Lately I can't help but feel the ever increasing gap between myself and the current generation of teens. With a teenage brother (18 yrs old) it becomes more clear with each family get together that I am quickly becoming part of that demographic of society I once called, "Ugh. Old people!"
And while I would love to say that I am embracing the aging process with arms wide open, while it woos me into my 30's. *gulp* I must confess that, um...I'M FREAKIN' OUT OVER HERE!
So being that I'm a YA writer and felt that maybe I wasn't as in tuned with some of the more common trends of today's teen, I decided to create a twitter list that I call, GLOBAL Generation XY POWER! (aka. Teens of TODAY!) And boy, I must say that...I HAD NO CLUE! Now while its very clear that somethings NEVER change. One of those things being a teenagers bottomless ability to obsess over just about eveything, especially boys, girls, relationships and sex....wait...maybe this isn't so much a teen thing as a life thing. But I will say that the formatting of these obsessions has definitely gotten an upgrade, especially with this generations easy access to social media and technology.
But as I tried to process all the many ways teens interact and exist today, my brain undoubtedly detoured and I couldn't help but wonder...what sort of things did I obsess over as a youth and into my teen years?
Here were a few things I came up with from WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY BACK WHEN...
Fashion/Gadgets:
<-- The Michael Jackson "Glove"
Scrunchies
Slap Band Bracelets
<-- Hammer Pants
Friendship Bracelets
Cabbage Patch Dolls
<-- Trolls (Oy!)
The Boombox
The Walkman --> Look how HUGE that thing was! Where were you Steve Jobs?
The Internet (Yes, I DO remember a time when there was no Internet, Email, IM.)
Cellphones
Sports:
Michael Jordan...because EVERYONE wanted "To be like Mike." - I wanna I wanna be like Miiiiikkke.
Bo Jackson and the whole "Bo knows....EVERYTHING!" campaign that got passed around more than bare-breasted women during Woodstock.
Andre Agassi
Tiger Woods
Wayne Gretzkey
TV Shows:
MTV -- which eventually gave us reality TV & THE REAL WORLD!
TGIF -- Can't forget the Winslow Family & their pesky neighbor Steve Urkel!
Full House
Blossom & her uber cute brother Joey, WHOOOOAAA!
Cheers
Dallas
Music:
I think something that still remains a common trend that influences and molds most teens is the music they listen to. So here are some of the musicians that GREATLY influenced me growing up.
Michael Jackson & his baby sister Janet Jackson
MC Hammer with "Hammer Time" & those Hammer Pants. Does anyone else remember those? O_o The originator of --> "U Can't Touch This"
New Kids on the Block - the start of Boy Bands, such as N'Sync, Back Street Boys, 98 Degrees, among NUMEROUS others.
Popular Rock/Pop - Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Pearl Jam, U2, Dave Matthews Band, Nirvana, Metallica, AC/DC
The Beastie Boys & Limp Bizkit
Madonna <-- When she was still just, "Who's that girl" I LOVED this song! Okay, okay, okay *sigh*...I STILL love this song.
Tupac, Dr Dre, Biggie Smalls, Snoop Dog
Boys 2 Men, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child
Sir Mix-A-lot & all those BIG BUTTS!
Spice Girls (Yes! We had The Spice Girls!)
Ace of Base - I can't help but laugh at this one...boy, I saw the sign (and I should've made a u-turn and drove away!).
Sisqo & Dru Hill and all his... thong tha-thong thong thongs! Yes, we had the THONG SONG, no, it was literally called THONG SONG. *snickers*
Wow! Talk about traveling back in time. But I really loved my childhood, even with all the weird, awkward, wacky-tacky things that I once thought were cool (and kinda still do). But I am sure there are plenty of trends that I missed, so please feel free to share some of the things that you remember from your youth (whenever that may have been or may be now)?
Well that about closes me down, so what better way to end this post then with one of my ALL time favorite MJ tunes of my yesteryears. THIS is the Michael Jackson of MY youth, loved this guy. He was SO GREAT!
Enjoy!
Happy Writing & Happy Reading!
And while I would love to say that I am embracing the aging process with arms wide open, while it woos me into my 30's. *gulp* I must confess that, um...I'M FREAKIN' OUT OVER HERE!
So being that I'm a YA writer and felt that maybe I wasn't as in tuned with some of the more common trends of today's teen, I decided to create a twitter list that I call, GLOBAL Generation XY POWER! (aka. Teens of TODAY!) And boy, I must say that...I HAD NO CLUE! Now while its very clear that somethings NEVER change. One of those things being a teenagers bottomless ability to obsess over just about eveything, especially boys, girls, relationships and sex....wait...maybe this isn't so much a teen thing as a life thing. But I will say that the formatting of these obsessions has definitely gotten an upgrade, especially with this generations easy access to social media and technology.
But as I tried to process all the many ways teens interact and exist today, my brain undoubtedly detoured and I couldn't help but wonder...what sort of things did I obsess over as a youth and into my teen years?
Here were a few things I came up with from WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY BACK WHEN...
Fashion/Gadgets:
Scrunchies
Slap Band Bracelets
Friendship Bracelets
Cabbage Patch Dolls
<-- Trolls (Oy!)
The Walkman --> Look how HUGE that thing was! Where were you Steve Jobs?
The Internet (Yes, I DO remember a time when there was no Internet, Email, IM.)
Cellphones
Sports:
Michael Jordan...because EVERYONE wanted "To be like Mike." - I wanna I wanna be like Miiiiikkke.
Bo Jackson and the whole "Bo knows....EVERYTHING!" campaign that got passed around more than bare-breasted women during Woodstock.
Andre Agassi
Tiger Woods
Wayne Gretzkey
TV Shows:
MTV -- which eventually gave us reality TV & THE REAL WORLD!
TGIF -- Can't forget the Winslow Family & their pesky neighbor Steve Urkel!
The Cosby Show
Saved By The Bell
Blossom & her uber cute brother Joey, WHOOOOAAA!
90210 (The Original)
Cheers
Dallas
Music:
I think something that still remains a common trend that influences and molds most teens is the music they listen to. So here are some of the musicians that GREATLY influenced me growing up.
Michael Jackson & his baby sister Janet Jackson
MC Hammer with "Hammer Time" & those Hammer Pants. Does anyone else remember those? O_o The originator of --> "U Can't Touch This"
New Kids on the Block - the start of Boy Bands, such as N'Sync, Back Street Boys, 98 Degrees, among NUMEROUS others.
Popular Rock/Pop - Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Pearl Jam, U2, Dave Matthews Band, Nirvana, Metallica, AC/DC
The Beastie Boys & Limp Bizkit
Madonna <-- When she was still just, "Who's that girl" I LOVED this song! Okay, okay, okay *sigh*...I STILL love this song.
Tupac, Dr Dre, Biggie Smalls, Snoop Dog
Boys 2 Men, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child
Sir Mix-A-lot & all those BIG BUTTS!
Spice Girls (Yes! We had The Spice Girls!)
Ace of Base - I can't help but laugh at this one...boy, I saw the sign (and I should've made a u-turn and drove away!).
Sisqo & Dru Hill and all his... thong tha-thong thong thongs! Yes, we had the THONG SONG, no, it was literally called THONG SONG. *snickers*
Wow! Talk about traveling back in time. But I really loved my childhood, even with all the weird, awkward, wacky-tacky things that I once thought were cool (and kinda still do). But I am sure there are plenty of trends that I missed, so please feel free to share some of the things that you remember from your youth (whenever that may have been or may be now)?
Well that about closes me down, so what better way to end this post then with one of my ALL time favorite MJ tunes of my yesteryears. THIS is the Michael Jackson of MY youth, loved this guy. He was SO GREAT!
Enjoy!
Michael Jackson - "Rock With You"
Happy Writing & Happy Reading!
Wow...what a blast from the past, Blaire! Thanks for the fun trip down memory lane. :)
ReplyDeleteYou made me feel old. >.<
ReplyDeleteLMAO
I remember all those things with my daughter good grief I'm old. LOL
ReplyDeleteHoly crap girl! You have pretty much summed up junior high and high school for me. LOL!!! Wow, do I ever feel a certified member of the "ugh, old people." Awesome post. Love it!
ReplyDelete