Reasons Why I'd Like to Travel Back in Time to the 90's

When I was a little girl I was so sensitive that my mother was worried that I wasn't going to make it in the world (by high school, I went the opposite direction and became very angry and cold). But, as a young child, I would cry at the drop of the hat. For example, my grandparents had this ceramic lion in their living room when I was a toddler. I would walk up to it, stick my finger in it's mouth and then cry because 'it bit me'. When I was upset, I was very upset. Histrionic, my mother would say. I also had a wild imagination that I believe suits my profession today. I believed, with all my heart, that I was born in the wrong time period. I think this idea began after I saw an Elvis movie on tv one day when I was about 11 years old. I was enthralled. I became obsessed with oldies music. I listened to the oldies station constantly. Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Diana Ross were my intros into the genre and I've since vastly expanded my library of musical tastes that could fall into the 'oldies' category. Because I was so drawn to this music (and not one member of my family, not even my grandparents listened to it), I believed that either a) I was reincarnated from a person who lived in that time period or b) I was born in the wrong time period. I would cry myself to sleep some nights despairingly that nothing could be done of my great misfortune. It was the romance of the idea that I think I loved. Pretending my thoughts to a reality that wasn't real. I could go on more with that thought...but no...that's not what this is about.

Obvs, I know now...that I wasn't born in the wrong time period. But, I've often thought about time travel. Would I go to the 50's if time travel were a thing? (In the movie, 'Somewhere in Time', Christopher Reeves goes to the Grand Hotel and sees an old picture on the wall of a beautiful woman. He instantly falls in love. He finds out that she lived in the early 1900's. He is so drawn to her that he discovers a way to think himself back in time. He wears all the clothes of the time and spends hours in his hotel room trying to make it back...and he does. They meet. It is beautiful...and then......he pulls a penny from the 80's out of his pocket and he gets sucked back to the future....gasp!!! This is partly why I don't have any tattoos. No. For real. What if I go to the past one day and then I see a tattoo on myself from the future? I don't want to get sucked back like Christopher Reeves did!!) Anyway. I've thought about it...and on a much 'lighter and it's fun to think about it note'...I'd like to actually just go back to the 90's. I mean...not really...but, for the sake of this blog...yeah.

Wooh...big intro.

Reasons Why I'd Like to Go Back to the 90's

1. Evan Dando could sing me 'Into Your Arms'. Yes, I loved grunge and listened to a wide array of music, but there are so many bands that I didn't fully appreciate at the time, but that I listen to now, very nostalgically, that I wish I had spent more time on. Bands like Soul Asylum and Blind Melon and The Lemonheads.

2. The comfy style- friendship bracelets, scrunchies, overalls, flower print dresses, corduroys and of course, flannels......actually, you know what...all this stuff is back in style...I'm going to Goodwill

3. The Economy- ok...maybe it was just because I was a teenager and didn't have bills of my own...but I really feel good ol' Billy Boy Clinton put us in a good place. Money seemed more abundant...I mean...my family never really had money...but the nicest house I ever lived in was in the 90's. I guess there may be some debt. But, to go back and be a teenager. No bills. Work at Noble Romans. Buy comic books. All. Day. Long.

4. The Junkyard, Gadzooks, FutureShock- all the cool stores before lame-o Hot Topic showed up on the scene. Also...'Raving is Not a Crime'

5. The Internet- was new, young and amazing. I have a love/hate thing with technology. It hadn't ruined us yet. It was magic. I remember the first time I got on the internet in 1995. I said to my friend, 'let's go in one of those chat rooms!'. We are still friends with two people we met in that first chat room. One was my high school sweetheart. The other was a girl that lives in Cleveland that we've visited (and vice-versa) over the years.
Does anyone remember 'CollegeClub'? Yeah. That was the Facebook before MySpace.

6. Josta- omg sweet nectar! Oh, how I miss you so. I was once even in an online fan group to bring you back. The stupidest part of it is that they stopped making Josta and Jolt and Surge (which were basically the early energy drinks) because they were had unsafe levels of caffeine, ginseng, guarana,etc. Um.....so, now that we've gone Full Throttle with all these other Monsters of Red Bulls, can we please have Josta back?! I will always remember walking down Virginia Ave from the Sonshine Inn Coffee shop to the convenient store on the corner, for a good old, delicious Josta. Mmmmm

7. When punk went Riot Girl- because when I need to get my angst out, there's nothing quite like Kathleen Hanna screaming that 'We don't Need You!'.  Btw, who's going to see Sleater-Kinney with me in December?!?!?

8. Coffee Houses- No, I mean REAL coffee houses. They need to have old leather couches. They need to be dark and dank and dirty. They need to have the same crew hanging out there every freaking night. The old Abbey. Lockerbie. And later on (not 90's but definitely a nod to the bests parts of a coffee shop, Corner Coffee and Lazy Days). The Abbey had one room FULL of smoke. Their sandwiches were bomb. If you knew there was a party that night, you could meet up there before. If you didn't know if there was a party, you could still go there and find out. Make a new friend. I like real coffee houses for the same reason I like to think about Christopher Reeves time traveling....the romantic, idealistic dreaminess of it all....

I could go on, but I'm not going to go on. This list is good enough for now.

If you would like to simulate going back in time to the 90's, please rent these VHS movies from your local library:

Singles

Airheads

Reality Bites

MallRats

Empire Records

10 Things I Hate About You

Edward Scissorhands

The Bodyguard

How to Make an American Quilt

Clueless

Lost Highway

Can't Hardly Wait

Anything with Winona Ryder