This is where I put up all those things that may contain interesting or useless information.  Some of the stuff here may be true and you might even learn something.  I put the newest info on page 3.

[ > Page 1 < | Page 2 | Page 3 ]

Children of the Eighties!

Do you remember all of this stuff?

We are the children of the Eighties. We are not the first "lost generation" nor today's lost generation; in fact we think we know just where we stand-or are discovering it as we go. We are the ones who played with Lego Building Blocks when they were just building blocks and gave Malibu Barbie crewcuts with safety scissors that never really cut.  We collected Garbage Pail Kids and Cabbage Patch Kids and My Little Ponies and Hot Wheels and He-Man action figures and thought She-Ra looked just a bit like I would when I was a woman.  Big Wheels and bicycles with streamers were the way to go, and sidewalk chalk was all you needed to build a city. Imagination was the key.  It made the Ewok treehouse big enough for you to be Luke and the kitchen table and an old sheet dark enough to be a tent in the forest.  Your world was the backyard and it was all you needed.  With your pink portable tape player, Debbie Gibson sang back up to you and everyone wanted a skirt like the Material Girl and a glove like Michael Jackson's. Today, we are the ones who sing along with Bruce Springstein and The Bangles perfectly and have no idea why.  We recite lines with the Ghostbusters and still look to The Goonies for a great adventure.  We flip through T.V. stations and stop at The A Team and Knight Rider and Fame and laugh with The Cosby Show and Family Ties and Punky Brewster and what you talkin' 'bout Willis?  We hold strong affections for The Muppets and The Gummy Bears and why did they take the SMURFS off the air? After school specials were only about cigarettes and stepfamilies, the Pokka Dot Door was nothing like Barney, and aren't the Power Rangers just Voltron reincarnated? We are the ones who still read Nany Drew and the Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume, Richard Scary and the Electric Company. Friendship pins went on shoes-preferably hightop Velcro Reeboks and pegged jeans were in, as were Units belts and layered socks and jean jackets and jams and charm necklaces and side pony tails and just tails.  Rave was a girl's best friend; braces with colored rubber bands made you cool.  The backdoor was always open and Mom served only red Kool-Aid to the neighborhood kids-never drank New Coke. Entertainment was cheap and lasted for hours.  All you needed to be a princess was high heels and an apron; the Sit'n'Spin always made you dizzy but never made you stop; Pogoballs were dangerous weapons and Chinese Jump Ropes never failed to trip someone.  In your Underoos you were Wonder Woman or Spider Man or R2D2 and in your treehouse you were king.
Never forget:  We are the children of the Eighties!
 
 

Here are some possibly absolutely useless facts

Barbie's measurements, if she were life-size, would be 39-23-33.

Montpelier, VT, is the only state capital without a McDonald's.

It takes about a half a gallon of water to cook macaroni, and about a gallon to clean the pot.

Everyday more money is printed for Monopoly than for the U.S. Treasury.

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of 11 is $6,400.

The portion of ice cream sold that is vanilla: one-third.

Portion of potatoes sold that are french-fried: one-third.

Number of states that claim test scores in their elementary scores are above national average: 50.

In the Caribbean there are oysters that can climb trees.

Polar bears are left-handed.

They have square watermelons in Japan (they stack better).

Heinz ketchup, leaving the bottle, travels at 25 miles per year.

The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

There are more collect calls on Father's Day than any other day of the year.

After much careful research, it has been discovered that the artist Vincent Van Gogh had many relatives. Among them were:

• His obnoxious brother Please Gogh
• The brother who ate prunes Gotta Gogh
• The brother who worked at a convenience store Stop & Gogh
• The grandfather from Yugoslavia U Gogh
• The brother who bleached his clothes white Hue Gogh
• His dizzy aunt Verti Gogh
• The cousin from Illinois Chica Gogh
• His magician uncle Where diddy Gogh
• His Mexican cousin Amee Gogh
• Another Mexican cousin Grin Gogh
• The nephew who drove a stage coach Wells Far Gogh
• The constipated uncle Cant Gogh
• The ballroom dancing aunt Tan Gogh
• The bird lover uncle Flamin Gogh
• His nephew psychoanalyst E Gogh
• The fruit loving cousin Man Gogh
• An aunt who taught positive thinking Way to Gogh
• The little nephew Poe Gogh
• A sister who loved disco Go Gogh
• His Italian uncle Day Gogh
• And his niece who travels the country in a van Winnie Bay Gogh
• A stepbrother with traveling hands Lemme Gogh
• Another nephew who overstayed his welcome Willie Gogh Now, it's time to Gogh!
• You forgot his British cousin, the drummer.........Ring Gogh Or was that Bong Gogh?

Some interesting facts:

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament Building is an American flag.

Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33.

All of the clocks in Pulp Fiction are stuck on 4:20.

All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

A full seven percent of the entire Irish barley crop goes to the production of Guinness beer.

The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

The only other word with the same amount of letters is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.

The longest place-name still in use is
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamatea-
turipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakita natahu
a New Zealand hill.

Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size, "LA"

An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.

The muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint - no two lions have the same pattern of whiskers.

Betsy Ross was born with a fully formed set of teeth.

There is a seven letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, "therein": the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, here, ere, therein, herein.

When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers play football at home, the stadium becomes the state's third largest city.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.

Alexander the Great was an epileptic.

The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

Napoleon constructed his battle plans in a sandbox.

'Stewardesses' is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.

Meanings from your name....

Seek the first letter of your name....and what a surprise....does it suit  you?

A

You are not particularly romantic, but you are interested in action. You mean business. With you, what you see is what you get. You have no patience for flirting and can't be bothered with someone who is trying to be coy, cute, demure, and subtly enticing. You are an up-front person. When it comes to sex, it's action that counts, not obscure hints. Your mate's physical attractivesness is important to you. You find the chase and challenge of the "hunt" envigorating. You are passionate and sexual, as well as being much more adventurous than you appear; however, you do not goaround advertising these qualities. Your physical needs are your primary concern.

B

You give off vibes of lazy sensuality. You enjoy being romanced, wined, and dined. You are very happy to receive gifts as an expression of the affection of your lover. You want to be pampered and know how to pamper your mate. You are privare in your expression of endearments, and particular when it comes to lovemaking. You will hold off until everything meets with your approval. You can control your appetite and abstain from sex if need be. You require new sensations and experiences. You are willing to experiment.

C

You are a very social individual, and it is important to you to have a relationship. You require closeness and togetherness. You must be able to talk to your sex partner-before, during, and after. You want the object of your affection to be socially acceptable and good-looking. You see your lover as a friend and companion. You are very sexual and sensual, needing someone to appreciate and almost worship you. When thpert at controlling your desires and doing without.

D

Once you get it into your head that you want is cannot be achieved, you have the ability to go for long periods without sexual activity. You are an exsomeone, you move full steam ahead in pursuit. You do not give up your quest easily. You are nurturant and caring. If someone has a problem, this turns you on. You are highly sexual, passionate, loyal, and intense in your involvements, sometimes possessive and jealous. Sex to you is a pleasure to be enjoyed.  You are stimulated by the eccentric and unusual, having a free and open attitude.

E

Your greatest need is to talk. If your date is not a good listener, you have trouble relating. A person must be intellectually stimulating or you are not interested sexually. You need a friend for a lover and a companion for a bedmate. You hate disharmony and disruption, but you do enjoy a good argument once in a while-it seems to stir things up. You flirt a lot, for the challenge is more important than the sexual act for you. But once you give your heart away, you are uncompromisingly loyal. When you don't have a good lover to fall asleep with, you will fall asleep with a good book.{Somtimes, in fact, you prefer a good book.)

F

You are idealistic and romantic, putting your lover on a pedestal. You look for the very best mate you can find. You are a flirt, yet oncecommitted, you are very loyal. You are sensuous, sexual, and privately passionate. Publicly, you can be showy, extravagant, and gallant. You are born romantic. Dramatic love scenes are a favorite fantasy pastime. You can be a very generous lover.

G

You are fastidious, seeking perfection within yourself and your lover. You respond to a lover who is your intellectual equal or superior, and one who can enhance your status. You are sensuous and know how to reach the peak of erotic stimulation, because you work at it meticulously. You can be extremely active sexually-that is, when you find the time. Your duties and responsibilities take precedence over everything else. You may have difficulty getting emotionally close to a lover, but no trouble getting close sexually.

H

You seek a mate who can enhance your reputation and your earning ability. You will be very generous to your lover once you have attained a commitment. Your gifts are actually an investment in your partner. Before the commitment, though, you tend to be frugal in your spending and dating habits, and equally cautious in your sexual involvements. You are a sensual and patient lover.

I

You have a great need to be loved, appreciated... even worshipped. You enjoy luxury, sensuality, and pleasures of the flesh. You look for lovers who know what they are doing. You are not interested in an amateur, unless that amateur wants a tutor. You are fussy and exacting about having your desires satisfied. You are willing to experiment and try new modes of sexual expression. You bore easily and thus require sexual adventure and change. You are more sensual than sexual, but you are sometimes downright lustful.

J

You are blessed with a great deal of physical energy. When used for lovemaking, there is nothing to stop you, except maybe the stamina of your partner.(you could have danced all night.) You respond to the thrill of the chase and the challenge of the mating game. You can carry on great romances in your head. At heart you are a roamer and need to set out on your own every so often. You will carry on long-distance relationships with ease. You are idealistic and need to believe in love. The sex act seems to satify a need to be nurtured deep within.

K

You are secretive, self-contained, and shy. You are very sexy, sensual, and passionate, but you do not let on to this. Only in intimate privacy will this part of your nature reveal itself. When it gets down to the nitty-gritty, you are an expert. You know all the little tricks of the trade, can play any role or any game, and take your love life very seriously. You don't fool around. You have the patience to wait for the right person to come along.

L

You can be very romantic, attached to the glamour of love. Having a partner is of paramount importance to you. You are free in your expression of love and are willing to take chances, try new sexual experiences and partners, provided it's all in good taste. Brains turn you on. You must feel that your partner is intellectually stimulating, otherwise you will find it difficult to sustain the relationship. You require loving, cuddling, wining, and dining to know that you're being appreciated.

M

You are emotional and intense. When involved in a relationship, you throw your entire being into it. Nothing stops you; there are no holds barred. You are all-consuming and crave someone who is equally passionate and intense. You believe in total sexual freedom. You are willing to try anything and everything. Your supply of sexual energy is inexhaustible. You also enjoy mothering your mate.

N

You may appear innocent, unassuming, and shy; but we know that appearances can lie. When it comes to sex, you are no novice but something of a skilled technician. You can easily go to extremes, though, running the gamut from insatiability to boredom with the whole idea of sex. You can be highly critical of you mate, seeking perfection in both of you. It is not easy to find someone who can meet your standards. You have difficulty expressing emotions and drawing close to lovers.

O

You are very interested in sexual activities yet secretive and shy about your desires. You can rechannel much of your sexual energy into making money and/or seeking power. You can easily have extended periods of celibacy. You are a passionate, compassionate, sexual lover, requiring the same qualities from your mate. Sex is serious business; thus you demand intensity, diversity, and are willing to try anything or anyone. Sometimes your passions turn to possessiveness, which must be kept in check.

P

You are very conscious of social proprieties. You wouldn't think of doing anything that might harm your image or reputation. Appearances count. Therefore, you require a good-looking partner. You also require an intelligent partner. Oddly enough, you may view your partner as your enemy...a good fight stimulates those sex vibes. You are relatively free of sexual hang-ups. You are willing to experiment and try new ways of doing things. You are very social and sensual; you enjoy flirting and need a good deal of physical gratification.

Q

You require constant activity and stimulation. You have tremendous physical energy. It is not easy for a partner to keep up with you, sexualy or otherwise. You are an enthusiastic lover and tend to be attracted to people of their ethnic groups. You need romance, hearts and flowers, and lots of conversation to turn you on and keep you going.

R

You are a no-nonsense, action-oriented individual. You need someone who can keep pace with you and who is your intellectual equal-the smarter the better. You are turned on more quickly by a great mind than by a great body. However, physical attractiveness is very important to you. You have to be proud of your partner. You are privately very sexy, but you do not show this outwardly. If your new lover is not all that great in bed, you are willing to serve as teacher. Sex is important; you can be a very demanding playmate.

S

For you, it is business before pleasure. If you are in any way bothered by career, business, or money concerns, you find it very hard to relax and get into the mood. You can be romantically idealistic to a fault and are capable of much sensuality. But you never lose control of your emotions. You are very careful and cautious before you give your heart away-and your body, for that matter. Once you make the commitment, though, you stick like glue.

T

You are very sensitive, private, and sexually passive; you like a partner who takes the lead. You get turned on by music, soft lights, and romantic thoughts. You fantasize and tend to fall in and out of love. When in love, you are romantic, idealistic, mushy, and extremely changeable. You enjoy having your senses and your feelings stimulated, titillated, and teased. You are a great flirt. You can make your relationships fit your dreams, all in your own head.

U

You are enthusiastic and idealistic when in love. When not in love, you are in love with love, always looking for someone to adore. You see romance as a challenge. You are a roamer and need adventure, excitement, and freedom. You deal in potential relationships. You enjoy giving gifts and enjoy seeing your mate look good. Your sex drive is strong and you desire instant gratification. You are willing to put your partner's pleasures above your own.

V

You are individualistic, and you need freedom, space, and excitement. You wait until you know someone well before committing yourself. Knowing someone means psyching him out. You feel a need to get into his head to see what makes him tick. You are attracted to eccentric types. Often there is an age difference between you and your lover. You respond to danger, thrills, and suspense. The gay scene turns you on, even though you yourself may not be a participant.

W

You are very proud, determined, and you refuse to take no for an answer when pursuing love. Your ego is at stake. You are romantic, idealistic, and often in love with love itself, not seeing your partner as he or she really is. You feel deeply and throw all of yourself into your relationships. Nothing is too good for your lover. You enjoy playing love games.

X

You need constant stimulation because you bore quickly. You can handle more than one relationship at a time with ease. You can't shut off your mind. You talk while you make love. You can have the greatest love affairs, all by yourself, in your own head.

Y

You are sexual, sensual, and very independent. If you can't have it your way, you will forgo the whole thing. You want to control your relationships, which doesn't always work out too well. You respond to physical stimulation, enjoy necking and spending hours just touching, feeling, and exploring. However, if you can spend your time making money, you will give up the pleasures of the flesh for the moment. You need to prove to yourself and your partner what a great lover you are. You want feedback on your performance. You are an open, stimulating, romantic bedmate.

Z

You are very romantic, idealistic, and somehow you believe that to love means to suffer. You wind up serving your mate or attracting people who have unusual troubles. You see yourself as your lover's savior. You are sincere, passionate, lustful, and dreamy. You can't help falling in love. You fantasize and get turned on by movies and magazines. You do not tell others of this secret life, nor of your sexual fantasies. You are easily aroused sexually.

There's a story about an MIT student who spent an entire summer going to the Harvard football field every day wearing a black and white striped shirt, walking up and down the field for ten or fifteen minutes throwing birdseed all over the field, blowing a whistle and then walking off the field. At the end of the summer, it came time for the first Harvard  home football team, the referee walked onto the field and blew the whistle, and the game had to be delayed for a half hour to wait for the birds to get off of the field. The guy wrote his thesis on this graduated.

How Hot Is It In Hell- A True Story

A thermodynamics professor had written a take-home exam for his graduate students. It had one question: "Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Support your answer with a proof."  Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:  First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So, we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we will look at the rate of change of the volume of Hell, because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added. This leaves two possibilities:

#1: If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

#2: Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hellf reezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Therese Banyan during my Freshman year, that "it will be a cold night in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then #2 cannot be true, so Hell must be exothermic. The student got the only A.

Of all tales of the supernatural, this one is perhaps the best documented, the most disturbing and the most difficult to explain.  The Princess of Amen-Ra lived some 1,500 years before Christ.  When she died, she was laid in an ornate wooden coffin and buried deep in a vault at Luxor, on the banks of the Nile. In the late 1890's, 4 rich young Englishmen visiting the excavations at Luxor were invited to buy an exquisitely fashioned mummy case containing the remains of Princess Amen-Ra. They drew lots. The man who paid several thousand pounds had the coffin taken to his hotel. A few hours later, he was seen walking out towards the desert. He never returned.  The next day, one of the remaining 3 men was shot by an Egyptian servant accidentally. His arm was so severely wounded it had to be amputated. The 3rd man and the foursome found on his return home that the bank holding his entire savings had failed. The 4th guy suffered a severe illness, lost his job and was reduced to selling matches in the street. Nevertheless, the coffin reached England (causing other misfortunes along the way), where it was bought by a London Businessman. After 3 of his family members had been injured in a road accident and his house damaged by fire, the businessman donated it to the British Museum. As the coffin was being unloaded from a truck in the museum courtyard, the truck suddenly went into reverse and trapped a passerby. Then as the casket was being lifted up the stairs by 2 workmen, 1 fell and broke his leg. The other, apparently in good health, died unaccountably two days later. Once the Princess was installed in the Egyptian room, trouble really started. Museum's night watchmen frequently heard frantic hammering and sobbing from the coffin. Other exhibits in the room were often hurled about at night. One watchman died on duty, causing the other watchmen to quit. Cleaners refused to go near the Princess, too. When a visitor derisively flicked a dustcloth at the face painted on the coffin, his child died of measles soon afterwards. Finally, the authorities had the mummy carried down to the basement. Figuring it could not do any harm down there. Within a week, one of the helpers was seriously ill, and the supervisor of the move was found dead on his desk. By now, the papers had heard of it. A journalist photographer took a picture of the mummy case and when he developed it, the painting on the coffin was of a horrifying, human face. The photographer was said to have gone home, then locked his bedroom door and shot himself. Soon afterwards, the museum sold the mummy to a private collector. After continual misfortune (and deaths), the owner banished it to the attic. A well known authority on the occult, Madame Helena Blavatsky, visited the premises. Upon entry, she was seized with a shivering fit and searched the house for the source of "an evil influence of incredible intensity." She finally came to the attic and found the mummy case. "Can you exorcise this evil spirit?" asked the owner. "There is no such thing as exorcism, evil remains evil forever. Nothing can be done about it. I implore you to get rid of this evil as soon as possible."  But no British museum would take the mummy; the fact that almost  20 people had met with misfortune, disaster or death from handling the casket in barely 10 years was now well known. Eventually, a hardheaded American archaeologist (who dismissed the happenings as quirks of circumstance), paid a handsome price for the mummy and arranged for its removal to New York. On the night of April 14, amid scenes of unprecedented horror, the Princess Amen-Ra accompanied 1,500 passengers to their deaths at the bottom of the Atlantic...

...The ship's name was Titanic.

Here is a great response to the Generation X label. Makes me long for how stable things were in the 80s.

I am a child of the 70's and 80's. That is what I prefer to be called. The 90's can do without me. Grunge isn't here to stay, fashion is fickle and "Generation X" is a myth created by some over-40 writer trying to figure out why people wear flannel in the summer. When I got home from school, I played Atari. I spent hours playing Pitfall or Combat or Breakout or Frogger. I never did beat Asteroids.   Then I watched "Scooby Doo." Daphne was a Goddess, and I thought Shaggy was smoking something synthetic in the back of the mystery machine. I HATED SCRAPPY. I would sleep over at friends' houses on the weekends. We played army with G.I. Joe figures, and I set up galactic wars between Autobots and Decepticons. We stayed up half the night throwing marshmallows at one another. We never beat Rubik's cube, unless you count taking off the stickers. I got up on Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. to watch bad Hanna-Barbera cartoons like "The Snorks," "Jabberjaw," "Captain Caveman," and "SpaceGhost." In between I would watch "School House Rock." ("Conjunction junction, what's your function?!") On Friday Night, Daisy Duke was my future wife. I was going to own the General Lee and shoot dynamite arrows out the back. Why did they weld the doors shut? Did your dad turn from mild-mannered Bill Bixby into "The Incredible Hulk" when he got upset? At the movies the Nerds got revenge on the Alpha Betas by teaming up with the Omega Mu's. I watched Indiana Jones save the Ark of the Covenant, and wondered what Yoda meant when he said, "No, there is another." Ronald Reagan was cool. Gorbachev was the guy who built a McDonalds in Moscow. My family took summer vacations to South Florida and collected "Muppet Movie" glasses along the way. (We had the whole set.) My siblings and I fought in the back seat. At the hotel we found creative uses for Connect Four pieces like throwing them in that big air conditioning unit. I listened to John Cougar Mellencamp sing about Little Pink Houses for Jack and Diane. I was bewildered by Boy George and the colors of his dreams: red, gold and green. I was a "Wild Boy" according to DuranDuran. MTV played MUSIC videos. Nickelodeon played "You Can't Do That On Television" and "Dangermouse". Does anyone remember the "Banana Splits?" HBO showed Mike Tyson pummel everybody except Robin Givens, the bad actress from "Head of the Class," who took all Mike's money the first time.. I drank Dr Pepper. ("I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper, wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?") Shasta was for losers. TAB was a laboratory accident.CapriSun was a social statement. Orange Juice wasn't just for breakfast anymore, and bacon had to move over for something meatier. My mom put a thousand Little Debbie Snack Cakes in my Charlie Brown lunchbox and filled my Snoopy Thermos with Grape Kool-Aid. I got two thousand cheese and cracker snack packs, and I ate them all.I went to school and had recess. Field day was bigger than Christmas, but it always seemed to rain just enough to make everybody miserable before they fell over in the three-legged race. Burping was cool. Rubber band fights were cooler. A substitute teacher was a marked woman. Nobody deserved that. I went to Cub Scouts. I got my arrow-of-light, but never managed to win the Pinewood Derby. I got almost every skill award but don't remember ever doing anything. The world stopped when the Challenger exploded. People did not say no to drugs. AIDS started, but you knew more people who had a grandparent die from cancer. Somebody in your school died before they graduated. We are the ones who played with Lego Building Blocks when they were just building blocks and gave Malibu Barbie crewcuts with safety scissors that never really cut. Big wheels and bicycles with streamers were the way to go, and sidewalk chalk was all you needed to build a city.Imagination was the key. Your world was the backyard and it was all you needed. With your pink portable tape player, Debbie Gibson sang back up to you and everyone wanted a skirt like the Material Girl and a glove like Michael Jackson's. Today we are the ones who sing along with Bruce Springsteen and The Bangles perfectly and have no idea why. We recite lines with Ghostbusters and still look to the Goonies for a great adventure. We flip through T.V. stations and stop at the A-Team and Knight Rider and Fame and laugh with The Cosby Show and Family Ties and Punky Brewster and "What you talkin' bout Willis?" We hold strong affections for The Muppets and The Gummy Bears. And why did they take the Smurfs off of the air? After school specials were about cigarettes and step-families. The Polka Dot Door was nothing Like Barney, and aren't the Power Rangers just Voltron reincarnated? We are the ones who still read Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Beverly Cleary, and Judy Blume. Friendship bracelets were ties you couldn't break and friendship pins went on shoes - preferably hightop Velcro Reeboks. And pegged jeans were in, as were unitbelts and layered socks and jean jackets and JAMS and charm necklaces and side pony tails and just tails. Rave was a girl's best friend; braces with colored rubberbands made you rad. The backdoor was always open and Mom served only red Kool-Aid to the neighborhood kids. YOU NEVER drank the New Coke. Entertainment was cheap and lasted for hours. All you needed to be a princess were high heels and an apron; the Sit 'n' Spin always made you dizzy but never made you stop; Pogoballs were dangerous weapons and Chinese Jump Ropes never failed to trip someone. In your Underoos you were Wonder Woman, Spider Man or R2D2 and in your treehouse you were king. In the 80's, nothing was wrong. Did you know the president was shot? Star Wars was not only a movie. Did you ever play in a bomb shelter? Did you see the Challenger explode or feed the homeless man? We forgot Vietnam and watched Tiananmen Square on CNN. We had neighborhoods where during the day we could play kick-the-can, "guns" and all of the things that made us grow up. There was always that one "field" that could be used for either baseball, football, "runnin' bases", or just a place to hang out. That was my field of dreams Mr. Costner. At night we would play flashlight tag. Just like we could trick-or-treat at night without the fear of being shot and killed. Just like our guns had caps or "lasers". If we didn't have the Jessie James guns we could just get a rock and smash the caps on the ground! We loved the orange race tracks...that was until our mother realized she could smack us with them. We were the kids that not only collected Cabbage Patch kids, but their ugly offspring-Garbage Pail Kids. We too collected football and baseball cards but it was because we wanted to be the first in the neighborhood to have the "complete" set. Sports were important, but not near as important as Friday/Saturday Night's Main Event with all of our favorite WWF wrestlers. (Remember Bob Backlund and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka?) We loved to imitate their moves...until someone got hurt. In our neighborhoods we played with He-man and Skelator. Going to get a Happy Meal on Saturday with dad or mom was worth waiting the other six days of the week. No, we are the furthest thing from a lost generation. Does going to arcades on Saturday, getting carpooled to football with your bestfriend, eating fruit roll-ups, having birthday parties at McDonalds or Godfather's pizza or Noble Romans where you could make your own pizza express you are lost? How many people melted their army figures that were given to them by their parents. Was Green Lantern the Coolest Super Hero or Aquaman? "Wonder twin powers activate!" How's about coming home at night after Halloween and separating your candy into: The cool stuff, the homemade stuff, and the pennies. How about the candy that came in that awful orange and black wax paper? (I think they were called Mary Janes.) Do you remember the one house that had a sign in the candy bowl that said, "take One." How many did you take if you liked it? Were you desperate one year and as a teenager you trick-or-treated? Our generation had character and heart. We played with real baseballs. "Hey, my mom will take if your mom picks up!" Could you ever really beat Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? Did you have sliced oranges or grapes for your half-time treat? How about the hot dog and coke after each football and baseball games? Star Crunches? Whippy Dip? Twinkies? Ho-Hos? This is what WE are all about! So if you are reading this and it ALL hits home then you do indeed have a heritage or a generation. This is what makes us the most unique generation of all.