Nostalgia

I'm forty and as my kids point out...old.  I personally don't feel old and unlike many of my peers, I hardly ever wax nostalgic.  I see the future in front of me and embrace it.  I don't save many things from my past and I drive my lover crazy with how quickly I trash things if I see them lying around unused.   It's not that I don't have happy memories, it's just that most inventions have revolutionized our lives and I just don't see the wisdom in looking back.

My opinions  are in direct contrast to those of this guy:

Yep, my daddy.  Here he is washing Dexter the three legged cat after his week hiatus being lost in the shed.  My dad can't let go of ANYTHING.  If you doubt me, he's saving a pair of underwear that he wants to be buried in. These underwear came from his 20's and I have no idea how he thinks we're going to cram him into them - provided they don't disintegrate the moment they are exposed to air.  I will admit his nostalgic trips interest me completely, but it's his house filling up with useless garbage, not mine.

Dad recently purchased a record player and bought some old vinyl records to play on it as well.  I appreciated listening to "Bunya the Witch," a record from my childhood, but couldn't STAND the static inherent in old record playing.  He pulled out some Oklahoma from the original Broadway run in the forties, and then we listened to "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane.  I love that drug anthem and for two seconds I thought my dad was totally kick ass cool for living through the sixties.  However, I'm pretty sure there were no drugs, sex, and very little rock and roll in his life, so really, he's only partially cool for surviving such an odd decade.

Dad and Jared tried to convince me how great it was listening to vinyl and I told them to shove it.  Digital all the way for me man.  Besides, endless listening pleasure and no record scratches with a digital copy!  The issue may have died there if it wasn't for my dad pulling out a new record of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  (BTW Bubba called it a giant CD!)  I had no idea you could buy NEW vinyl and my oldest, a Beatles aficionado, was mesmerized.  She came home that night and purchased a record player and then bugged to go to the mall for this:

The only good thing about this (besides Hannah's photo bomb) is her choice in music.  Her daddy and I have raised her right and I would like a medal for my efforts one day.  For you uncultured swine, you are looking at the Beatles and The Who.  I asked Kayley why she was spending her money this way and she cited history, nostalgia, and used the word "cool" a lot.  I told her this nonsense was stupid, especially when I found out new vinyl is 20 bucks a record.  Hell, you can download the entire "Who's Next" album on the left for 9.99 on ITunes!  Here's her response:

She's saying "stu" right here.  As in, "it's not stupid!"

She blabbered all the way back to the car about how great lousy vinyl is.  I think there's a lot of suckers in the world and my sixteen year old is one of them.  Music technology is your friend my daughter, but if you insist, feel free to travel back in time to the 70's and suffer through disco WITHOUT your iPod!  Go back to the 80's and ride around on your big wheel in your underoos carrying your giant boom box on your shoulder!  Live through the 90's with your portable CD player that skipped with the least provocation and TRY to enjoy your favorite Radiohead album!  I'm perfectly happy with the music advances I've enjoyed over the last 40 years and can't believe there will be a record player in my house again!  

Oh well, I guess some of us were born to be old and grouchy and unable to leave the past behind.  Others of us will be eternally youthful and look with excitement to the future.  I'll leave it to you to decide which I am, but please don't ask me what Instagram, Twitter, or Hashtag mean...  I just can't keep up with you young whippersnappers!