Cathy the Librarian

Okay this dates me… or not. I’ve been feeling melancholy lately. The melancholy like this: sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness. Not this: the condition of having too much black bile, considered in ancient and medieval medicine to cause gloominess and depression. I’ve been thinking about all the shows I watched and toys I played with as a kid, although mostly the shows. Growing up in the 80’s and in the city (southwedge) of Rochester as I did, you didn’t go outside to play too much, especially when both of your parents had full-time jobs. Instead, you stayed inside and

1. beat your sisters (I have two younger Jen and Sam) up
2. played imaginary games having to do with your imaginary things
   1. boyfriend
   2. apartment
   3. job
3. make weird food substances that you wouldn’t eat in a million years if an adult prepared them, but when you prepared them, it was okay
4. create “houses” out of sheets, pillows from the couch and chairs
5. beat your sisters up some more
6. dance like ballerinas (there were three girls, no boys) to classical music on WXXI
7. Listen to the funky record collection your dad has, but only when he’s around because
   1. he’d kill you
   2. you don’t know how to work the record player anyway
8. watch Nickelodeon and PBS

I will only speak about 8 tonight. The 80’s had some really funky stuff out there. And I think they may be even funkier in my eyes because I was six in 1985, so some of the shows are sort of vague memories at that.

Some of these shows include:

1. Today’s Special
2. Pinwheel
3. Dangermouse
4. You Can’t Do That On Television
5. She-Ra, Princess of Power and He Man
6. Fraggle Rock
7. Sesame Street
8. RANGER BOB! (on WUHF, before it became Fox 31) There’s even an honest to goodness fan website dedicated to Ranger Bob!

Just thinking about them, I long for the days when I was young and free. All this thinking has gotten me tired, and I didn’t even get to talk about any of the shows. Ah well. BTW, if you look on youtube, you can find snippets of most of the shows. Because I know you want to. LOL! Double BTW. I’m glad that people are trying to improve the Southwedge, because its a really great area. And that’s not just because I grew up there, although it helps!