Essay
When Rock & Roll Was King
I was seven and a half years old when the Rock ’n’ Roll Express came crashing into my world like a double dropkick to the soul. It was 1985, and …
Month: September 2025
Essay
I Thought Hit Stix Would Make Me Popular
In my elementary school years in the late-’80s, I wasn’t one of the “popular” kids. While I had friends, and was in several small cliques based on interests like trading …
Essay
Sunday Night Television Used To Be the Worst
Growing up in the ’80s and early ’90s, Sunday nights were the low point of the weekend—at least for me. While Friday nights had that electric buzz of freedom and …
Article
The ’90s Closed the Book on Saturday Morning Cartoons
For generations of kids, Saturday mornings meant one thing: cereal in hand, eyes glued to the TV, and a lineup of animated heroes, slapstick antics, and toy-commercial interludes that stretched …
Essay
Panama City or Bust
It was June of 1996, and I was eighteen. I was at the age where the open road felt like a calling, as I had spent many years riding in …
Essay
Going to Grandmas When I Was Sick
I’ve been laid up the last few days, and let me tell you, it’s been rough. The kind of sick where your nose won’t stop running, your throat feels like …
Essay
Heading Back to School in the ’80s
I still remember the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and the crinkle of Trapper Keeper Velcro like it was yesterday. Back-to-school season in the late 1980s wasn’t just a return …
Essay
Mortal Monday 1993
I still remember the buzz in the air on September 13, 1993…Mortal Monday. It wasn’t just a marketing gimmick. For kids like me, it was a full-blown cultural event. The …
Essay
Essay
When the Trapper Keeper Was King
Back in the 1980s, nothing said “I’m ready for school” quite like the satisfying rip of Velcro echoing through a classroom. That sound meant business. It meant you had a …