I love the 80s!

The title of this post is a gross understatement about how I truly feel regarding the years 1980-1989. Being born in 1980 makes me actually a child of the 90s because I didn't experience the 80s during my formative (a.k.a. adolescent) years. I didn't get to parade around in the glorious fashions of the day because I was occupied with other things like learning to walk and speak and going to kindergarten. So I spent a lot of my teen years longing to belong to the decade of big hair, synthesized music, and bitchin' teen movies. Of course, the 80s weren't popular when I was in high school; the 70s were the decade to love. (That's okay. I don't really believe loving the 70s would have improved my status much anyway.)

Wouldn't you know, it's 2011 and for the past few years the 80s seem to have come back in fashion! If that seems hard to believe, just look at the current trends among the youth. I believe leg warmers and colored tights are huge again. I've seen Mohawks make a comeback, and am I the only one rediscovering the melodious sounds of British pop/punk bands?

Let me paint a better picture of my obsession: I own all the movies John Hughes made reflecting teen angst. I fell in love with John Cusack because of The Journey of Natty Gann and decided I must marry  him after Say Anything. (And yes, I still adore him to this day.) I wanted to be on Dance TV because of Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt. The Fraggles kept me company along with Labyrinth (kick ass soundtrack by David Bowie) and The Dark Crystal furthering my adoration of Jim Henson as well as the 80s. In college when I had to create a decorative bulletin board for the residents on my floor, instead of doing a Valentine's Day themed one, I made a Molly Ringwald bullentin board since her birthday is the 18th of February. A dear friend of mine recorded all of VH1's I Love the 80s on VHS so I could watch them anytime I wanted. I searched radio stations to find the ones who highlighted one hit wonders from the 80s. The Karate Kid I and II got so much play in my VCR, that they were among the first DVDs I owned. However, I guess it wasn't enough to have The Golden Girls playing every evening "forcing" me to research any references made in their jokes that I didn't understand so my knowledge of the 80s could expand.

In 2003 I met a man I was convinced was only 6 years older than me (seriously, ask my friends if my husband acts or looks his age). It was only after falling head over heels for him did I discover he was in fact 11 years older than me. One might think this gap in our age would be too great to bridge. Not true. He was an actual child of the 80s! He graduated high school in 1988! He lived the decade I studied so vehemently! In the end I married my very own 80s commodity (I sort of let the whole "marrying John Cusack" thing go by this point). One of the great things about my husband is that he'll sit next to me while watching shows that regularly reference or discuss the 80s and answer me when I ask, "Did you do that?" or "Did you have one of those?" or "What event are they taking about?" Since he is a genius, I think he enjoys being able to share his wealth of 80s facts and experiences with me.

Therefore, when TBS debuted a show, Glory Daze, that follows four freshmen (a jock, a Young Republican, a proud Jew desperately seeking female company, and a clean-cut Catholic school boy) as they enter college in 1986, I had to be there for the pilot episode. As expected, I love it! The music is superb, all the characters are charming, and the episodes have great names like "Hungry Like Teen Wolf" and "Shamrock You Like a Hurricane." And of course my husband is always next to me when we watch ready to answer any questions I have or comment on memories the show brings up. It's good to know that the decade I adore will live on for decades more (and even if it doesn't perhaps the flux capacitor will finally exist to send me back to a place where girls just want to have fun).