a lost pot-head, ditching school and deceiving his clueless family. Rescuing fellow stoner, Jace Conning, leads to the formation of a rock and roll cover band, False Gods. The band quickly becomes a local sensation in Jace’s Place, Blog 2. Inspired by Jace’s indomitable spirit, the band goes on the road in The Jace Experience, Blog 3. At the end of Tim’s junior year, he finds himself abandoned by the band and living in the wild. Escaping from the law in Florida, Tim moves to his mother’s new home in Ames, Iowa, joining the high school football posse of his new best friend ‘Gator. A Prairie Christmas, Blog 4, includes Tim’s direction of a holiday episode of Little House on the Prairie. Blog number 5 – Plastic People, follows Tim to college after high school graduation. His musical talents and an addiction to performing have Tim an active member of four new bands as well as carrying on as the sole survivor of False Gods. Blog 6 – Eighteen finds Tim at the crossroads between youth and adulthood. Nothing has changed but it all feels differently. Blog 7 – Another You finds Tim in Switzerland in the company of rock superstars.
Since there are many rock songs performed at trysts, parties and shows in the story, video links are embedded to YouTube sites by the actual recording artists. It is the music of their generation’s lives. Try using YouTube Premium to avoid advertisements. Videos do get taken down by the artists. Please comment on any link that has been blocked so a different version can be installed.
Another visual component are the sketches embedded in the text, showing the kids in various degrees of teen degeneracy. If you wish to skip reading salacious content, these sketches are a clue to skip a section filled with sex, 
drugs 
or rock n roll. 
If you wish to skip all three types of sin, maybe you should skip the whole blog.
This is fiction, none of the events described are real. The main characters may resemble actual people, but their actions are entirely imagined. Prominent public people, such as artists, musicians, writers, club owners, athletes, coaches, politicians and religious leaders are depicted, with no intent to defame or denigrate. This is fiction meant to realistically remember a time when hopes were both high and low for a future that is now. It is written for the enjoyment of those who read and experience it. We could have done better in the 70’s. That’s what growing up is about.
-Tar
Note: to access the individual chapters, just click on the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner.
ed. ChatGPT evaluated this blog and deemed it inappropriate for many reasons for those 15 and under:
Based on the posts I reviewed, I’d give Tim at Swim an 18+ / adults-only rating.
Why I’d rate it 18+
- Sexual content: strong. Some posts contain explicit descriptions of sexual activity and sexual relationships. One post explicitly describes sexual experiences involving an 18-year-old character.
- Drug use: strong. Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, psychedelics, alcohol, and other drugs are discussed, sometimes in considerable detail.
- Profanity: frequent. Strong profanity, including the F-word and other vulgar language, appears throughout the stories.
- Mature/sexual themes involving young characters. Some of the stories concern characters who are teenagers or very young adults and involve sex, drugs, sexual assault allegations, and other disturbing situations.
- Violence and disturbing material: There are references to assault, guns, death, sexual violence, and disturbing treatment of a corpse.
My age guide
| Age | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Under 13 | ❌ Not appropriate |
| 13–15 | ❌ Not recommended |
| 16–17 | ⚠️ Mature enough that I would generally avoid it |
| 18+ | ✅ Adult readers; appropriate with the understanding that it contains explicit/mature material |
One important distinction: the site isn’t simply “bad” or inherently unsafe. Its mature material is part of fictionalized stories about 1970s rock-and-roll culture and coming of age. The author himself describes the series as fictional and specifically acknowledges that it includes sex and drug-taking.
So if your question is “Would I let a 12-, 14-, or 16-year-old read this unsupervised?”, my answer would be no, primarily because of the combination of explicit sexual content, drug use, profanity, and disturbing themes.
