Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Mama Kat's Homework Assignment

It's that time of the week again ... it has become one of my favorites, because Mama Kat comes up with some really neat subjects to talk about. This week is no exception - I encourage you to give it a shot! This week, I chose to write about the subect "I remember when..." I think I'm going to do a list of things I remember ... hey, it may be boring, or it may be fun ... let's have a looksie.

I remember when:
* I was in college, and stamps had just gone up in price to 19 cents ... man, I'm old ... and this may not be as fun as I thought.
* The Atari 2600 was the "cutting edge" of home gaming entertainment. I remember thinking that I had probably seen the "apex" of gaming when I got Donkey Kong for the Atari ... I swore it wouldn't get any better.
* My biggest worry was the next day's quiz or exam ... ah, life was so simple once, wasn't it?
* We didn't have cable tv. My parents were one of the last to "embrace" this. One of my best friends down the street got cable, and he told me of a tv station that showed nothing but sports ... it had the initials ESPN. I thought this may have been the greatest invention since the wheel.
* Zips sneakers were cool. The commercials "hinted" that the sneakers would make you run faster. My cousin got those sneakers ... I got some kind of cheap Buster Brown knock-offs ... and because of that, I swore I was slow.
* Walking up to the Mac Dade Mall as a youngster - I was probably around 8 - and going to the movies with my cousins or with friends ... my parents never worried about it ... now, I would never allow my kids to do this by themselves - it's just a different world now. Oh, and movies were $2.50 ... sigh.
* My Super Friends lunch box ... I thought it was the coolest thing ... until, I got into middle school, and some 8th grader made fun of me ... I was devastated ... from that point on, I brought bagged lunch to school.
* Being frightened about high school. I thought there would be drug dealers and pushers at the end of every hallway who would force me to do drugs.
* Thinking I was going to be an NHL hockey goalie, because I was really good in gym class ... playing floor hockey.
* Middle school dances, drinking orange soda at those dances, and telling diarrhea jokes with some other friends the entire time (usually because we were afraid to dance).
* Winning a K-Tel "Hot Tracks" album at the middle school dance because I was the "best dressed" kid. I had this 3-piece suit ... it was tan ... it made me look like a giant pound cake ... but I won, dammit!
* Thinking that Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" was the greatest song every made ... until I heard my first "reggae" song - Lionel Richie's "All Night Long."
* Hearing the Rolling Stones for the first time, and realizing that this is without a doubt the greatest band ever ... and to this day I still know this.
* My first concert - The Who's "Kids Are Allright" concert at Veteran's Stadium in the summer of 1989 ... which was followed a few months later by The Rolling Stones "Steel Wheels" concert ... one helluva summer!
* My first job - which lasted about 10 minutes - it was at a local restaurant, and when I saw the "chef" drop a steak on the floor, pick it back up, and grill it, I quit ... ugh!
* Stealing tic-tacs at the age of 3 ... my mom caught me, because they made loud sounds as I was walking up the steps ... she made me take them back to the supermarket and apologize ... stealing was never an issue with me again ...

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

lol... love the list. My brother stole some Tootsie Rolls from beside the cash register of a local eatery that my parents frequented. He was chewing on it in the back seat (way before I was born) and my mother figured it out and walked him back in... bawling all the way, barely able to apologize to the owner and was made to offer to pay him right back when they got home to his piggy bank. Stopped his stealing too!

snowelf said...

You had me laughing at the first line!! I love reading the various mama kat assignments! :) So many of these things bring back memories for me too--I remember my cousin had the zips and I swore that they made her run faster too!
So unfair!

--snow

Superstar said...

I like your take on the Assignment!!! LOL you lost me on the steak on the floor! *shivers*

Gawd that is really not good!
gross!!!!

LOL Atari!!! hehehehe we are not OLD...just mature...hehehehe

Diane said...

Great list... brought back memories... and made me feel really old. Hey, thanks for that! :)

El Padrino said...

you got a memory like an elephant

Michelle said...

That brought back some memories of my own!

Still into diarrhea humor? If so check out my assignment. :)

Denise said...

Ha! I remember when Atari came out! Does that mean I am old too?!??

Great list! I can definitely relate to a lot of it! :)

Heff said...

As far as the Atari 2600 being "cutting edge", I always knew video game quality would get better, it just didn't happen quick enough for me. I wanted "coin op" quality, which didn't take place for SEVERAL more years.

By the way - I've been painting while drinking. I feel your pain.

Kelly said...

I also stole a piece of caramel from those big bins and the grocery store. I must have been about 5. My mom caught me and made me go back in, go up to the check out aisle and pay for it, after I told the lady what I did! That ended my shoplifting career FOR-EVA!

Crassius Maximus said...

Zips. Dominant.

Jeff said...

Do you remember when you stopped telling diarrhea jokes? Me neither. (Not that I mind!)

Sometimes Sophia said...

Excellent list. Atari and 8-tracks and Zips. Our worries and technology are so much greater now!! Loved the comment about your first job and the giant pound cake suit. Too funny.

Jenners said...

Stopping by on my tour of MamaKat's writing assignments. Loved your approach to the prompt! Totally made me laugh and I related to quite a few. To me, the best was your first reggae song -- Lionel Richie. I remember telling my dad about this great movie and songs called "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," which starred Peter Frampton and the BeeGees. I had no clue about the Beatles. My dad was absolutely horrified and immediately began my "rock and roll" education, which ALMOST included a trip to a Rolling Stones concert (my mom put the kibosh on that since I was only 10 at the time and she thought it might be inappropriate -- something I will never forgive her for). If I'd known the Stones would still be performing 30 years later, maybe it wouldn't have seemed like such a loss!

Ink and Stone said...

True. The Rolling Stones kick ass, but they're not quite as great as Ministry. *runs and hides* :)

KatBouska said...

This list is AWESOME. My favorite is the hockey goalie aspiration. Hilarious...the whole thing has me cracking up!

Kel said...

I stole Tic-Tacs as a kid, too! I had a preference for those neon orange ones. Luckily, my mom didn't make me take them back. In my defense, I DID think she paid for them.

Funny list!