So I'm totally into
Facebook these days. It's actually something that's sorta come full circle for me, if you know what I mean. Back when I was in college, us college students all hung out on the college intranet, chatting each other, looking to see who was on
WAM, all that dorky stuff. Sure it was primitive, but totally similar. I got out of all that after I left college. I still did a lot on email, did a lot on the WWW, but got out of touch with the "social networking." I didn't even instant-message with anyone anymore. It was probably only last year that I started instant-messaging with Damon again, which is strange since after all that's how we met!
[Lies, all lies! -D]So this summer, for work, I was doing a project and we were all playing with different web technologies - one of them being
Facebook (which is really popular among college students! -
hence the "circle"). Now, Damon is on
Facebook and has been for a while. He's on the college scene so he knows about it
[I'm hip to the college scene! -D]. So I joined and have started the slow progression of adding friends and joining groups. It's been fun. I am now sucked in. It's a totally different beast than what I ever experienced when I was in college, but the
Internet is a whole new animal too, and for the better...
So anyway, one of the groups I recently joined was "You know you grew up in the 80's if" and lists a whole bunch of items related to that era. I can't help but laugh at the list. I have copied it here, and have added my own comments here...
[and I also will add comments! -Damon]You know you grew up in the 80's if:
1. You used to buy cassette singles… and still have some stashed somewhere… (YES)
[no, I was too poor, though there IS a self-recorded cassette single of Laura's that I know of....]2. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton (I know most of the words, anyway. I'm sure Damon knows all the words.)
[and I do!]3. You hold a special place in your heart for "Back to the Future." (YES)
[saw it in the theater, thank you]4. You know where to go if you "wanna go where everybody knows your name." (YES)
[who doesn't?]5. You've heard of Garbage Pail Kids. (Heard of! I have some STILL)
[Funny story here: When I was in fifth and sixth grade, my bro Jason brought home first edition Garbage Pail Kids before they were a phenomenon, and I was lucky to have a few of them including the legendary Adam Bomb. I was lucky because I flipped that card for 12 bucks when I was in 6th grade and used that to buy an Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook. You won't get 12 bucks for it now, let alone that amount adjusted for inflation. For a poor kid, that was awesome!]6. You know that "
WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom (YES)
[Nothing my love can't fix for you baby!]7. Two words: Hammer Pants (YES)
[sure]8. You watched "
Fraggle Rock" (YES...and have the first THREE seasons on DVD on our shelf...uh, for the kids)
[what she said]9. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and
spokey-
dokies or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect (YES)
[yes to the cards, no to the streamers as far as I can remember]10. You watched "Duck Tales" (Woo ooh!) (YES)
[yes]11. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons. (YES, what happened there?)
[yeah, but you know there was a lot of crap back then too. Rubik the Amazing Cube? Laverne and Shirley In the Army?]12. You (your sister, cousins) wore a ponytail on the side of your head. (YES, Mom do you have a picture?)
[yeah, I guess]13. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen..and still know the turtles names. (Didn't see the movie, but just
yesterday Damon was trying to remember all the names - and did!)
[I saw it in the theater, but wasn't that in 1990?]14. You know all the words to "ice ice baby". (OK, I don't but Damon does! He often sings it to me.)
[heeheehee....]15. Poltergeist freaked you out. (I don't remember, but probably)
[meh, never saw it, but I do not get scared from movies. Sorry]16. You ever had a Swatch Watch. (YES, several and still have them in a box in my closet)
[Another fun story! I was poor growing up, so I couldn't afford things like Swatch Watches, and don't you know I knew it. But, wonder upon wonders, one day in sixth grade while walking up the stairwell, I saw a perfectly intact Swatch watch lying on the stairs. You better believe I ran to and grabbed that thing, and wore it proudly since I actually had something cool.]17. L.A. Gear....need I say more? (YES)
[no]18. You believed that "By the power of
Greyskull, you HAD the power!" (YES - and we have some of those on DVD too!)
[I actually had Castle Greyskull, which made no sense because we were poor.]19. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF" (YES, and also have that on DVD)
[Again, saw it in the theater. Laura brings up to me that I've seen many weird things in the theater (like Robin Hood: Men in Tights). She's just jealous]20. You wanted to be a
Goonie. ("
Goonies never say die.") (YES, why don't we have THAT on DVD?)
[sure, but I did NOT see that in the theater]21. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (some of us...head-to-toe) (No...strangely!)
[no]22. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted. (YES)
[sure, but why would I want to?]23. You have ever pondered why
Smurfette was the only female smurf. (YES, we've had long discussions about this, and we have the first season of Smurfs on DVD too!)
[there have been things going around on the internet about this for years...]24. Your first Walkman weighed about as much as a brick. (YES, I only just got rid of my "
walkmans" this summer. I hold on to stuff way too long.)
[yes]25. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence. (YES)
[sure, but I always thought this was annoying]26. You remember
Hypercolor t-shirts. (YES, but never wore them - thank god!)
[never had one]27. You knew "The Artist", when he was humbly called "Prince". (YES)
[yes]28. You thought She-
ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up. (Many 80's kids have informed me that this would be incest so scrap that)! (YES, but I wasn't too into the He-Man thing...)
[never really watched or cared for She-ra, sorry]29. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets. (
YESSSSS)
[nah]30. After you saw Pee-
Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?" (YES)
[saw it in the theater, again...]31. You were a Cub Scout, brownie or girl guide but now you have no idea what all the badges you got were for. (YES)
[Nope, not at all]32. You remember going to the skating rink before there were
inline skates. (YES)
[Ha! Superskate! In the Cape St. Claire group on Facebook they talk about this all the time]33. If you ever said "I pity the fool". (YES)
[sure]34. You have ever played with a Skip-It or
Elastix (
Hmmm don't remember)
[what the hell is that?]35. You had or attended a birthday party at
McDonalds. (YES)
[nope]36. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement. (YES)
[yes, yes, yes]37. You remember when cellular phones weighed 15 lbs. and had to be carried over your shoulder. (YES)
[nope, poor, you get the drill]38. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top
Reeboks. (YES)
[no]39. You wore socks scrunched down (YES)
[no]40. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that. (YES, I never carried one around, but know of those who did)
[sure, I remember and all]41. You remember watching both Gremlins movies. (YES, and they freaked me out)
[you know, I have never actually seen the whole movie. Odd, I know]42. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!" (YES)
[no]43. You remember watching Rainbow Bright and & My Little Pony Tales (YES, and I still have my Ponies and Bears...)
[nope]44. You had to come in the house when the street lights came on. (YES, such a different world back then...)
[a different world back then? Ha! It is a SAFER world nowadays and violent crime is down. Kids still have to come in when the street lights are on.]45. You remember Alf, the
lil furry brown alien from
Melmac. (YES, and he ate cats...)
[Yes, Alf AND the Alf cartoon. Don't ask]46. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool...and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "
NKOTB" (YES)
[NKOTB sucked and everyone knew it]47. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class. (
Hmmm...I was never into Saved By The Bell, but I know of the show)
[Yeah, plus when they were in Ms. Bliss' class in Indiana]48. You know all the words to
Bon Jovi - "SHOT THROUGH THE HEART AND YOUR TO BLAME.. YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME" (YES, most of them anyway)
[yes...]49. You just sang those words to yourself. (YES)
[Dammit!]50. You have a tendency to turn the collar up on your Polo shirts. (
Mmmm, not really, but that WAS the fad)
[uhhh....not so much Polo shirts, but button down shirts...]51. Your first computer was a Commodore 64 or an Atari 800. (YES, We had something of that nature)
[Nope, poor again]52. You know what movie the phrase, "Number 5 is alive!" is from. (
Hmmm...dunno about that one!)
[Short Circuit, though I don't know if I've ever actually seen the movie]53. You played with Lego’s when they were just blocks of various sizes, not any of the special little parts. (YES, and have saved ALL of them)
[yes]54. You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school. (YES, I think mine was My Little Pony, or Strawberry Shortcake)
[hmmm....I can't really remember, but I'm pretty sure it was brown bag or free lunch for me]55. You remember that "Up above the streets and houses, Rainbow climbing high. Everyone can see it smiling over the sky. Paint the whole world with a rainbow" (
Hmmm...sounds like a Rainbow
Brite reference, which I WAS totally into, but I don't remember the line here)
[I have no freaking idea]56. You played and or collected "
Pogs" (I knew of
Pogs but wasn't into them)
[I didn't collect them, but I knew about them]57. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you
talkin' 'bout Willis?" (YES)
[oh yes]58. You played British Bulldog or Man hunt (Don't know that one)
[huh, maybe I should look it up on wikipedia]59."You went to a
Chinese restaurant to buy a loaf of bread, bread, bread. They wrapped it up in a five pound note and this is what they said, said, said..... (Don't know that one either)
[huh?]60. You sang " One, two, Freddy's coming for you. / Three, four, better lock your door. / Five, six, grab your crucifix. / Seven, eight, gonna stay up late. / Nine, ten, never sleep again." (I guess that's a reference to that movie with Freddy. I didn't see if b/c I hate scary movies like that.)
[It is from Nightmare on Elm Street...]Anyhow, you can see that I am SUCH a child of the 80's. So as my kids enter their formative years soon, I wonder what their list will one day look like. If I had to start the list now, it would include
Teletubbies, Little Einsteins, Smurfs, Pooh, blocks, "Blue Puppy", and dressing up. I'm sure the list will change soon.
(The pic at the top are REAL
Weebles that I grew up that I somehow managed to save all these years. My Mom recently sent them so my kids can now play with them. She also just sent along some of MY Barbies, with all the old-school clothes (some handmade). Soon there will be my Cabbage Patch kids and who knows what else! Thanks for holding on to all that stuff for all these years Mom and Dad!)
