Follow 80sMom on Twitter

Okay. I exited the world of Twitter some time ago and have now decided to return. Why, I do not know, but it is indeed happening.

My account has been closed for so long now that the 300 or so followers I had are long gone. As of ten minutes ago, my new account had exactly zero followers.

Go ahead and follow me. Help me make it seem as if someone actually cares what I have to say. Do it to make me happy. I will follow you back and pretend to read your tweets. Honestly, I will.

I am too trapped in the 80s to figure out yet how to get a Twitter link on here. So for now just search for me the old fashioned way: 80sMomKara.

Treat Yourself to Something

I just wanted to thank those of you who have checked out my Meditations shop recently for the crazy AT COST Clearance sale. I just wanted to let you know that it is still going on - there are still some great items to be had basically AT COST. One example would be these Rock N Roll Red Earrings. They are made with semiprecious Obsidian and glass and have sterling earwires. Where else can you get fun and colorful gemstone earrings like this for just $7? Seriously, I am working for free here!

These colors remind me of the 80s. I used to LOVE wearing black, red, and white together. See more at Meditations.

RIP Gary Coleman

RIP Gary.

Alison Moyet - She's Still Got It!

Honestly, Upstairs At Eric's, the synthpop album by Yaz (or, if you are British, Yazoo), has got to be one of the very best albums of the 1980s. It really and truly blows my mind that so few people in the U.S. remember Yaz.

I dug up this video from 2008. All these years later, Alison Moyet has still got it going on.

This is Spinal Tap - Stupid, or Clever?

I have finally seen the movie This is Spinal Tap twenty years after everyone else has.

I have a mixed review, but do have a favorite line from this film:

"There is a thin line between stupid and clever."

So true, and of course the best stuff in the world straddles this line constantly, sometimes wobbling to one side, sometimes wobbling to the other.

Glee - The Perfect Show for Gen X Parents

As I mentioned in my last post, there was a television program in the late 1970s and early 1980s that was, in my estimate, the perfect formula for family entertainment. This show was Happy Days.

It was perfect because the characters were teens (or at least were supposed to be!), but the music and setting hearkened back to a nostalgic time that our parents could relate to and enjoy. In this way, the subject matter appealed to the younger generation, yet the aesthetic appealed to the older. If I were a TV studio executive, this is the winning formula I would employ with many programs, as everyone in the family can simultaneously enjoy what is on the set.

I think Glee works in exactly this way. Although it is a simple show about issues of interest to tweens and teens, it is filled with nostalgia that appeals to Generation X. Honestly, that is the main feature that captures my interest. If there were no hope that I would catch a bit of some 80s music or some 80s notion or other, I would probably have not jumped on the bandwagon.

So, there we have it. The turmoil and emotion of high school, mixed with a loving, tongue-in-cheek nostalgia for OUR generation. I will be glued to it Tuesday when the kids pay tribute to Lady Gaga. Her music is not from the 80s, but you'd be hard pressed to tell me that her spirit isn't ;-)

Glee - Damn, Now THAT'S Entertainment!

I am late to the game with the Fox television show Glee. I missed all of last season but thank goodness have finally jumped on the train.

I find Glee to be an amazing program. Seriously. It is crazy over-the-top, melodramatic, comedic, campy, meaningful, meaningless, and just about everything we could ever want in entertainment.

Really, in my mind Glee breaks new ground. It has totally created its own genre, and it is one that I predict will be copied by imitators in upcoming seasons on competing networks. What they have done is made a program that reminds me of the old fashioned musicals of the 1940's and 1950's that I love so much.

Yes, there have been shows over the years that are musical - things like the 80s hit Fame come to mind. But there has never been one that does it in quite this way. I don't remember one that mimics so closely the format and style of the big budget Hollywood musical. And it somehow at once embraces this style as well as mocks it. And what makes it fresh is that at every second you are trying to figure out whether they mean to be serious, or tongue-in-cheek, or WHAT. And most of the time you come to the conclusion that the goal is actually to do BOTH.

How could this ever get boring?

My next blog will also be about Glee, and how it is THE perfect show for Generation X parents and their kids to watch together. Does anyone out there remember another show from our childhood that was also perfect in this way? I do. I'll tell you next time.

Joanie Loves Chachi Sucked!

You all know that I am usually in a position to cheer for the totally tubular 80s, but in this case some jeers are in order.

There were some things that were downright awful about the 80s, #1 being parachute pants, #2 being Billy Ocean, and #3 being Joanie Loves Chachi.

Seriously, wasn't this show just awful? I really loved Happy Days (who didn't?), but the notion that we wanted to watch the two weakest characters of the show in a spinoff sitcom was absurd. They would have had more success with any number of spinoffs that could have proven more entertaining. Here are just a few ideas that I totally would have wasted time watching:

1) The Fonz, Apologetic - The Fonz is forced into weird situations that make him apologize or face consequences (a weird haircut, wearing ladies clothes, facing a firing squad, attaching clothespins to his niples, etc.). He struggles with "I'm sorrrrr.... I sorrr...." and usually eeks out the word 'sorry' just before the timer goes off, but not always. This would work well as a parody of a reality show.

2) The Donny Most Comedy Hour - This would be as stupid as anything you have ever seen, but would still be funnier than Joanie Loves Chachi.

3) The Richie Cunningham Gosh Golly Gee Smackdown - Richie Cunningham comes face to face every week with his arch nemesis, Andrew Dice Clay. They have a showdown of words. Sitcom hilarity ensues.

I know you can all think of a sitcom that would be better than watching Scott Baio and Erin Moran making out while a lame studio audience cheers. List your ideas in the comments. Do not be ashamed. If the makers of Joanie Loves Chachi were not ashamed, why should you be?

The Cure - Acoustic

Here The Cure has acoustic fun with one of their best songs from the 80s. I loved these stripped down acoustic versions they did some years ago.

I never get sick of this song.

Get Great Gemstone Jewelry From MY Shop - AT COST!

I have not blogged this week because I have been very busy, as I am sure you all have, with the activities that often occur near the end of the school year. One of the things I have also been doing is working on my jewelry shop. I am trying to clear out some things and make room for all the new styles I have been making lately.

So, it turns out that my loss will be your gain. I am basically selling off a large amount of gemstone jewelry AT COST or slightly above cost (some items, such as earrings, starting as low as FOUR DOLLARS!). I have created a section in my shop, called AT COST CLEARANCE, where you can find a variety of bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings and hair accessories at deeply discounted prices. In addition, if you purchase two or more of these AT COST items, you will automatically be sent a free adjustable genuine copper ring.

And no, there is nothing wrong with these items. They are all delightful. They are made of quality materials. Much of this uses semiprecious gems, genuine copper, sterling silver, etc. It is just that I personally have grown tired of having so much jewelry stored in my workshop.

Help me out. At least take a look at Meditations Jewelry. If you enjoy this blog, at least do me the favor of considering some of my work. Just click this link to get there: Meditations Jewelry. THANKS!

Grody To The Max

The other day it came to my attention that I am the only person I know who still uses the word 'grody'. There must be words or phrases that you guys use that give away your own 'trapped in the 80s' status. What are they?

At least I don't say 'grody to the max'. Now THAT would have been taking it entirely too far.

Why I Aim to Have a Crappy Blog

I am not technically inclined. Hell, half the time I can't even figure out how to use the remote controls for our TV and DVD payer. I sit there randomly pressing remote buttons and hoping to chance upon something that works. I am like someone old as Methuselah, halfway yearning for the days when watching TV involved nothing more than getting up from the chair and pushing a single button through the four available channels. Sometimes the luddite in me yearns for simplicity.

You can see this technology phobia everywhere in the Trapped in the 80s Moms blog. I have no interest in adding doo-dads or widgets. Yes, it could be more vibrant and do more stuff and have features of all kinds. But what is the fun in that? I did not start a blog to become a computer programmer.

I am aware that some of you come here and think: why doesn't she do something more with this blog? But what I say to you is this: do bells and whistles make what is written on the page better? Do fancy widgets make you feel something, or conjure up memories, or make you think? Do pretty colors make the words somehow ring true?

Would a bunch of widgets that show the time and temperature and the top news headlines have made the words of Shakespeare or Mark Twain or Homer somehow more meaningful? I am not implying that what is written here, concerning proms and Weird Al and Safety Dance, compares with something like Hamlet or King Lear. At least most of the time it does not (come on, you have to admit that my Ralph Macchio poetry is pretty tubular). But shouldn't our words, however foolish or badly written, stand or fall on their own merit, without the gloss of technology?

I cling to primitivism as a matter of principle. I cling to it in defense of something all the so-called 'writers' of the blogosphere have forgotten. I cling to primitivism in defense of: WORDS.

Spandau Ballet: Prom Music Masters.

At this time of the year, hearing about junior and senior prom always reminds me of my own high school dances.

Surely there are quite a few of you out there who danced a very 'romantic' slow dance to Spandau Ballet's True at your junior or senior prom in 1983-84-85. I can recall dancing to this iconic 80s slowdance song at several homecoming and Christmas formals.

I also danced to it in the backyard of my first boyfriend in 1984. His mother served us steak as if their home were a restaurant, and she a waitress. He had flowers delivered that arrived just as we finished dinner. He took me out under the stars in a wooden rowboat in a small lake in his backyard, and put his jacket over my shoulders when I felt chilled. We danced by the edge of the water to True as it blared from a boombox. It is so much fun to think back on how innocent that all was. Every time I hear True, I think of that night.

For my junior and senior proms in 1987 and 1988, there were live bands. I am pretty sure the bands played the normal 80s cover stuff. It always seemed that they played stuff by The Romantics and The Producers. What was up with that? Why did all cover bands play those songs?

Tell me what memories you have of prom. I am especially interested in hearing of your romantic dances to True. I know you must have a True story - don't pretend that you don't!

Now, Spandau Ballet performing this iconic song at Live Aid: