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Free Talk Live => Serious Business => Topic started by: John Shaw on October 21, 2011, 12:39:35 PM

Title: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: John Shaw on October 21, 2011, 12:39:35 PM
Ever get stuck in a rut where you're thinking about your youth?

For me it isn't usually about "The good old days." (As I had a pretty rough childhood) but more about the memories of specific experiences.

Mostly going to see a movie or playing a video game for the first time.

Things that stick out -

First time playing Super Mario Bros. (That was the first game I played that wasn't sort of designed to suck quarters, I mean, I had an Atari 2600 but you could see everything a game had to offer in a couple hours. Mario, like, went on FOREVER. THIRTY TWO LEVELS.)

First time playing The Legend of Zelda - Made Mario look like Pac Man.

Metroid etc.

And movies? Fucking forget about it. Close Encounters pretty much warped me into a movie freak at the age of six. Scared the shit out of me too. Man, when the saucermen show up at that farm house and everything goes to shit... Fucked up yo.  

1984 was a pretty good year for feeding the movie buff in me. If only for Gremlins and Ghostbusters. And Splash. Boy oh boy. Splash was an obsession. Cable TV was still pretty new and I watched that movie so many times I could recite the script. Plus it was the second time I had ever seen boobs before. (First time was Airplane)

Anyway, ever get wrapped up with reminiscing to the point it messes with your daily routine? It doesn't happen often for me, but when it does I get all mopey for a couple hours. How do you get out of the funk?

I usually try to do something new. Find a new song, play a new game, work on something creative (Chartarum is obviously my go-to, but I like to Photochop weird shit just for personal enjoyment.)
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: hellbilly on October 22, 2011, 12:28:00 AM
Not of youth but definitely for the "Golden Days" as my son's mom and I refer to as the beginning of our relationship.

I think being stuck in the same town has a lot to do with it. We'd always planned to move away after she completed college, instead she graduated without mentioning it to me and shortly after announced she was movin.. not moving away, just moving out. Not wanting to leave my son, I stayed here and hate it.

Random places will trigger memories. My son will ask stuff about what we used to do, or to drive by the place he remembers we used to live. I was working for a sculptor during the old days, so we'll occasionally go see stuff I worked on.. but it's also cold weather, certain smells, empty warehouses that used to be clubs - or worse: new & fancy wine bars that used to be dives we frequented.

I dunno.. just all seemed to slip away before I enjoyed it. It doesn't linger long, but because of where I'm at, and the fact that I still talk to her and see her all the time it just remains a constant. I'm not in love with her and don't want her back, but those days were some of the best- when everything was right. Mid to late twenties peak stuff I reckon.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: tranced on October 22, 2011, 12:49:38 PM
Youth no, early adulthood yes.
I still think back to my first place.  A $10000 trailer with $350/month lot rent.  No pets, no wife, no responsibilities really.  Could make all my payments on 1/2 months worth of wages so I had lots of disposable income.  Was the ultimate hang out spot for a close-knit group of friends.  Several of them had the house key, never knew who was going to be there from one day to the next.  It was the unofficial weekend place, people would start showing up Thursday, leave mondayish.  Driver for the local pizza place delivered to us so much he'd gladly stop by the grocery store for us to restock the booze and would show up after work and chill.  Unofficial signup sheet for Friday dinner where everyone tried to outdo the last guy.  We wound up with these huge ass 10# lasagnas that'd last us all weekend.  Still remember running outta food and 'sneaking' into one guy's house in the middle of the night and raiding their cabinets - we filled up two pillow cases full of food and split before his parents woke up and saw us.  Now I'm all responsible and shit and it's good but I miss those days like a mofo.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: Fred on October 22, 2011, 05:31:47 PM
Good stories guys!

I can relate to your video game days John.  I was absolutely enthralled with Sega's Space Harrier - couldn't stop playing it hours at a time - days at a time. 

I bought it for my son and sort of just took it over.  Ghostbusters was fun too!

I also liked Nintendo's Castlevania.  I played it for days on end too.  One day, I'd reached my highest level/score ever - I wouldn't turn it off so I could resume play where I was at when I stopped for the day.

Came home from work one day and my wife had unplugged the set to vacuum.  After all that work/play I just never got into it again.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: Level 20 Anklebiter on October 23, 2011, 11:41:05 AM
For me, it's the loss of the arcades. Even in the mid-80s here in Kansas there are a few still around and I loved it when my parents would take me on my birthday to one. Also, many locations around me have been demolished and replaced (smaller malls, old downtown buildings, and etc), which really messes with my mind considering it still feels like they're still standing.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: LTKoblinsky on November 05, 2011, 12:42:16 AM
That 5 minute thrill anytime you and your girlfriend found time without adult supervision. I usually overcome it by remembering that I married that girl.
Games, I played Mario and countless other Sega and Nintendo classics, but my first OMFG moment in gaming was picking up the controller on Halo: CE at my cousins house. I skipped dinner, stayed up all night, and kept playing until about noon the next day before I beat the game.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: MOE from between St. Joe's River and the railroad tracks on November 05, 2011, 12:16:08 PM
I remember I used to go out with this insanely hot blonde who was six years older than me. She was so stupid I had to stop seeing her.

Worst effing decision ever. Dammit.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: Turd Ferguson on November 05, 2011, 12:53:48 PM
I remember I used to go out with this insanely hot blonde who was six years older than me. She was so stupid I had to stop seeing her.

Worst effing decision ever. Dammit.

If she's really that stupid, just come up with a good story thats WAY over her head and im sure you could get her back if you wanted to.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: MOE from between St. Joe's River and the railroad tracks on November 05, 2011, 12:55:45 PM
Quote
f she's really that stupid, just come up with a good story thats WAY over her head and im sure you could get her back if you wanted to.

I think telling her the temperature outside was way over her head.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: John Shaw on November 05, 2011, 12:58:12 PM
If she's really that stupid, just come up with a good story thats WAY over her head and im sure you could get her back if you wanted to.

I read a great article in National Lampoon years ago about stupid women. Lying to stupid women almost never works out, because you can look her dead in the eye and tell her that your Volkswagen has a Porche engine in it, and she'll say "Oh my goodness that's amazing!" and believe you. The problem is, is that she has lived in an entire world of cars with Porche engines from day one with every dude who ever noticed she was dumb.

Hopefully that makes sense.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: Turd Ferguson on November 05, 2011, 01:05:26 PM

Hopefully that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense actually.

In her world, everyones a god, so what makes you so special?
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: John Shaw on November 05, 2011, 01:06:51 PM

Hopefully that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense actually.

In her world, everyones a god, so what makes you so special?

Exactly.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: Turd Ferguson on November 05, 2011, 01:11:45 PM

Hopefully that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense actually.

In her world, everyones a god, so what makes you so special?



Exactly.

Kinda sucks for the guy that actually did go through the trouble to put a Porsche engine in his VW though.  :P
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: John Shaw on November 05, 2011, 01:31:17 PM

Hopefully that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense actually.

In her world, everyones a god, so what makes you so special?



Exactly.

Kinda sucks for the guy that actually did go through the trouble to put a Porsche engine in his VW though.  :P

The funniest part of all of that is that the Beetle engine was designed by Porsche.

Also they actually do it all the time, weirdly.

(http://www.glenn-ring.com/pics/engine.jpg)

Life imitating art I guess.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: Turd Ferguson on November 05, 2011, 01:32:56 PM
The simplicity of that thing is beautiful.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: Pilot_MKN on November 08, 2011, 06:42:17 PM
...and then they went back to making tanks for the Nazis
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: Turd Ferguson on November 10, 2011, 09:14:05 PM
I happen to like nostalgia when it comes to music. Sometimes when im stressed out and things are all fuckey, I like to listen to the tunes I liked when I was in HS. Its just a passing thing that lasts for a few days then its back to normal.

I'm not big on looking back at the "good ol' days" or anything, but sometimes it just feels good to do that.
Title: Re: Overcoming nostalgia.
Post by: latebloomer on November 21, 2011, 05:18:05 PM
Xmas/Giftmas is my worst nostalgia-related thing. I have such fond memories at a distance, but when I try to examine things too closely, the pain comes. I've pretty much completely reworked how I approach the holiday, but before I was honest with myself, I had all kinds of trouble. It was probably fine when I was really young, but the older I got, the weirder it got. While I was in it, it just seemed to be the way it was, but from this far away, I finally started recognizing the hurtful things for what they really were, and only started feeling the pain then instead of when it happened.

Sorry if that's too rambly. We did traditional stuff like trees and stockings, and I still have fond memories of that, but there was a long, long stretch of time when I got the impression from my family that I was kind of an afterthought. I would go out of my way to find great presents, and wrap them up nicely, but there wasn't a lot of reciprocation. I was going to write out some examples, but it's probably only interesting to me. (There was that year that I only had 1 gift to open, sitting in my own living room. My dad left my gift at home and even though I had been told that there were two presents coming from the rest of the family, there was just one - a board game.) I was relieved that Shaw saw it, when he came along, and was bothered by everyone's blasé attitude about me. Until then, I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not, or if my expectations were too high. He had some words with my family (and told me about it later) and things started improving. Exchanging presents is one of my favorite things about the holiday. I still love finding the right gift and wrapping it up nicely, but I restrain myself. I'm not awfully materialistic, but I do try and remember how people have handled gifts to me in the past, so I don't overdo it.