My mom was a really good cook. She would make us mouth-watering meals on a daily basis, and I was always excited when she called us to come and eat. But since I was growing up during the 80s, every now and then she would see a strange new recipe in the paper or in some weird cookbook and decide to make us things like "Chicken wings in cola" or "Tuna and olive pasta." We would collectively smile and eat quietly, trying not to hurt her feelings, but she could tell. For some reason, the 70s and 80…

We all love feeling nostalgic , thinking about the good old days when everything seemed better, cheaper, and more innocent. We think back to our childhood and wonder what happened to the world—why can't things just go back to the way they were? Well, I hate to be that guy, but things were never actually better, and nostalgia was once considered a mental illness. The term " nostalgia " was first coined in the 17th century by a Swiss doctor named Johannes Hofer, who noticed that Swiss soldiers st…

We know that sometimes you feel really old while talking about your childhood during the 1990s ; you feel like the younger generations are looking at you in the same way that you looked at older people talking about the 1940s when you were a child. But there's one huge difference - your childhood was awesome! You see, back in the early 20th century life kinda sucked; everyone was poor, there was no entertainment and you had to boil your food before you ate it. However, the late 20th century was…

We did a lot of things "for the last time" without even realizing it. We had our last visit to Blockbuster , picked our last movie, and it wasn't some big occasion—we just stopped going after that. We had our last LAN party with friends without knowing it at the time (that one really hurts). We also ate and drank things for the last time without realizing they'd disappear from store shelves, and we rode our bikes to our friends' houses for the last time without giving it a second thought . We l…

Call me crazy but it feels like the early 2000s just happened Like, not too long ago. I feel like there is absolutely no way we are already 24 years into the new millennium. I distinctly remember plugging the cord out of my landline and connecting it to the back of my computer every time I wanted to log on to the internet. I remember having a giant CD case in my car, filled with dozens of CD that I burned myself. And our cellphones used to have buttons! remember that? they all had lots and lots…

We did a lot of things "for the last time" without even realizing it. We had our last visit to Blockbuster , picked our last movie, and it wasn't some big occasion—we just stopped going after that. We had our last LAN party with friends without knowing it at the time (that one really hurts). We also ate and drank things for the last time without realizing they'd disappear from store shelves, and we rode our bikes to our friends' houses for the last time without giving it a second thought . We l…

As a parent today I am doing all I can to provide my kids with the most comfortable, safest and accident free childhood I can. For some reason I have decided that that is the best childhood I can give them. But when I look back at my own childhood, it was as far removed from that as possible - It wasn't safe, it wasn't comfortable and it absolutely wasn't accident-free. Yet it still was a very happy and fulfilling childhood, and I wouldn't change anything about it. I used to get hurt A LOT; I b…

We did a lot of things "for the last time" without even realizing it. We had our last visit to Blockbuster , picked our last movie, and it wasn't some big occasion—we just stopped going after that. We had our last LAN party with friends without knowing it at the time (that one really hurts). We also ate and drank things for the last time without realizing they'd disappear from store shelves, and we rode our bikes to our friends' houses for the last time without giving it a second thought . We l…

My brother had a massive comic book collection—I'm talking thousands of comics. At some point, his collection got so big that my parents dedicated an entire room in the house just for storing it all. I used to spend hours in that room, skimming through different comics, getting to know all the superheroes and their stories, and drooling over the ads for all the things I wanted but knew my parents wouldn't buy me. Every video game, every bicycle, every toy , and every candy—I wanted it all, but…

I miss arcades! And I'm talking about those real 80s arcades , where you would just have video game cabinets, waiting for you to drop a quarter in and start playing. And as long as you were good, as long as you were winning - you could just keep playing on the same quarter. Me and my brother used to go every day after school to our local arcade and spend hours there, playing "After burner" "Double Dragon" Operation Wolf" and "Metal Slug". But our jam was "Golden Axe". We got so good at Golden A…

This is a story from my childhood that is so classic 1980s it could have easily been a scene from a Rob Reiner movie. One day my friends and I were riding our bikes around our neighborhood (as one does during that decade). Since we lived in a fairly rural area, we came across two fields and decided to investigate a little closer. These were both pepper fields, one had all red peppers and one had all green. We really wanted to eat some but we didn't know what kind of peppers they were. I confide…

My mom was a really good cook, she would make us mouth watering meals on a daily basis and I was always excited when she would call us to come and eat. But since I was growing up during the 80s, every now and then she would see a strange new recipe in the paper or in some weird cookbook and she would decide to make us stuff like ‘Chicken wings in cola’ or “Tuna and olive pasta” and we would collectively smile and eat quietly, trying not to hurt her feelings, but she could tell. For some reason…

We did a lot of things “for the last time” without even realizing it. We had our last visit to Blockbuster , picked our last movie, and it wasn’t some big occasion—we just stopped going after that. We had our last LAN party with friends without knowing it at the time (that one really hurts). We also ate and drank things for the last time without realizing they’d disappear from store shelves, and we rode our bikes to our friends’ houses for the last time without giving it a second thought . We l…

Everyone thinks that their family is the most awkward , and everyone has the photos to prove it—which leads me to just one conclusion: Everyone's family is equally awkward and takes equally awkward photos. Let me get philosophical for a moment and ask, "What is a family?" and then quickly answer—just a collection of people who would never in a million years think about spending all their time together but somehow are required to. What's really funny is that the bigger the family, the more awkwa…

We know that sometimes you feel really old while talking about your childhood during the 1990s ; you feel like the younger generations are looking at you in the same way that you looked at older people talking about the 1940s when you were a child. But there's one huge difference - your childhood was awesome! You see, back in the early 20th century life kinda sucked; everyone was poor, there was no entertainment and you had to boil your food before you ate it. However, the late 20th century was…

I miss arcades! And I'm talking about those real 80s arcades , where you would just have video game cabinets, waiting for you to drop a quarter in and start playing. And as long as you were good, as long as you were winning - you could just keep playing on the same quarter. Me and my brother used to go every day after school to our local arcade and spend hours there, playing "After burner" "Double Dragon" Operation Wolf" and "Metal Slug". But our jam was "Golden Axe". We got so good at Golden A…