Life in the 80's

The Daily Oy recently put up a post about memories of being at my house in the 80's. Read his blog first so the rest of this makes sense.

I have mostly fond memories of the 80's and my brother's friends. Well, I do cringe a little thinking about how I tried to interject myself into their activities (pesky little sister, anyone?).

My eldest brother, who I will call K, started a band with his friends. They practiced in our rec room and called themselves Armageddon. I didn't know what the word meant but it sounded pretty cool. I don't think they ever played a whole song through to the end. When I was in high school, I dated a guitarist who did the same thing. Many years were spent waiting for musical closure. This is why I'm so happy Bo Hunkmeister doesn't play guitar.

RM of the Daily Oy was a nice guy, but it was the drummer I had a crush on. My ten year old aspirations were to grow up and marry him. Having later dated a drummer in high school, I'm glad I didn't marry a drummer either. Plus the drummer came from a large family and well, large families are just weird (that was sarcasm). I did appreciate how K's friends didn't just blow me off as a mere nuisance. Or at least faked being accommodating of me.

I did not think you guys were absolute losers. My goodness, y'all were probably the first to eat sushi in your class. I thought that was exceedingly sophisticated of you. I remember you guys doing a teppan-yaki dinner at my house. No mere going for a slice of pizza for you dudes! Do you still count shrimp tails?

And for the record, we did have video games. We had an Apple 2e on which we could play Brick Out and Pong. I don't recall if we had Atari. If we did, my dad probably bought it second hand which means it didn't work well. And we had a Pachinko machine. I remember seeing my mom entranced in front of it one day, and then wondering if we were going to be able to eat dinner that night. I'm sure my kids feel the same way when they see me in front of the computer blogging.

The third wheel thing...well, even his own siblings felt like third wheels when K was up to his plans. It's not a reflection on you, RM, it's K's inability to be sensitive to others when focused on what he was after.(sorry, K, had to be said)

Perhaps the only scarring from that time was growing up liking Led Zeppelin. Most of my junior high friends were into Menudo and Duran Duran and looked at me like I was a counter culture weirdo for liking Led Zeppelin. I realize now, it was training for becoming the counter culture large family homeschooling weirdo I am today.

Off topic here - You asked in the comment section how I make my guy feel like he's the most important thing in the world. I try to remember he's a man, not another girlfriend. I try to follow some of his interests, even if I don't understand them. I don't treat him like he's another one of the kids. I try not to say anything derogatory about him in public (not that we don't have issues but there's a time and place for resolving those things and trash talking about him to the girlfriends ain't one of them). Basically, as cheeky, holier than thou, and preachy as it sounds, I try to treat him the way I would want to be treated.

So RM, angst not, my friend, it's all good.