The Nineteen Nineties

In 1990, I was 12.  In 1999, I graduated from college.  So needless to say, this decade of my life holds a lot of life shaping events.

Lately I've been feeling nostalgic for the 90's.  Our new van has a broken CD player and is unequipped for any devices, so I've been listening to the radio for nearly a year.  Mostly a canned internet run station with a fake DJ.  Lots of 90's music.  Music from my past.  The Counting Crows come on and I'm all of a sudden in my high school gym.  Stuff like that.

Also Friends came on Netflix.  I never really watched Friends when it was on TV, mostly due to the fact that I gave up movies and television for 2 years from about 1995 to 1997.  Watching it made me feel a strange comfort.  I have tried to analyze what it is.  And I figured it out.  It's the fashion. Overalls, clunky shoes, tights, and bodysuits.  I made so many memories and important decisions in these clothes.  (Also, the shots of New York before 9/11 make me feel... well, something.)

In the 90's, I carried pictures of my friends in my wallet.  Does anyone remember carrying photos in your wallets?  It was like the facebook of our time.  Who do you know well enough that they chose you to give one of their 12 wallet sized prints to on picture day?  I can tell you who.  Your real friends, that's who.

Another thing I miss about the 90's is the low-tech of it all.  If you wanted to get in touch with your friend, you called them.  And you had their number memorized.  There were still busy signals and you had to just wonder where they were if they weren't home.  Maybe you left a message "after the beep."

Email was still like letter writing.  You wrote long emails that no one would dare ignore, and you only checked your email once maybe twice a day, your mailbox only containing important correspondence, not advertisements, coupons, and scams.  You had to practice this thing called patience, while you listened to your modem dial and get online.

I used to make mixed tapes and record songs off the radio in the 90's.  My friend and I would use a double tape boom box to make dance mixes for cheerleading.  There wasn't an app that.  Or for anything.  But our half-time dancing wasn't any less memorable or fun.

If you wanted to watch a television show, you watched it once a week when it came on TV.  Or maybe you recorded it with your VCR, but if you missed it or taped over it, it was gone forever.  When my college roommate saw that MTV was having a "My So Called Life" marathon, she watched for 12 hours straight.  Because in the 90's, there was no other way to see it.

I miss those days.  Maybe it's because of the age I was, maybe it's because my life is so busy now and I have so many people to care for, and in the 90's I was free to keep my own schedule.  But I wonder if this technology thing were to go backwards...if we were to gradually progress through our old phones, computers, televisions...and by the time it was 2030 we were just using land lines...if we would all wish we could go back to the way things are now... Or would we feel a great relief and wonder how we ran the race we run every day now in 2015?

So I'm going to try and keep a bit of the 90's in my life.  Get out this thing called a map every once in a while.  Unfold it and feel it with my fingers.  Look something up in a book.  Write letters.  Maybe dust off my Doc Martens and wear them around the house.  (Okay, that visual gives even me a shudder.)

May I not complicate life by filling it with things to make it simpler.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Matthew 6:21

Mold is Organic

Lately I've been thinking a lot about mold and mildew. I've been wondering why it gets such a bad rap. Why do people decide not to buy a house because it has mold? Why do people wear special masks and try to eradicate its existence? Why is it all of a sudden some toxic substance that will reak havoc on your entire system?

This is what I know about mold. It grows where there is moisture. It is a fungus. Oh wait. Was I talking about mushrooms? Because both are true about them. 

I've always got some sort of mold growing somewhere all the time. Whether it's bad fruit in my fridge or the grout in my shower, it's always around. And I'm tired of feeling like a terrible housekeeper or bad mom because of it. 

The same people who, in my mind, make me feel bad about it, are the same folk who make me feel bad about shopping at Wal Mart or not buying all organic food. You know what? Mold is organic. 

And while we're on the topic...Why is it acceptable to compost, basically creating a mold pit in your backyard, but if my toilet has a ring of black dots I should worry about my baby going into respiratory arrest? Doesn't that moldy compost make your organic vegetables yummier?

I will not feel guilty about mold. We have an understanding. I agree to give it a few square inches in my house, and it promises not to judge me. I refuse to feel guilty. 

That said, if anyone wants to come scrub my shower, please, feel free. 

What your leggings are saying

Last Friday night I was out with my friend Carey. I began to complain about leggings. She laughed, informing me that lots of legging talk has been floating around facebook. I wasn't aware of this, and learning so would usually cause me to leave this subject alone, but I just can't help it. Whoever decided that leggings were acceptable as pants should be shot. 

Leggings are meant to wear under real clothes. Leggings are the camisoles of the lower half of the body. Leggings can be worn under real pants, to keep oneself warm. Leggings go under dresses or long tunics. 

Yet still people wear leggings as if they were a pair of jeans. I have seen women with t shirts tucked in their leggings. Who do you think you are? Are you aware of what you look like from behind? Do you want everyone to stare at your rear end? Because everyone is. 

Leggings have a voice. A loud, snobby, overpowering voice. They strip you of your own opinions and speak for you. Let me tell you what your leggings are saying. 

"I'm younger than you and my butt is cute. "

"I exercise a lot and I'm proud of it."

"Your worn out body is waaay  too out of shape for the likes of me."

"Don't you think you should eat less carbs?"

"When I'm a mom I'll never wear worn out sweatshirts and old sneakers to the park."

"I like to wear my undergarments out in public and society is rewarding me for it."

"You suck."

Do you want to communicate this to me? You don't? Then don't wear leggings. Please don't wear leggings unless you cover your rear end.  There are these things called pants. Try them out.