mwbeeler |
Since these days "cursive" is only something you do at people:
I woke up to the clanging bells atop my clock, just managing to catch it before it marched off the nightstand. Judging by how bright it was outside, I’d forgotten to wind it up before bed. I snapped on my favorite a.m. station, then wolfed down a quick breakfast of Ghostbusters’ cereal and bright green Ecto cooler. Index finger out, I carefully dialed the seven digits to my friend’s house, fidgeting as the dial dinged back into place with each number. He wasn’t home, so it just rang and rang; I gave up after ten. We were supposed to meet to play lawn jarts, but now he’d never know I was running late.
I picked up the phone receiver and set it on top of the modem (I need a new cord, this one is all tangled), cringing at the hissing and popping noises, until it finally connected to my local bulletin board. The radio switched to advertising 8 track albums while I was checking for new posts, so I clicked off and jangled my keys until the black and white T.V. turned on. Nothing but “I Love Lucy” and PBS, but “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” was coming on later. I wouldn’t be home, so I stuck a piece of scotch tape to an old VCR tape and popped it in, spending a few minutes to program the proper channel and time. I wanted everything to be perfect, so I wrapped a little tin foil around the rabbit ears for good luck.
I rattled off a quick print out of the instructions for some new game, “Doom,”on the dot matrix, tore off the perforated edges of the paper, and ran out the door. I left so fast I forgot my keys, but I don’t usually lock the door behind me anyhow. I jumped onto my bench seat bicycle (pausing to laugh at the one kid riding around with a helmet on), and pressed “Play” on my beat-up walkman. Pedaling past the corner gas station towards the library, I could hear a new driver grinding the gears of his stick shift even over my Van Halen cassette. There was a new movie coming out at the drive in, so they lined up at the pumps, white dials with black letters whirling like tops as the leaded gas pouring into their tanks. Eager children sat in the middle of the front seat or bounced around in the back, and I waved back at a little girl who looked out from the rear-facing seat of the family station wagon.
I stopped at the record store on my way across town, forking over a two-dollar bill and my last 50-cent piece, the clerk’s fingers clacking away at the abacus. Apparently, they haven’t caught up with the times; it’s all solar-powered calculators now. The wait was worth it, as I managed to get the very last record I needed for my collection, except this was a 78 and all the others were 45’s. A sign on the way out advertised they were carrying classic movies on Super 8, but I don’t own a projector. Maybe I’ll write out a nice letter to my grandmother in longhand and ask for one at Christmas. I’d have taken a picture of it so she’d know what to buy, but I was all out of flashcubes.
When I got to the library, I had to put my bike around back, as there was a man out front pushing a mower, and I didn’t want the flying grass shavings all over my ride. He had a good rhythm going, with the constant back and forth whirling of the DNA helix shaped blades in a horizontal cylinder. Walking inside, the sound of the mimeograph quickly drowned out the mowing, and I smiled at librarian, who waved back with blue stained fingers. According to the index, my book was out for a few days, but the librarian mentioned she could call around and try to find another library with a copy if I wished. I thanked her and headed off to my friend’s, but not before making a quick pit stop at the five and dime to pick up a spare typewriter ribbon.
Tarren Dei RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8 |
Callous Jack |
The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:Aw, man, now I feel old...This will cheer you up.
It reminds me of Canadians...
Tarren Dei RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8 |
mwbeeler wrote:It reminds me of Canadians...The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:Aw, man, now I feel old...This will cheer you up.
Heheh. My soon-to-be Canadian wife so wants to buy me that hat.
The Eldritch Mr. Shiny |
Callous Jack wrote:Heheh. My soon-to-be Canadian wife so wants to buy me that hat.mwbeeler wrote:It reminds me of Canadians...The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:Aw, man, now I feel old...This will cheer you up.
A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything.
Tarren Dei RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8 |
Tarren Dei wrote:A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything.Callous Jack wrote:Heheh. My soon-to-be Canadian wife so wants to buy me that hat.mwbeeler wrote:It reminds me of Canadians...The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:Aw, man, now I feel old...This will cheer you up.
I'm NOT afraid of anything. I'd rock that hat.
flash_cxxi RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 |
mwbeeler |
I gotta go warm up the TV so I can play Curse of the Azure Bonds on my C64!
The setup is non-trivial to get it flawless, but I played through the entire Gold Box series using DosBox last year. Good times!
(oh, and I had forgotten I used to use my 13' t.v. as a monitor, thanks for that)
mwbeeler |
Hopefully the DJ isn't a d!*& and doesn't talk during the opening of the song...
Nothing inspires rage as when they talk over the beginning on your favorite tune after you've already lifted the pause button.
That reminds me....and wash it down with a Crystal Pepsi.
I really liked Crystal Pepsi; shame they didn't keep it. Lord only knows what they had to do to remove the caramel coloring, though.
Lazaro |
Shadowborn wrote:Hopefully the DJ isn't a d!*& and doesn't talk during the opening of the song...Nothing inspires rage as when they talk over the beginning on your favorite tune after you've already lifted the pause button.
David Fryer wrote:That reminds me....and wash it down with a Crystal Pepsi.I really liked Crystal Pepsi; shame they didn't keep it. Lord only knows what they had to do to remove the caramel coloring, though.
Gods, I loved Crystal Pepsi, but now I hunger for BK.
David Fryer |
mwbeeler wrote:Gods, I loved Crystal Pepsi, but now I hunger for BK.
David Fryer wrote:That reminds me....and wash it down with a Crystal Pepsi.I really liked Crystal Pepsi; shame they didn't keep it. Lord only knows what they had to do to remove the caramel coloring, though.
Glad that I could help. ;p
Shadowborn |
I'm gonna head over to my friend's house this weekend. We'll be watching Headbanger's Ball on MTV on Friday night. Saturday morning we'll wake up early to catch all the good cartoons, then spend the day playing Temple of Apshai on his Apple IIe...but we'll probably have to clean out his 5 1/4" floppy drive first; it's acting twitchy.
Lilith |
I think I'll play some Legend of Zelda when I get home.
Link...he come to town...come to save...The Princess Zelda!...
David Fryer |
I think I'll sit back for the weekend, and watch Captain N
You can stick that. I'm going to watch Thundarr and the Blackstar.
lastknightleft |
Callous Jack wrote:Heheh. My soon-to-be Canadian wife so wants to buy me that hat.mwbeeler wrote:It reminds me of Canadians...The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:Aw, man, now I feel old...This will cheer you up.
Is she soon to be canadian, or soon to be wife?
Fatespinner RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 |
lastknightleft |
Callous Jack wrote:NO!Emperor7 wrote:Should I call you Gramps from now on?I miss the 80s. I was cool back then...
Still could fit in my polyester shirt and Jordache jeans from the disco era, had enough hair to feather, and my pilot frame glasses were a hit with the 'foxes'.
*groan* What is gramps yelling about now? somebody make him a sasparilla so he'll calm down.
flash_cxxi RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 |
David Fryer |
I got a pocket full of quarters and I'm heading to the arcade.
When I was twelve years old I was in a play about a bunch of guys who hung out in an arcade, and their girlfriends try to "save" them. I still remember the song the arcade owner used to try and "lure" the girls into playing.
A penny to play Tron, a nickle for Xaxson, a dime for any of the others...
My parents decided I needed to learn how evil video games were after I stopped at the arcade one day to play Centipede and ended up staying so long that they called the police to come and find me. I guess I had forgotten to tell them I was going to stop at the arcade on the way home.