Internet, Stop Making Me Feel Old

It always amuses me to see a blog or website write a post that reflects on the 1990s, asking things like, “Where Are They Now?,” “Remember Him/Her?,” and “The Best/Top ____ of the ’90s.” The writer, though trying to make his or her readers remember products that now seem prehistoric or celebrities in their pre-rehab years, end up making the ’90s feel as if they were an eon ago. The ’90s were only 12 years ago; is that long ago enough to be remembered with such melancholy? I spent ages 2-13 in the 90s; reading Facebook groups like “Things You Only Know If You Grew Up in the 90s” is akin to hearing songs from my birth year (1987) being played on an oldies radio station. And yes, that has happened.

Let’s face it-the ’90s weren’t a bad time to grow up, and I’d like to think we had better toys and TV shows than kids today have. Who could forget Gak or the Yak Bak; “Clarissa Explains It All,” or “All That?” Personally, I would rather watch someone get slimed than preteen living a double life (looking at you, Miley Cyrus).

While it is fun to look back on “the good old days” of my childhood, it has two negative consequences: A) It makes me feel old; and B) I might be missing the ’90s a little too much. In November, I will celebrate the completion of my first quarter-century of life, i.e. my 25th birthday. It kind of boggles my mind that we’re so far removed from the time in which I was in grade school. It’s as if everything about them is retro, like the 1960s and 1970s are to my parents. With my rent, utilities, and a sizable amount of taxes coming due, the days of Dunkaroos and Mondo seem much more appealing than forking over my checkbook to Uncle Sam.

So, if you, too yearn to return to a pre-Kardashian era, to a time when MTV actually played music videos, I urge you to check out these blogs:

*Female Pop Stars of the ’90s and ’00s – Then and Now! (Gotta love the clothes).
*10 Definitely ’90s Commercials (That’s Rashida Jones at :26 in the Gap ad!)
*Things 90s Kids Realize (I miss TGIF and SNICK).
*Awesome Things From the 90′s (I still watch VHS tapes. Judge me).