A few days ago, the satellite radio at the gym went on a KILLER nostalgia bent. "Physical" by ONJ, "The Tide is High" by...whoever those weirdos were, "Maneater" by Hall and Oates, "I'm Free" by Loggins (on my running mix, btw.), some Mike and the Mechanics, "Human Nature" by MJ...I mean these were killer jams that reminded me of Skateland circa 1982-1986.
Skateland, in good old BP. Home of numerous Panda Parties. Snowball dances that left me sadly playing "Joust" in the arcade while couples awkwardly skated face to face (and backwards!!!) while strains of Juice Newton or whatever passed for sexy music for the pre-teen set. I'd fill my face with licorice and fountain 7-Up in a wax cup and even though I was in Hockey, I had to be one of the s#ittiest roller skaters on the planet. Really. The number of tailbone and wrist injuries I endured, not to mention the embarrassment while the skate attendent with the red pinney and acne skated out to be your skate floor savior was seemingly endless. I don't know what was worse- Biffing while attempting to skate backwards to impress Wendy S. who was already side-by-side handhold skating (FOUL! There was NO slow song playing!) with the kid who wore the parachute material sleeveless t-shirt and had a rat tail, or having to be slowly escorted crossways off the rink in the arms of a teenager who smelled vaguely of Old Spice and beef jerky while stifling back tears.
What I'm saying is, the fat kid in the Bill the Cat t-shirt was definitely staring down a future high score in "Rampage" versus an eventual peck on the cheek by a nameless crush while they waited for their parents to show up in their wood-paneled Pinto's to take them home by 8. I'm not sad or bitter. It's reality. And I own the crap out of it.
My point. Sideways, but my point:
Remember how excited I was to finally have hit up the local water slide park in Nordeast? It was magical. In fact, it was one of 2 water park visits I made last year and both were so much ridiculous fun that I was almost kicking myself for not having done it sooner. It got me thinking outwardly about other things I've been stalling on over the last few years. I haven't gone ice-skating since 1992, and we're all aware of the old story about me selling my hockey gear at Play it Again for college text book mon...LIES! Beer money.
And there are trampoline parks. And climbing towers...CLIMBING towers. I had forgotten how fun and terrifying they were at Summer Camp. And water parks out of state! And I have a DRIVER'S LICENSE!!!
And oh...yeah...there are still skate parks. And I have a feeling that 2013 should be the year that I take a date...or even a group...and conquer my fear of the dreaded roller skate. */**
*I'm pretty sure if I fail, I'll still have a bang up time trying to high-score Moon Patrol.
**I'm defnitely wearing knee-pads, wrist protectors...hell. I'll probably have to go back to Play It Again for my old hockey gear.
(ps- Anyone else think that Heather Graham couldn't possibly have been as stone cold foxy as she was in "Boogie Nights"? Didn't think so.)
No comments:
Post a Comment