Back to the Five
March 5^th, 2004
1:57 P. M.

Today, to me, just doesn't seem like the sort of a day for a trip down memory lane. But, that's exactly what the Friday Five is about today. It's not so much that I think reminiscing doesn't have a place in my life at the moment ... Far from it. It's simply because this set of questions has caught me off guard. I'm not prepared for the first question...

What was...

1. ...your first grade teacher's name?
Ummm ... I can't remember. You all out there try to remember someone you haven't seen since 1980.

2. ...your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
Without a doubt ... And it remains so to this day ... The Looney Toons. I also happen to like quite a bit of Tex Avery's work. I have a theory that all the people who would be making cartoons today as great as these are probably locked away in padded rooms ...

3. ...the name of your very first best friend?
Tough question. Let's just say I miss him (I missed him before he died), and leave it at that.

4. ...your favorite breakfast cereal?
Cheerios. I like breakfast things at their simplest. You can't get much more simple than oat bran shaped like an "O".

5. ...your favorite thing to do after school?
There is a succession of things here. In Elementary school, it was play my Atari. Later, it was to practice viola with all my friends in orchestra. In Junior High, it was singing in after school concerts. In High School, it was rehearsals for the plays. I think I enjoyed each thing more than the one before it.

Darnit! Today's Five has me thinking. I really can't recall my first grade teacher's name. All I can remember is that she was very pretty. I'll see if one of my parents can help out here ... They've had greater practice than I at recalling things from twenty-four years ago. Sitting here thinking that I can even look back over twenty-four years is a little disquieting -- perhaps even a little distracting. All I can think about is how we didn't have cable in our town back then ... Cable didn't make it here until late in '81. When it did arrive here, the cable boxes were quite hilarious. They had no digital display on them -- just a series of switches. Sometimes it got confusing when you tried to figure out which channel was on.

Get this -- I think the first year we had it, the bill was only about seven dollars a month! What's worse ... On what we're calling the Premium Channels today, there was no advertising of any kind. There used to be short features shown between movies ... Not shameless self promotion.

I never wanted to get trapped up in this line of thought. If you want to know how my mind degenerates, then here it is ...

I'm on a nostalgia trip right now. I don't like those. I think the best life has to offer is still ahead of me. Besides ... Nostalgia isn't what it used to be ....