life of uncertainty

I’ve learned that putting something on your calendar far in advance does not mean one will necessarily be any more prepared when the time comes. I am so excited I can barely stand it… We are going dancing tonight at the Fez!!! WaaaHooo!!! Friday nights are their 80’s dance parties and they rock. I think it is the only thing getting me through the day.

Because I have little specific memory of my childhood and I love pop culture, I often adopt general themes or images in as my own experiences. Today I’m listing the things that I specifically remember about the 80’s (the fun stuff anyway)

- Learning about Billy Idol and Duran Duran from my next door neighbor
- Music books with lyrics to pop songs; most notable from the book I remember was When Doves Cry, Glamourous Life and Sugar Walls.
- The overall sensation of crossing the line from innocent child to young person. I recall those first physical sensations of attraction, longing, etc. Knowing that my parents wouldn’t want me to watch certain videos but not knowing why. Reading those song lyrics and understanding how to read between the lines…
- rubber bracelets
- hair bands/glam rock
- sitcoms (some great, some not so much): Cheers, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Give Me a Break, 227, Amen. Some of these really stick about to me because my father abhorred them so much.
- Cable, back in the day of the sliding channel box. I use to love to get the little pamphlet that came for each month that would list the 10 movies HBO/Showtime would show over and over and over again, with all the air dates and times. Thanks to this I have seen Grease who knows how many times. And Irreconcilable Differences! I loved that movie! Oh! and Popeye and who can forget the best of all - Labyrinth. I also liked to watch Faerie Tale Theater with Shelley Duvall, my favorite was Beauty and the Beast
- Jordache jeans with zippers at the ankles
- MTV showing new videos at the top of every hour
- Remote Control
- hopscotch, tetherball, wall ball, 2 and 4-square, schools using giant tractor wheels as climbing/hiding structures. I had my first girl crush in one of those.
- American Bandstand
- Oh, and those dramas! LA Law, Hill Street Blues, Murder She Wrote, Dynasty, TJ Hooker
- Roller skating
- Those weird plastic necklaces with charms (if anyone knows what these were called I beg of you to enlighten me)
- Skater boys
- outdoor school, instant strawberry oatmeal, string cheese, He-Man, She-Ra, Cheese-Ra, Barbies, The Breakfast Club, and best of all some really, really good times with some great friends

I am ready to get my dance on!!!

I know I didn’t touch on music too much because I could go on and on and on and… you get the picture. What about you? What are some of your favorite songs/recollections of the 80’s?