I miss being in school - particularly high school. I liked that all my friends went to the same building every day and we all ate together. Our lives were all pretty much in the same place and we had common things to discuss. Since I was in band, we spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights together too.
Now everyone is all scattered across the country, everyone has different jobs, some have kids some not. It’s often a chore to get together. It was much easier when we just “were.”
Saturday Morning Cartoons!!! I was talking with my children about these a few ago and how the kids owned the television between 7 and 11am every Saturday. There was a magic about those mornings that just can’t be replicated with the 24 hours of cartoons provided by the Cartoon Network.
I also miss the after-school cartoons, the ones I used to watch after I got home and before dinner. For me those shows were–He-Man, Thundercats, MASK, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers.
I second this. The only times I was given free reign to watch TV - anything I wanted - was Saturday mornings. I looked forward to that all week and when Saturday morning came around, I would bound out of bed, all excited. I also miss watching Dallas and Falcon Crest on Thursday nights with my mom and sister. We would all gather around the TV after dinner.
I also miss having nothing to do. Not necessarily for the extra time, but because I really didn’t have anything to do. There was no Internet, no iPod, nothing good on TV - I had to figure out how to entertain myself. So I read endless books (Emily of New Moon, Anne of Green Gables and the required reading for school in the summer), raced with my friends around the block and played in the garage during thunderstorms, wading in our flooded street afterward. When it was too hot to race, we went to the church where there was a teeny cluster of four trees in just the perfect formation for us to have a pretend house. We would take twinkies and Cokes there and hang out.
I miss being free of pain.
I was watching TMC last night, and they did one of those reminiscences of a current actor, talking about a dead actor who influenced them in their youth.
It was Kevin Spacey talking about Jack Lemmon.
While they showed bits and clips of Jack’s many varied performances, I realized again just what we had lost when he died. There was never an actor like him before or since. He could do hilarious comedy and heart-wrenching, true drama, sometimes both in the same film.
I teared up while watching it; I miss him very much.
I’ve been to IMAX. I’m talking about just a regular movie on a massive screen. There was just something special sitting in the front row of a big screen showing of the original “Star Wars” with that big starship passing above my head in the opening shot. WOW! :eek:
I’ll third Saturday Morning Cartoons. Spending a weekend with my nephews made me realize what crap kids are exposed to today. Scooby-Do, Jonny Quest, Speed Racer, The Wacky Races, Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies, Popeye, The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Inch High Private Eye, Captain Caveman… even HR Puff-n-Stuff!
Saturday morning cartoon time was great.
I miss being bored.
I loved that stuff. I was married to a poor medical student when it was around, and we ate truckloads of it–chocolate, vanilla, banana (hubby’s favorite) and cinnamon (my favorite).
That was good stuff.
Jack Lemmon looked and sounded exactly like my grandfather on my father’s side. Just imagine him in a wing-backed chair with a Scottish plaid thrown across his lap and you’ve got my granddad. I miss him. I used to get nostalgic for him every time I saw Grumpy Old Men and I’d wonder if he was as cute as a younger Jack Lemmon.
I miss Hawaii.
I miss childhood summers that stretched into eternity.
I miss laying on my back for hours staring at the sky.
I miss being single.
I miss Schoolhouse Rock cartoons.
I miss my Mom scratching my back to wake me up for school in the mornings.
Pop in 16oz glass bottles.
Post Fortified Oat Flakes.
Converse Chuck Taylors, the just plain kind that weren’t all trended up. They came in hightop or lowtop, black, white, red, and blue. Period.
Purple mimeo’d documents. I actually had one appear in a dream this week.
Playboy Playmates all being older than I was. Now they weren’t even born when I started oogling Playboy, and Hefner is older than Dick Fuckin’ Nixon ever lived to be. When did I land in Bizarro World?
That was probably a Book Fair being delivered or picked up. The classroom flier orders are usually delivered by UPS (at least at my daughter’s elementary school).
I miss listening to 80s music as a teenager. I graduated in 1983, and it was such a great time for music. I didn’t appreciate it as much then as I do now, but I sure had fun dancing to it.
IMAX shows regular movies now. It’s their main money-maker 
Once again, I’m exposed for turning into my father. I never could figure out why they built those places to show a movie about Antarctica.
I miss being cool! :smack:
I miss 24 hour “Family Diner” type-places like Dennys and IHOP.
My wife and I keep odd hours and we’ve both lost count of the number of times we’ve wanted to get a decent meal at 2am (or even 10pm!) or whatever and just been completely out of luck unless we wanted McDonalds (No thanks).
There was a Denny’s in Christchurch that my mates and I used to go to all the time- if you wanted a Coffee and a Moons Over My Hammy at 4am, there it was. And my family and I often eat at Dennys and IHOP when we’re visiting the US
But I’ve yet to find anything close to a Dennys or IHOP anywhere in Australia. Even the 24 food places in the major Casinos aren’t really “diners”; they’re quite expensive (IMHO) and serve food that’s just a wee bit “Trendy” (again, IMHO) for the most part.
I miss my kids being little. They are 18 and 20 now and although in many ways I am happy they are grown and I am of course very proud of them, I would like to go back just for one day.
I miss playing with Barbies, Matchbox cars and Legos.
I have a sudden urge to color.
Oh this, yes. My grandfather and father would’ve both loved the net, especially if it’d been around in their latter years when they had so much time on their hands. All three would’ve been over the moon about Obama, too.
My best friend C.J. She died 11 years ago now, we were only 25. It still hurts to think about the unfairness of that.
Looney Tunes. “Oh we’re the boys of the chorus, we hope you like our show…” Bugs and Daffy and Porky and Yosemite Sam. I curse like Sam when I’m in traffic and my mother is in the car. “You rootin tootin consarned diffledaffle gruntweed!”
This too.
Health insurance. (And having no need to use it.)
The World Trade Center. New York still looks so wrong to me.
This post reminded me of a lot of things I miss. I’ve never lived in Bulgaria, but I have lived in Denmark and Paris and London. And each one had things I loved and things I hated. And without question each place I lived had an enormous influence on who I am today – and how I see the world.
Your post reminded me of the emotion I feel for those places – both good and bad – and I thank you for that.
Louisville Motor Speedway : This place was nowhere as “nice” or big as the newly constructed Kentucky Motor Speedway, but it sure was a lot of fun for a young teenager and his posse. Short lines compared to a larger track, neighbors and friends who raced, cheap concessions and most importantly - figure 8 racing in old beat up cars that nobody much minded crashing. Unconscious Johnson was a hometown hero for lots of kids in Southwestern Louisville.
Drive-ins : These were on the way out as I was growing up. There used to be at least 2 within a 10 minute drive of my house, and now I’m not sure that any are still open.
Hastings Entertainment : These guys still exist, but now the closest store is about 100 miles away. They had books, magazines, music, games, software and movies, all under one roof. They also specialized in these areas much better than a big box store would. I spent many hours in this place while my mom was nearby running errands and shopping.
Also, FriarTed, I’d forgotten about Ted Wiche. I was just a kid when he passed away, I remember him being very likeable. He seemed so authoritave, yet so calming. He reminded me of a gardening Mr. Rogers.
Another one for Saturday morning cartoons. Cartoon Network shows are nothing but junk. We’d wake up and start watching at 8:00 and go to about noon. Any other West Michiganders remember watching Buck Barry on WOOD-TV channel 8 in Grand Rapids? Or Cartoon Carnival, also on channel 8?