Help me curate a 90s summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That feeling of nostalgia and simpler times is really just because you didn't have a job. So chasing it is tough because the reason we all remember back so fondly is that we had no responsibilities. Of course life was good.

Ha! Speak for yourself. I had a job and responsibilities. What I remember was how many places in DC were sketchy and dangerous even during the daytime.

True. I went on a quest in mid 1990s to visit all the Smithsonian’s and ventured into anacostia for the one there. It was pretty rough then.

[Anonymous]

I was in high school and college in the 90s, so my memories are influenced by only having part-time jobs, not a full career job.

Get in the car with a whole group of friends (we could do that then, even if we'd only had our license for a week) and drive aimlessly around the city blasting grunge music from the car's CD player. The front seat passenger held a book of CDs and was responsible for switching out the CDs.

Hours at the mall. Some shopping, but a lot of just hanging out.

Get a Magic Eye poster.

90s sitcoms for sure.

Don't expect (or give) an instant reply to anything. Phone calls usually resulted in leaving someone a message, which they would return when they got home later that day or the next day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That feeling of nostalgia and simpler times is really just because you didn't have a job. So chasing it is tough because the reason we all remember back so fondly is that we had no responsibilities. Of course life was good.

Ha! Speak for yourself. I had a job and responsibilities. What I remember was how many places in DC were sketchy and dangerous even during the daytime.

True. I went on a quest in mid 1990s to visit all the Smithsonian’s and ventured into anacostia for the one there. It was pretty rough then.

I remember when the MCI center was built (now Capitol One Arena). Chinese people actually lived in Chinatown back then.

[Anonymous]

The dream of the 90s! [Was] alive in Portland at some point. Wonder where it is now.

[Anonymous]

90s for me was every summer weekend at Dewey Beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first thought was to go buy some Viennetta— too bad you can’t find that any more.

Thank you for unlocking a craving that I didn’t even realize existed

Still have it in the UK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That feeling of nostalgia and simpler times is really just because you didn't have a job. So chasing it is tough because the reason we all remember back so fondly is that we had no responsibilities. Of course life was good.

Ha! Speak for yourself. I had a job and responsibilities. What I remember was how many places in DC were sketchy and dangerous even during the daytime.

True. I went on a quest in mid 1990s to visit all the Smithsonian’s and ventured into anacostia for the one there. It was pretty rough then.

I remember when the MCI center was built (now Capitol One Arena). Chinese people actually lived in Chinatown back then.

I do not remember Chinese people living there. They mostly lived in the suburbs. I do remember all the really sketchy p&rn stores and peep shows with crack addicts slumped on the sidewalks outside and really low rent hookers. That was one of the most depressing areas I’ve ever been in, and I also lived in NYC and New Haven in tje early 90s, each of which also had their own share of issues.
We should all take a minute and thank the Clinton administration for somehow saving our urban areas. By the end of his administration they were somehow a million times better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the concept but it's hard to do in isolation. One thing I miss was people just striking up random conversations. I talked to people on trains, in waiting rooms, there was often at least a Hi type acknowledgement. Now everyone is buried in a phone and it almost seems disruptive or surprising for someone to speak.

I still do this and it drives my kids nuts! My favorite Seinfeld ever was the one where they all got stuck on the subway and Elaine starts talkkkg to some lady. “Thirty years and I never talk to anyone kn the subway. First time I do it’s the best man at a lesbian wedding”. Or something like that. That episode is also such a great reminder of all the graffiti and also the fact that th subway used to just stop all the time and all the lights would just go out and you’d be there in the dark for what seemed like forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Watch the movie Before Sunrise for a good reminder of what it was like in the 90s, pre-cell phones. Chance encounters, long conversations, and really living in the moment without fomo or performing for a digital audience. Human connection was so much richer.

Yeah right. Not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dream of the 90s! [Was] alive in Portland at some point. Wonder where it is now.

lol. Portland is where young people go to retire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inspired by the nostalgia of the JFK Jr Love Story series, I’m wondering what it would take to adopt a 1990s vibe for the summer (or maybe the spring).

What would it take to attempt to recapture that simpler time?

Silence my cell phone

No internet outside of the house, and only for specific tasks (no mindless scrolling)

Going out more with friends. Just for fun. No big plans.

Going dancing. (I’m probably too old to go clubbing, but I’d love to be out after dark listening to music with friends.)

I won’t smoke, but every time I see Carolyn light up it takes me back to having a cigarette towards the tail end of a drunken night when everyone is standing outside of the bar/club/party trying to decide where to go next. Sigh.

Simple clothes and makeup. Not fussing with my hair.

What else?

most people did not smoke in the 1990’s.

I guess you weren’t in college in the early 90s. People still smoked…especially when out drinking.

Anyone fellow Terps remember how smoky Planet X was? Or walking outside of Tracks on college night?

Anyway, I haven’t had a cigarette since the early/mid 90s and even then I wasn’t a regular smoker.

But people still smoked…especially young drunk people.

I remember hating going to bars in VA in the late 2000s because I'd come home smokey.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t people have phones in the 90s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inspired by the nostalgia of the JFK Jr Love Story series, I’m wondering what it would take to adopt a 1990s vibe for the summer (or maybe the spring).

What would it take to attempt to recapture that simpler time?

Silence my cell phone

No internet outside of the house, and only for specific tasks (no mindless scrolling)

Going out more with friends. Just for fun. No big plans.

Going dancing. (I’m probably too old to go clubbing, but I’d love to be out after dark listening to music with friends.)

I won’t smoke, but every time I see Carolyn light up it takes me back to having a cigarette towards the tail end of a drunken night when everyone is standing outside of the bar/club/party trying to decide where to go next. Sigh.

Simple clothes and makeup. Not fussing with my hair.

What else?

most people did not smoke in the 1990’s.

I guess you weren’t in college in the early 90s. People still smoked…especially when out drinking.

Anyone fellow Terps remember how smoky Planet X was? Or walking outside of Tracks on college night?

Anyway, I haven’t had a cigarette since the early/mid 90s and even then I wasn’t a regular smoker.

But people still smoked…especially young drunk people.

PP said “most people”. Some people smoked.

But it’s gross and most did not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No amazon, no grocery delivery, no "order online, pick up in store". Spend your days running errands, searching for things that may or may not exist.

My 90s summers were running errands with mom or going to my cousin's house around the corner where we re-enacted power rangers or star wars in the back yard.

LOL! Having grown up in the 80s or 90s, I'd also say you should drop your kids off at the mall or pool, say you'll pick them up at a certain time, and then arrive 45 min to an hour late. Make sure your kids have no way whatsoever to reach you. This was my childhood (thanks, ADHD mom - undiagnosed of course, it was the 90s after all).

Also - get a landline and a rotary phone. Make sure your kids' friends only have this phone number.

I'm sure you can find most 90s TV still. Watch Magnum PI or Miami Vice with your kids. Insist you watch at the same time, same night of the week like we did growing up. No streaming!

I recently watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High with my DH. You probably don't want to watch it with your kids although I'm sure they already have bad behavior inspiration, but it brought back lots of fun memories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That feeling of nostalgia and simpler times is really just because you didn't have a job. So chasing it is tough because the reason we all remember back so fondly is that we had no responsibilities. Of course life was good.

Ha! Speak for yourself. I had a job and responsibilities. What I remember was how many places in DC were sketchy and dangerous even during the daytime.

True. I went on a quest in mid 1990s to visit all the Smithsonian’s and ventured into anacostia for the one there. It was pretty rough then.

I remember when the MCI center was built (now Capitol One Arena). Chinese people actually lived in Chinatown back then.

I do not remember Chinese people living there. They mostly lived in the suburbs. I do remember all the really sketchy p&rn stores and peep shows with crack addicts slumped on the sidewalks outside and really low rent hookers. That was one of the most depressing areas I’ve ever been in, and I also lived in NYC and New Haven in tje early 90s, each of which also had their own share of issues.
We should all take a minute and thank the Clinton administration for somehow saving our urban areas. By the end of his administration they were somehow a million times better.

Chinese people started leaving Chinatown after the 68 riots, but there were still many there before the MCI Center opened. There were Chinese grocery stores, shops, restaurants, etc.