my childhood is calling...

did you ever want to be a United Colors of Benetton kid? did you want anything to come between you & your Calvin’s?  remember shasta? (tab was for grown-ups) sit & spins? mother may i? * if any of this is ringing a bell, which i hope it is, then you were a child of the 80’s. (the most awesome time, but i’m super biased) & these are some of my fondest memories…ready to go back in time with me? “red liiiiiiiight…GREEN LIGHT!” let’s go…

•      i remember waiting by the radio, an empty cassette inside, ready to push record for that song i’d been dying to play over & over. now, this was way before Napster, share sites, etc…so, was i a pirate back in the day without realizing it?
•          young folks…did you know that MTV used to play music videos? i mean, like all the time. that was their schtick, their deal!. it was awesome to watch your fave song turned into a piece of visual art. (no such thing as youtube.com)  they had “veejays” that would keep you hip on the music scene & if you wanted to know what was going on in the world, kurt loder would hook you up.
•          calling people meant actually memorizing their number…can you believe it? i knew all of my friends digits by heart. these days, without my phone, i am screwed. i’ve even had to ask the hubs what my own number was when giving it to people.
•      playing outside was the ultimate entertainment. & we played…we played hard. mainly because mothers just didn’t let kids run in & out the house. you were to stay outside until dinner or sunset or whatever; just as long as when your momma did call for you, you were close enough to scamper home!
•      my pop used to make this home-made slip n slide for my sister & me. i’m talking 20 feet of clear plastic goodness hosed down with water & dishwashing detergent. man, would we fly. & of course, find scrapes & bruises later on from the occasional pine cone or stick that wasn’t spotted earlier. we simply didn’t care…it was the best (& cheapest) way to beat the summer heat!
•      saturday morning was when you got your cartoon fix. up at the crack out of dawn to nosh on cold cereal & watch Scooby doo, Snorks, Strawberry Shortcake, or Thundercats…”HO!!” but the best was JEM…she was “truly outrageous!” (& i’ll admit it…i was a KIDS incorporated junkie! who knew, fergie, who knew?)
•      i absolutely loved Punky Brewster! & sported the raddest book bag to show my support.
•      COPS is the first “reality” show i can remember. then the real world came out. total strangers forced to live in a house…what a concept? funny now to think that was ever an original idea!
•      ‘paradise theater’…STYX…was the coolest album ever. plus, it had that holographic image on one side of the lp…totally cool, totally! but really, on that  note…80’s music, in general, was the best! for real, some of the greatest tunes that i still listen to every single day!
•      i would love to have my old parachute pants & a pair of jams. remember those? rocking the neon headbands/earrings & the tiny buttons all over the jean jacket. (the whole duran duran button set stolen from my sister) or better yet…where you a “member’s only?”  *i come across vintage pieces in thrift stores or specialty shops & usually snatch them up. a little mix & match, ya know?! i will never let go of that era…i won’t do it.
•      i had a little red pillow that i would shove under my t-shirt & strut around singing ‘9 to 5!’ i still want to be dolly when i grow up!
•      ahh, the fair & the wonderful carni culture that we all know & love. the games were the best. enter the image of my dad (most likely) spending way too much money to shoot out the star on the paper or flip the frog or toss the rings. all so that my sister & i could “win” a goldfish in a bag or feather clips or the little mirrors with the "hair band" lasered onto it. & wow, we’d wear those feathers in our hair like we were so cool. we had no clue that they were actually roach clips…HA! *btw, the Himalayan is still my all time fave fair ride…”do ya wanna go fast-errrr?”  
•          did you peg roll your jeans, wear 2-3 pairs of socks, & virtually as many swatch watches at a time as you could? yea, we were awesome!
•      in 6^th grade, my older sister’s boyfriend made me a mixed tape. it featured the ramones, 7 seconds, & the misfits...to name a few. i had been introduced to a whole new world beyond the old school country/folk, big band, jazz, & pop that i was used to. & i was in love. fast forward to every genre of music becoming sought out & embraced. heavy metal phase…check. punk, grunge, riot girl rage…check, check, check. i had every lollapa-lilith fair compilation of bands & so on.
•      tiger beat, anyone? i can still see the duran duran & the matt dillon posters (with his the guess who t-shirt on) that hung on the wall of the bedroom. i was gonna either marry matt or nick rhodes. later on, i would resolve this issue…his name was johnny from jumpstreet!!
•      i remember the occasional family game night. yahtzee & sorry were the games of choice, but i loved pente because you could use “diamonds” or “rubies.”
•         fashion plates…just wonderful!! how awesome would it be to get a hold of some? i would play for hours…seriously!
•      boy, have video game graphics come a bazillion miles since atari…but what a great place to start!

wow, going back to simpler times is a fun little escape. it’s amazing how much things change, but essentially stay the same. i think it’s all in how you view the world. i mean, we have to be adults, but every now & then, i have to remind myself to see things as a child; innocently, sweetly, & not so serious. it really does make life better & smoother. thanks for traveling with me, guys. even if this wasn’t your “era,” your childhood is calling isn’t it? go ahead, answer!