Flashback Friday - 2 in a row!

I’m dedicating this week’s Flashback Friday to 1997. I graduated HS in ’98, so the summer and fall of ’97 has a lot of memories leading up to and beginning my senior year. Because I was in the band (nerd alert), the summer and fall months have a lot of memories of summer long practices, band camp, and football games. During those times there was a lot of cramming into someone’s car, or hanging out by someone’s pool with the radio blasting. It’s hard not to make permanent associations from music to these times. At least for me. So here are 3 songs I heard this week that take me back to those months… and i wanted to include a photo from that time... but there are no photos from 1997 that I am comfortable having on the internet.

Verve Pipe: Freshmen
This song came out that summer, and my bff Rachel and felt that it was a good song to nominate and vote for our senior class song (which happened like the first week of school, I think). You know, it talked about being young and freshmen and thinking you knew everything, and then later realizing you were wrong. (Ironically, at that time we were thinking how mature we were as 17 year olds starting our senior year. HA!). However, this song did not make the vote. But Rach and I dubbed it “our senior class song” and I will always think of her and that year whenever I hear it. And the disdain we felt for our actual senior class song. Which I also heard this week….

Dave Matthews Band: Crash
That’s right. Our senior class song was Crash. You might be thinking, “this is not an appropriate senior class song- why would it have been nominated and won?” If you are, welcome to my club. Rachel and I were quite taken aback by this. It has NOTHING to do with anything that a senior class represents…. It was just the most popular song at the moment by one of the most popular artists of the late 90s. Stupid. And the administration let it win. And then, part way into the year someone on the administration actually listened to it. And realized it was wildly inappropriate- and then we weren’t allowed to play it at any event. Stupid. I wasn’t a Dave fan then, I’m not one now…. There. I’ve said it. I grew up in the 90s and I don’t like DMD. You may now cast your stones…

Bruce Springsteen: The Secret Garden
Of course, it’s hard to listen to this song without associating it with Jerry McGuire. I loved this song, and it was really the first song by the Boss that I was ever into. (my appreciation for him has since grown immensely). That song was on the radio ALL THE TIME. And I’m pretty sure that it was the first song (at least, the first one I remember) to incorporate audio clips from the movie into the song. I would now say that sort of ruins the song. But when I was 17- I thought that was AWESOME. This was a simpler time when I loved cheesy music and I didn’t think Tom Cruise was a db. The version that now gets radio play is now the original; they no longer play the one with the lines in it. But still, hearing it takes me back.

You had me at hello.

Hospitality

I enjoy hospitality. I think I’m pretty good at it. I always score high on hospitality on spiritual gifts assessments (usually just slightly behind Administration and very near Helps. If that’s not a recipe for a recreation major- I don’t know what is). Ever since I’ve been out of college, in fact, even while I was in college, I’ve always liked to host parties and gatherings (our “dorm room extravaganzas” were always a hit). I’m not the world’s greatest or most accomplished cook, but I like to learn and to experiment, and I love a house full of good friends enjoying good food and drink.

These last few weeks have provided me several opportunities for hosting, and they have been a splendid time (at least I had a good time). The first was a few weeks ago when I hosted a few friends to play Friends Scene It. I love the show friends and love to play this game, but you have to specifically invite people who are also fans, or you end up with a crowd of sore losers. (trust me, I know from experience). I believe there were 8 of us and we played 2 games (I won one, I lost one- and though it was a final round loss, it was still a loss- though I think my first one…). It was a fun mix of people, all who at one point or another told me they were a big Friends fan, which made it fun- some old friends, some new friends, and a few of the college students that we’ve worked with this year.

And always, if the star of the party isn’t the game (or the costumes – dress as your favorite character/moment- they were outstanding) – it was the food. I decided to have Central Perk themed treats for the party. So I made muffins (from a box,) homemade cranberry scones, and a fruit trifle (if you’re a friends fan, you know why I made the “English Trifle”). And then, we had vanilla and caramel lattes for all who wanted them (my friend billy has become designated bartender/barista at all my functions, depending on the type of party. I just need one less thing to worry about).

As always, I didn’t take any pictures at the event, here is the food:

the mess of the kitchen....

a trifle (with no beef or sauteed onions!)

Central Perk Scones!

Flashback Friday

Something to do every week? We'll see...

Come with me, on yet another journey into the 1990s. I know, I can’t let go…. Here are some of my favs from this week:

4 Non-Blondes, “What’s Up,” 1993
I think I mentioned that 92-93 was the first year I really started listening to top 40 radio. And this song takes me right to that year. If you can’t place this song- b/c the title is not necessarily helpful, maybe these few lines will ring a bell: “so I wake in the morning and I step outside, and I take a deep breath and I get real high, and I scream from the top of my lungs… what’s going on?.... hey….”

Des’ree, “You Gotta Be,” 1995
This was a mid-nineties classic that had staying power for several years. I think it was, at one time or another, every high school girl’s anthem. You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together…. You gotta be bold… love will save the day!!! Who WASN’T reciting that?!?!

LFO, “Summer Girls,” 1999
Slipping in just at the end of the decade, this summer from 99 was an instant classic/overplay. Some songs remind me of stuff throughout the year, and very few songs remind me specifically of summer. This one does. I worked as a lifeguard at a camp through the summers in college, and didn’t always stay up to date on music. But this is one tune that broke through into the wilderness. Pretty much every time we left site in my coworker Tif’s car, this song was playing. It was the jam of that summer. I mean, who doesn’t like girls who wear Abercrombie and Fitch?


I mentioned earlier this week that this time of year gets me nostalgic- so here are Tif and me, the summer girls of '99. (we were going to Players'- a club in state college that no longer exists. this is on the front steps of the church camp where we worked. That's right.)

Change of Pace

So, for the last month or so I’ve been listening to 90s music nearly every day. It’s a great blast from the past. I also find that I get the most nostalgic around this time of year. I think it’s the anticipation of summer. Even though summer is nearly identical to winter now that I have a job that isn’t tied to a school or university (with the exception of whether I drive home in the dark or the light), I still get that feeling of anticipation around the end of May/beginning of June. I can’t help it. The weather is warmer, the sun is shining, I’m wearing flip flops (though not at my job…). It’s glorious.

I’ve previously made mention to the tube, a specific memory triggered by the spring weather. Now, combining the spring/summer weather with the music of the 90s is even more memory triggering. I can’t help but think of all the things that marked the end of the school year, and the beginning of summer- prom, parades, camp, vacation- all the good things.

This week to mix it up I listened to an 80s station for a few days. It’s amazing how different the memories are for just that decade. While the 90s marked my coming of age- growing into adulthood- the 80s remind me of such different things. I don’t have individual memories tied to songs the way I do of my teen years. Instead- I hear a song from the 80s and it makes me think of things like the house I grew up in that we moved out of when I was 11, or riding in the backseat of my mom’s old Honda. They just remind me of being a kid. Which is a good feeling.