Thursday, February 9, 2012

Nostalgia Contest

In December I read a book called Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

It takes place in a not-so-distant futuristic United States where most people spend the bulk of their time in OASIS, which is a virtual on-line world. Think virtual reality helmets, only cooler.

In  this book, James Halliday, the co-inventor of OASIS and lover of all things 80's, dies and leaves a virtual easter egg for someone to find which will give them control of Halliday's company. The better you know your 80's culture, the better your chance of finding it.

As you can guess, it's a deadly fight to the end, but I won't spoil the fun.

What I really loved about this book was the nostaligic romp through the culture of my childhood. It made me want my Atari system back to see if I could still win at Pac-man with my joystick upside down. For all you kids out there who don't remember this stuff, that's how we made video games exciting back then.

So no, I won't torture you with a run-down of all the things I miss from my childhood (leg-warmers, big hair, and hammer pants . . . yeah, go google that if you don't know what I'm talking about. You won't regret it). BUT, I will tell you that when I discovered packs of Garbage Pail Kids at the local Five Below, I snatched some up. Double packs, because I knew I'd have to share these with my bloggy friends.

I chose a tame one for you to view, and I have to confess, they can be kindof disgusting, but these things were BIG. I'm talking B-I-G! If you didn't have these to trade, you could plan on spending your recesses with the outcasts. Not that I condone that sort of behavior, of course, just telling it like it was.

So here's the contest part:

Share one thing you're nostalgic for from your childhood, and I'll enter you into the drawing. Two lucky winners will get a pack of Garbage Pail Kids in the mail.

Aren't you all dying of excitement?! I thought about offering the "Jem and the Holograms, Season 1" DVD-set I found, but I knew I could never part with it. *Sigh of happy nostalgia*

Last day to enter is Saturday, February 18th, by midnight EST.

12 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Ra-ra skirts! LOL!

Love the day-glo 80's best!! Take care
x

MikeS said...

Wow, I had totally forgotten about playing Pac-man with the joy stick upside down. You're obviously way more nostalgic about the 80s than I was, except perhaps when it comes to music. I get all nostalgic whenever I hear songs from the Joshua Tree by U2 or anything by Tears for Fears.

Rev up that DeLorian to 88 miles per hour and crank up the Depeche Mode. 80s here I come!

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Whooo hooo! Garbage Pail Kids! We even had those in Hong Kong!! Is there gum inside?

Christa Desir said...

So many things I'm nostalgic about...roller skates is my number one. I loved going to the roller rink. I have now taken my kids and then am sore for days afterwards because of all the falling.
Great post, J!

Christina Lee said...

Bwahaha, this is GREAT! And I've heard great things about that book!

Um...Madonna black rubber bracelets!

Misha Gerrick said...

Hahaha I missed most of the 80s, since I was born in the last few days of '88. :-D

Theresa Milstein said...

Ha, I remember Garbage Pail Kids!

Today is the I'll Tumble 4 Ya BlogFest. I've gotten all sentimental about Duran Duran on my blog.

Emily said...

Garbage Pail Kids! Oh my, I'd almost forgotten!

I'm nostalgic for hypercolor t-shirts..and slap bracelets...and neon leggings with mismatched socks...and crimped hair...and big bangs.

I Was Awesome! :)

Talli Roland said...

Hmm... I used to love Strawberry Shortcake Dolls and theirs sickly sweet scent.

Stina said...

OMG! Talk about a challenging question. Hmmm. I'd say the Sweet April dolls that you only got in England. Pipa (another British doll) was kind of cool too. By the time I moved to the US, I was 11 and not into toys anymore.

AiringMyLaundry said...

I loved The Elephant Show! I remember watching that and getting so excited when they sang Skinamarekadinkadink. No idea how that's spelled..

Laura Barnes said...

I keep hearing I should read this. I have it on audiobook and just haven't put it in first. I guess I better!