This Blog Has Seen Better Days

I am kind of losing my steam for it.

This is not to imply that I am losing my steam for the 1980s. There is no way I could go without "Come on Eileen" or other such artworks of the period. But the whole blogging thing ... I just don't know anymore.

When I started this blog several years ago, it was because I needed a project - BADLY. I was somewhat like the character of Julie in the film "Julie and Julia." I was in need of a project to mark my days, a project to lend me some kind of focus. My last child had just started kindergarten, and I had extra time on my hands. I had LOTS of extra time on my hands. Blogging filled it with a touch of nostalgia, a touch of something creative.

The thing is, as I have reported to you guys several times, I have gone in the past year and focused on what I should have been doing all along: writing. The real stuff, not half-baked and quickly pecked out memories about Rubik's Cubes and the Berlin Wall and Depeche Mode. And for the first time ever, all of this writing has been compiled into something that resembles a book.

I have been so productive in this past year that this blogging seems a bit ... uh ... pointless. Has it outlived its purpose? Was it a springboard, and I have already jumped off? Should I keep doing it?

Sometimes I think "Oh, but I am so needed in the world. This blog needs to be out there, simply for the edification of mankind! What will the world do without me to dissect important topics such as: what was up with Steve Perry's hairdo?" So, there is that concern. I have never considered myself to be an altruist, but do I really want to LET THE WORLD DOWN?

I know some of you bloggers have thought about these very questions. I know you wonder: "What the hell am I doing here?" So I am interested in your input. This blog is illin'.

Rappin Ronald Reagan

Video courtesy of 80sMemories.

Totally Random Thought

I think Joan Jett could totally kick my ass.

Billy Squire's Estrogenic Frenzy

Wait. Wait. Wait. Hold on. What the hell am I looking at in the video below?

I didn't really care for this song, but remember watching this as a kid and thinking it was just fine. Now, I seriously have to wonder what was in Billy Squire's mind. Seriously, we all dance like Forrest Gump in the privacy of our own bedrooms, but we really should not do it while on camera. And we really REALLY should not do it in an effort to a) forward our careers b) get laid c) appear heterosexual.

It is August 10th - Happy Duran Duran Appreciation Day!!

It has been brought to my attention that today, August 10th, is a very important Generation X holiday. Not on your calendar, you say? Well, you need to get a new calendar.

Today is Duran Duran Appreciation Day. Get our your fedoras, your 'jazz shoes', your 'Sun-In' hair bleach, and your eyeliners. CELEBRATE! Feel no shame.

To Get You Going on a Saturday Morn

Wake up. This will help.

Get One of My OilSlick Necklaces and Help Gulf Coast Charities

This post has nothing to do with the 1980s, but I wanted to share with you all something I am doing. I have made some special items that will hopefully raise funds for Gulf Coast charities while giving you guys something cool and meaningful to wear. Here is the description and photos from my Etsy shop. You can order and see other items from my shop by clicking HERE.


"Only a few miles from where I live, oil has affected the waters of our Gulf Coast, the myriad life forms that inhabit it, and the people who live on its shore. I think often of the balancing act we must maintain while trying to live as fully and as modernly as possible without unnecessarily disrupting the beauty that surrounds us.

Wear an OIL AND WATER pendant necklace as a daily reminder of that balancing act. It is a simple piece crafted of an iridiscent glass tile that has been wrapped freeform in a non-tarnish silver plated wire. It is suspended from a satin cord that can be adjusted for length by pulling on a slipknot. It would be beautiful worn long over a sweater this winter, or worn short, to highlight the collarbone.

This is a very special item. 25% of the proceeds from this item will be donated to charities that help communities in and around my home state of Louisiana and adopted state of Mississippi that have been affected by the BP oil spill.

Your pendant will measure approx. 3/4 inch in width, and 2 inches in length. The oil slick pattern on these tiles is beautiful, and you will recieve a unique pattern of your own. Each will also be wrapped slightly differently, in a way that best highlights the individual tile. Yours will be a one-of-a-kind.

The basic glass color is a deep cobalt blue, which reminds us of the sea. The opalescent slick seems to float on top of the tile, and includes a subtle rainbow of colors that may appear differently in different light conditions.

This is a simple and elegant reminder of the importance of our coast."

Was I 'Trapped in the 50's?'

I am intrigued by the strong influence that the styles and motifs of the 1950's had on the 1980's.

We all know about the popularity of programs like Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and what was no doubt their progenitor, the awesome Grease (which I watched this past week for the millionth time. Will I ever get sick of this movie??).

Something most people don't have so much awareness of is how the 1050's influenced our fashion in small ways. At least it definitely influenced mine.

Granted, most of my days were filled with Capezio jazz shoes, dyed bangs, fedoras, and the like. But occasionally I would sport skinny jeans rolled into cuffs, a large oversized white men's button-down shirt, folded-over bobbie socks, and penny loafers. What the hell was going on with this? Thinking back, some part of me must have wished to be one of the girls that came running when The Fonz snapped his fingers.

Seriously, I wonder now how much Happy Days and Grease influenced the trend towards preppy fashion that took off during the 80s. Honestly, 'preppiness' was really nothing but a reactionary fashion trend that mimicked what our parents wore.

Not saying I was 'preppy'. Nope. My New Wave inspired taste would have gotten a few double takes in Arnold's or at Rydell High. But the loafers ... the bobbie socks ... those were classic. I wore the loafers straight through college, sans socks, straight into the early 90s. I always had shiny aluminum Austrian Groschen coins in the penny slot because they really shined.

Were you inspired by the 1950's?

BACK TO SCHOOL!

They are finally back to school. Now perhaps I will get back to the REALLY important things in life, like blogging about Duran Duran and Weird Al Yankovic.