I watched Napoleon Dynamite. Personally I didn’t find it funny. Which is why I’m not doing a review. I found it sad. Perhaps if I was 15 years old I would have found it more entertaining, but, I’m 33 and it only reminds me of junior high and high school and how cruel people were and how cruel I could have been to others. I was taught not to make fun of someone because he or she was different. Looking back, however, I did. My friends did. If someone wasn’t in the “mainstream” and walked to his/her own beat we laughed. I wasn’t in the popular crowd but my friends and I basically fit in anywhere. So I really don’t think we had trouble. Who knows, maybe we were more popular than we believed at the time. All of this rambling aside, the song at the end-The Promise by When In Rome, gave me a huge nostalgic feeling. Not surprisingly I had to find the song and listen to it, about 5 times, before I got most of it out of my system. I remember when I was younger I would listen to my mom’s old albums-yes kids when vinyl records existed-and would wish I lived in the era she lived. Now, if a song from the 80s comes on the radio, I’ve had a 15 year old say “the 80s were so cool.” I guess the 80s were a good time, but 20 years from now that 15 year old will hear the same from a kid who isn’t even born yet about the 2000s.

I realize why my mom kept old records. To remind her of a time when the world was in front of her and she had nothing to lose. No bills to worry about. No child to take care of. When deciding what to wear to school could make or break your entire day. The English class you cracked up in because you were allowed to say “Out, Out damn spot” and not get in trouble for cussing. The days of football games, movies on weekends, the mall.. driving around in a circle in Kanawha City because everyone else was doing it-your parents never knowing 5 of you were packed into the cab of a small Ford Ranger. Sitting in the back of that Ford Ranger in the middle of November freezing your ass off and not caring. Calling your parents and begging to be allowed to stay out until 11. Good days, they were. Very good days. Angie if you’re reading this-remember Iko Iko-Cyndi Lauper’s version? It’s playing. We would sing this song over and over. For the life of me I don’t know why.

Speaking of the 80s, yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. Do you remember where you were? I heard a news story saying this event was like the Kennedy assassination for my generation. We were on our lunch period-it was almost over, we heard someone mention it. Our next class was World Geography with Mrs. Lewis. 7th Grade. We watched it on TV in her class and I can remember being glued to the news when I came home. Yeah, I do remember.