The past is quicksand, don't get stuck in it
Visit frequently if you want, but don't live there
Every city or town has its own set of characters. One of my favorite L.A. characters was a woman I used to see walking around in the late 1990s.
I'll call her the Stilts Lady.
Stilts Lady was a tall, slender woman of a certain age dressed head to toe in 1970s fashion. I remember one outfit: a single-color brown polyester bell-bottom pantsuit with a built-in wide belt.
Her cone-shaped hair was stuck on the top of her head, giving her already giraffe-like stature even more height. She appeared to be walking on stilts instead of platform shoes, hence the moniker Stilts Lady.
Was she stuck in another decade?
Had the Stilts Lady been a model in the '70s? She had the stature of a high-fashion model, and her looks were always on point for that specific decade. She didn't seem to care that her outfits were dated, only that they expressed her fashion sense.
Some older people keep their style from their youth as an ongoing tribute to their youth. When I was young, I thought being outdated with your look was the worst.
Now, I see the appeal.
Is it wrong to find a look and stick with it, whether it's in fashion or not? If what you're wearing is a reminder of better times and still works for you, then go for it.
Since they came out in the 1980s, I've loved leggings and will probably continue to wear them once they go out of style again. Though they're not really "in style" now, it's that they're so comfortable women like me wear them anyway.
How we dress expresses who we are, and not everyone has the resources or desire to be fashion-forward or trendy.
If you don't use your vintage look to distance yourself from the present, you can wear what you want.
Getting back to the past.
The movie "Peggy Sue Got Married" came out in 1986 and has stuck with me throughout the years.
The movie is about a woman, Peggy Sue, who faints at her high school reunion, and when she wakes up, she's back in high school. Combine that movie with an episode of "Black Mirror" where a woman goes to different years at will, and you've got my fantasy.
I hope the afterlife is like time-traveling through your past.
I've fainted several times, but I've never come to another time, much to my disappointment. I'd love to return to 1982 or any year in the 1980s. While I enjoy many aspects of the 1960s and '70s, the 1980s have my heart.
I was awesome in my pink polka-dotted mini-skirt outfit in the eighties, my hair tied up in scrunchies, and a belief that anything was possible. My father was still alive for most of the 80s, my mother wasn't awful yet, and the future was so bright we had to wear Tom Cruise shades - he was still cool then.
Let's do the Time-Warp again, please.
I've done storytelling shows and have been to parties where the theme was the 80s, and they were totally fun, but it's all tongue in cheek; I want to go back to the actual 1980s and be young again.
Is there a virtual reality game that can transport me back in time and undo my body's aging? No, I didn't think so. Besides, I have FOMO. If I lived in the '80s forever, I’d miss out on all the good things I enjoy now, such as “Shrinking,” the internet, and spending time with my boyfriend and cats.
The past is a place to visit - not remain in.
If you're stuck in another time, it is harder to relate to the people around you or who you meet. Nostalgia can form a barrier around you if you're not careful.
Is there anything sadder than when someone says that high school was the BEST time of their life? No matter how great your high school experience was, surely, you’ve had other times in your life that surpassed high school.
The secret is to try and enjoy whatever era you’re in.
Don't close yourself off to the present.
Dress in whatever time you want as long as it makes you happy. Celebrate the past, but remember to appreciate the present and keep your eyes and heart open to what's next.
So, until I get conked on the head and lose consciousness enough to time travel, I'll continue to get my 80s fix by listening to the music of that era and watching TV shows set in that era.
When no one's looking, I'll put on my original Blondie t-shirt—not the ironic one I got on sale from Torrid last year, but the iconic one I bought at the Blondie concert in 1982—and pretend for a moment I'm back there in the 1980s.
Speaking of the eighties, I watched “Joan” on Britbox. It’s based on the true story of Joan Hannington, aka “The Godmother,” one of Britain’s most infamous jewel thieves. It stars Sophie Turner, and it’s quite good. But since it’s set in England in the 1980s, the soundtrack was fab! It has so many of my favorite tunes, including “Love Action” by Human League, “Tainted Love “by Soft Cell, “The Love Cats” by The Cure, and “Brass in Pocket” by The Pretenders. I remember going to record stores with my friend, Alan, when that song came out, asking if they had the “I’m special” song.
I don’t make resolutions; I try to do better in the new year.
I threw a belated birthday dinner party last night and made several Austrian/German dishes. It was a huge success, but unfortunately, I did a split shift of sleep. I slept from 10:30-1:30 and then was up until 4:00 am. Then, I slept from 4:00 to 6:40. I didn’t enjoy split shifts when I worked at the phone company as a long-distance operator, and I sure don’t like it as a sleep schedule.
I may need to listen to some 80s music to pep me up!