Musings

It hit me the other day how much things have changed in the last 20 years. When I graduated high school - our household microwave was still a novelty, and great fun to play with. I credit it with at least the first 10 of my unwanted pounds. LOL You could pop a few pieces of buttered bread in, cook it for 5 secs, sprinkle sugar on it and have a lovely sweet treat. :D

Our family was really cool - we were one of the few that had an ACTUAL computer at home. Not an Atari game system, mind you, but a real live Atari 800 COMPUTER. We used to get those programming magazines and Leonard and I would read code to each other as we input the programs. 7 or 8 pages later, it would finally be done and we'd call everyone around to see the wondrous graphic program we'd just done - usually to find that it didn't work, either due to a typo on our part or, more exasperatingly, a misprint in the magazine!

I remember the first time I ever heard of the internet - my friend Julie was receiving 'roses' from another computer user in the PJC computer lab. She kept explaining that he would 'send' them to her - I couldn't figure out how it was getting from one computer to another! The words 'network' and 'internet' were gobbledegook. I finally figured it out my freshman year in college when a classmate (who must've been really rich) had a computer that he plugged into a PHONE line and was able to send messages to other people! WOW!!! I was amazed - and still remember his ISP - Comp-u-Serve. LOL Anyone remember them? And, in case you're wondering, here's a dozen roses for you. @->-- @->-- @->-- @->-- @->-- @->-- @->-- @->-- @->-- @->-- @->-- @->--

I remember the good ol' days - when my baby brother started his day off watching Captain Kangaroo religiously. When the Saturday morning cartoons were actually funny and the main characters were "The Justice League" with SuperMan, WonderWoman, AquaMan, and the WonderTwins. Scooby-Doo was a weekly fixture and not a goofy movie.

What did we learn from those cartoons? That brainy was not something to make fun of - knobby kneed, goofy guys could be popular - might did not always make right - that people working together usually accomplish more than one person alone - and that the good guys should always win!

And remember those short little commercials that always ran between the cartoons? "I am a Bill" "We the People -" "I am a Verb" and their friends? How MUCH did we learn without realizing it? I can still quote half of the Proclamation - because I can hear it, being sung, in my memory from that silly little commercial 30 years ago! BTW - those are now available on DVD under the title "SchoolHouse Rocks" - and I'm seriously thinking about buying it for myself...sometime after I replace the DVD player of course. (sigh).

I think the thing I liked best about the cartoons is that they credited their young audience with having both brains and morals. That's probably why my generation has such a distinct hatred of that damn purple dino and it's insipid little songs. LOL We grew up on Romper Room, Mr. Rogers, and Captain Kangaroo - programs that encouraged us to get moving, get thinking, and be "NICE" too.

What things do I remember that would amaze my nieces and nephews? Black and white TV. TV that was ABC, CBS, NBC and one or two local stations - that were REALLY local programming! And forget about remotes - if you wanted to change the channel you got up and turned the dial and then tuned the station in. Life before VCR's and microwaves, when leftovers were actually heated up on the stove (and tasted terrible). I remember sleeping in the floorboard of our car - there was no hump between the two sides - on a long trip up the east coast. The battles over who got to sit in the front seat. Riding my bicycle with no helmet (what's a helmet?) and a flag on a long skinny pole off the back post so everyone could see me. Visiting my grandparents and watching - gag - the Lawrence Welk show. (I still don't miss that!)

I remember watching "Hogan's Heroes", "M*A*S*H", and "Bewitched" in black and white - and thinking (at age 6 or 7) Barbara Eden was the prettiest lady I'd ever seen in "Jeanie". Overall, my 3 favorite female TV characters were probably Samantha on Bewitched, Jamie on Bionic Woman (and Six Million Dollar Man) and, of course WonderWoman - cause she looked AMAZING.

How the world has changed! What things do you remember?