Finding Ninee » Sharing our parenting and special needs stories with heart and humor.

The 80’s. It’s never enough.

Ah, the 80’s.  They were a time in my life that brought so much remembered change. They seemed to last forever. (Insert Bryan Adam’s Summer of 69 here). From 1979 and having braless nub-boobs to 1989 when I was old enough to drink 3.2 beer legally. Good times.

1980-19This is me in the 8082: Middle school. Puberty. My last year of summer camp. Shoelaces with hearts on them, feathered Farrah hair, and braces. Relationships in the early 80’s were defined by “going with,” as in “they’re going together” and “will you go with me?”  We were cool.  Well, the people who were going with somebody were cool.  I, on the other hand, wasn’t going with anybody but in my fantasies, crushing on a boy named T.J., who was happy to copy my homework but never did ask me to go with him. It may have been due to my heart-patterned shoelaces but was more likely due to the fact that I was grounded for half the year. Back then, nobody had caller ID or *69. Very few people had call waiting.  In fact, I remember when my friend Gillian got call waiting and we’d be talking and I’d push the four and six button together so she’d think she had another call.  I swear that I used to do that to her like 20 times in a conversation and she never caught on.

Oh! Right. Grounded. Prank calls were much easier then. One night, my friend Gillian and I made one that went quite wrong. I won’t bore you with the details but it involved two families, late-night door-banging, a shotgun and some pissed off parents. Nobody was hurt but the police got involved and in spite of trying to lie my way out of it, my friend Gillian and I were busted.  I was grounded for months.

Months and months with nothing to do but work my ass off in the yard (my dad believed in hard labor as punishment for our sins and got a free two-tiered garden area built from railroad ties due to our forced labor) and listen to music. Tainted Love. Another One Bites the Dust. Hungry Like The Wolf. Ah those Duran Duran dweebs. I can’t believe I thought they were sexy.

When I grew tired of actual music, I had The Pushbutton Telephone Songbook.  It provided the order of numbers to push in order to play classics like Oh, Susanna to your friends. I still have it, see?  The fact that the types of phones that this works on no longer exist is of no importance – this book and I had hours of fun together and I’m never giving it up. Ever.

This push-button telephone song book kept me entertained for hours in the 1980

I know. This book totally makes you want to go out and buy a new push-button phone, huh?

Man, the 80’s were long, people. In 1985, I got my driver’s license and sadly did not receive a Sweet 16 car as a gift and had to resort to begging my dad to drive his Scout International. Every once in a while, my mom let me take her 280ZX. It had t-tops, which were the perfect method for showing the world just how cool we were by blasting Howard Jones’ What is Love, Corey Hart’s Sunglasses at Night and Round and Round by Ratt.

I’m quite sure my neighbors were hanging out thinking “oh that girl is so cool in her pink Reeboks, blue eye shadow, a billion Material Girl bracelets, Forenza neon sweater and jeans that zipped at the ankle with scrunchy socks worn over them” and not “that Rieger girl is the most annoying fucking teenager I’ve ever come across.”

Later, because my dad liked my brother Tom more than he liked me, he bought “us” a Ford Fairmont. He got it at a government auction because it had previously been owned by the government. It was durable and all that, but OMG was that car one ugly piece of shit. And, it was decorated – by my brother-  with uber-classy bumper stickers such as this one:

We were assholes. Well, my brother was. He’s nice now.

If a person pulled up on the door handle on the passenger side while it was locked (and this was when I still had to lean over and manually unlock the door so it was pretty much always locked), the door would stick. Passengers had to climb through the window.

One time, my friend Lesley’s boyfriend Jeff was in the back seat. He kept complaining that it was hot. He wouldn’t shut up about “dude, the seat is hot.” Rather than listening to his stupid stoned complaints, Lesley and I turned up the boom box sitting between us (the tape player in the actual car was broken) and listened to Tears for Fears.  And Twisted Sister. Because, you know, we weren’t gonna take it.

When we stopped the car and Jeff got out, he kept rubbing his ass and complaining that it felt like it was on fire. After taking out his wallet and realizing that his license was soft from being partially melted, we looked under the seat. There was no insulation between the tail pipe and the actual seat. He really was almost on fire. Huh.
People sat back there anyway. Turns out 16-year olds will put up with a lot for a free ride.

This was the ugly@ss car that my brother and I shared in the 1980

You can tell how much we loved it by how great we took care of it. Notice the sparkle.

As the 80’s and I grew up, I fell in love with a boy named Sean. The kind of love that my parents were afraid we’d run off and get married. He was monumental to me in the summer before I left for college.  I may or may not have had sex in the mountains to this 80’s song:

I may or may not have done this:

Anyway. The 80’s. Friendship and high school and experimentation. Our songs were Shout! by Tears for Fears and Shell Shock by New Order (both seen live in concert by yours truly).  Once I got to college, I played Shell Shock over and over and over again. The lyrics. So deep.

Hold on, it’s never enough

It’s never enough until’ your heart stops beating

The deeper you get, the sweeter the pain

Don’t give up the game until your heart stops beating

I loved that song so much that it eventually made its way onto my first self-purchased vehicle in the form of a license plate (that I still have). The (very) used 1984 CJ7 Renegade that I drove for 11 years until it caught on fire.

Oh, youth. There’s never enough.

This is my 1984 CJ-7 Renegade Jeep. The cheapest car I

This Jeep – to date – is the favorite vehicle I’ve ever owned. This photo doesn’t even show how cool it got after I invested in Centerline Silver rims and big fat tires. Sigh.

Even though it’s totally random, I have to give a shout-out to my favorite (top 10) song of the 80’s which I wasn’t actually cool enough to listen to in the 80’s because my friend Lesley’s boyfriend at the time loved them and I couldn’t stand HIM. Amazing how people influence likes. The 80’s would not be the 80’s without One, by Metallica. Wow. Just wow.  I’ve been to as many Metallica concerts as I have U2. They are the two bands I’ve seen more live than any others.

What were you doing in the 80’s? What were you listening to? I’m dying to know. I could write 100 blog posts on the 80’s. This has been inspired by my good friend Jen over at My Skewed View, who Einsteined this cool linkup party that features music.  Join us. Music takes you back, in a way that not much else does.

DJJENNYtyedye    MCMomee-TuckTuck

SAPPY Editor’s note: I’ve been excited about this 80’s post all week.  I’ve been excited to share the Government Mobile, my jeep, my stories and the music that I continue to love that came from the 80’s. But it’s also done something else. It’s made me relive memories from high school that may have otherwise been forgotten.  It’s made me remember feeling like a loser, and a dork, and an awkward kid. Which, in many ways, I was. But I was also popular within my clan, smart, hopeful and beautiful in the way that only the young can be.  It makes me feel sad that I didn’t cherish myself, my mind, and my body more back then. It also makes me realize that while nostalgic for my youth, that (hopefully), I will one day be nostalgic for my 40’s and look back on them and realize that the problems I have now, the wrinkles, the teeth that need fixing, the exercise that needs to happen…was also youth.  I suppose my point is that it’s great to look back and miss your former me’s. But it’s even more important to love your me of now. To appreciate what strengths, abilities, looks and memories we make today. Today matters. All of them.


  • Mama Zen - This is just the most awesome post EVER.July 9, 2013 – 1:26 amReplyCancel

  • Jen - You are amazing, you know that? Just when I thought it was all freaking highsterical Kristi, you go and say something important. But you still had me silently laughing and shaking the bed trying not to wake the boy!
    OK, so how weird is this. My first car, Buick Regal – government auction. Leaked transmission fluid I had to fill it every few days. Took a permanent marker and wrote Peace Mobile across the faux leather roof… parents not too happy.
    Another weird one.. my license plate now will be featured on next weeks list… da da daaaaa….
    This post is fabulous as usual, but mostly because I love how you incorporated the songs, so many awesome memories… Shell Shocked me and my girlfriend on spring break together… Summer of ’69 my best friend Kara who has fallen off the face of the earth 🙁 Hungry Like the Wolf – LOVED and ditto on the Duran Duran thing, what was I thinking?? You’re the best! TTTx10!July 9, 2013 – 1:32 amReplyCancel

  • Sarah B. - Twisted Sister!!!!!!

    Awesome post. Loving the memories you shared. 🙂

    Me in the 80’s? Well being born in ’88, I don’t really remember much. 🙂 But I saw a video of me dancing to 80’s music as a toddler, so I must have had good taste.July 9, 2013 – 2:02 amReplyCancel

  • Janine Huldie - Seriously, I don’t know how you do it, but I truly feel like I have gone back in time and was truly back in the 80s while reading your post. So many great music mentions here and a bit scary on how transported I did feel, but awesome job, as always. And One by Metallica by far is still one of my all time favorites, too!!July 9, 2013 – 7:42 amReplyCancel

  • Jhanis - Oh my goodness you had quite a blast way back then!I was born 1979 and all I can associate the 80’s with was the People Power Revolution here in the Philippines and I don’t even remember much 🙂July 9, 2013 – 9:00 amReplyCancel

  • clark - I would use my way-over-used, ‘damn’ expression to express, my…express…

    damn!

    you know what’s weird about clarks?* for all of the careful effort and deliberate applying of talents and skills to produce this here Post here, that you have clearly accomplished, the thing that resonated with me the most was:

    “… the door would stick. Passengers had to climb through the window.”

    that made we feel what it is to be/was to be young.
    (I once tried to write a time travel story and one of the plot devices was that the hero woke up in his 19 yo body in a college dorm…anyway, one of the ways that I had him ‘discover’ that he was back in time was that there was a knock on the door and he ‘just got up out of bed’… and noticed how ‘not involved’ that physical act was… just got up…no positioning, leveraging, planning necessary …;p)

    Your single line about cars with door handles that stick has made my day.**

    I also love your thing about today being the future’s ‘good ole days’… as difficult as it is to remember, it is so important to not forget that today is it.

    …good songs, *of course*

    * besides that! …*and* that too
    ** in a horribly fatalistic and resigned sort of way***
    *** lolJuly 9, 2013 – 9:04 amReplyCancel

  • Dream - I so enjoyed reading your trip down memory lane this week. I wanted a Jeep like yours and ended up with a station wagon. Not even close.July 9, 2013 – 10:09 amReplyCancel

  • Courtney - Oh, the 80s!!! I love the movies: Pretty in Pink, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles and so many more! I spent the 80s being a little kid, who eventually was old enough to love Kirk Cameron and John Cusack. (I still love John)July 9, 2013 – 10:37 amReplyCancel

  • Michelle Liew - The 80s was a decade of big earrings, spandex and yes, great music. Listed my faves here!July 9, 2013 – 10:53 amReplyCancel

  • Kerri - OMG I was a Purple Rain girl, had the material girl bracelets but never wore the lace corset.July 9, 2013 – 11:56 amReplyCancel

  • Jessica - I love this! Especially the note at the end, because I think that’s important for us all to remember: who we really are (and were). I love Metallica! I was a hair band kinda girl, mainly. Loved the Headbangers Ball! LOL And that telephone book is awesome! I would have loved that. I had a toy that did something similar (looked like a soldier, I was pretty young so I don’t remember what it was called) and drove my parents crazy with it.July 9, 2013 – 12:15 pmReplyCancel

  • troy P. - Never enough! Loved it – the whole shootin’ match here. Just a fun, fun read. And as aN FYI, my New Order “Love Hard Song” was Subculture. Because, “in the end you will submit- it’s got to hurt a little bit…” =)July 9, 2013 – 1:22 pmReplyCancel

  • Tatum - Say What? A song book for the phone dial tones? Oh, man, had I known about that, the phone wouldn’t have been available for receiving calls ever. Caller ID and *69 sure did ruin all the fun with the phone didn’t they.July 9, 2013 – 1:52 pmReplyCancel

  • Lori Lavender Luz - I remember that jeep! And I can vouch for its cool factor.

    Thanks for reminding me about Tears for Fears. I’ll still stop on any station that’s playing “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” Curt and Roland were so earnest.July 9, 2013 – 2:12 pmReplyCancel

  • Kate - Prank calling was so easy- even after caller ID because you could block your number. I miss those days 🙂July 9, 2013 – 3:13 pmReplyCancel

  • Lance - That jeep was hot! I bet Def Leppard blared from it too. Good list, miss!July 9, 2013 – 3:39 pmReplyCancel

  • Melissa@Home on Deranged - Now, why you gotta hate on Duran Duran? You know I would still marry Simon LeBon today if he asked. Oh yes I would. I can listen to Hungry Like the Wolf all day in my t-top Camaro.
    And the Jeep. Still would love to have one. When the day comes that I’m not hauling around car seats and little people who could easily fly out when I hit a bump doing 80 mph. One day.July 9, 2013 – 3:47 pmReplyCancel

  • Slu - Wow!!! I feel like I know you so much better now!!! lol… Loved your story, love the Jeep, and I have to laugh looking at your pics, because I think to myself: “She does not throw away ANYTHING!!!

    Very nice selection of tunes as well. Enjoyed, SluJuly 9, 2013 – 6:01 pmReplyCancel

  • Linda Roy - Aw girl! How cool were you? You owned my dream car. The elusive Jeep Wrangler and the plates were pretty sweet. The ’80s WERE long, weren’t they? Seems like every other decade kind of skated by, but the ’80s were one eventful, mofo decade. Good stuff on your list. They all take me right back.July 9, 2013 – 6:36 pmReplyCancel

  • Dana - Love, love, love this post, Kristi – it was a walk down memory lane for me, although I don’t remember nearly as much as you do! This was my decade – I listen to the 80s station on XM all the time. I wish I had known you back then; I think we would’ve been friends 🙂July 9, 2013 – 9:38 pmReplyCancel

  • GirlieOnTheEdge - Great post Kristi! Love this time traveling on Tuesdays:)
    One is also one of my most favorite songs by one of my most favorite bands…..
    Every now and then I have to put on We’re Not Gonna Take It. Puts a smile on my face every time and how can you not sing along. LOLJuly 9, 2013 – 9:56 pmReplyCancel

  • Stephanie @ Mommy, for real. - I love your addendum- you are so wise and so right… How did I not know about the Telephone Songbook thingie? What a ripoff… Also- is it wrong that I kind of miss pants that cover your bellybutton? Or maybe I just miss my flat 80s-90s-up until 5 years ago flat stomach.

    Also- my husband is a huge 80s metal fan. The hugest. You should see his T-shirt collection. For real. This post made me so nostalgic- loved it! And I want to know what is behind the removed content- tee hee!July 9, 2013 – 9:59 pmReplyCancel

  • Kate Hall - Aww, that was beautiful at the end. I loved seeing you write out what we had been discussing via Twitter on your trip to NC. Awesome. I listed to Twisted Sister all the way through. I remember thinking that video was so unique – like nobody had humor in the music videos – not that like that. It rocked! Now it’s a little cheesey.July 9, 2013 – 10:27 pmReplyCancel

  • MIddleage Monologues - I wonder if that dude’s ass still feels the pain from sitting on that tail pipe after all these years? HAHAHAAAA! I was seriously laughing my ass of with this post…some of those songs are seriously classic and it did bring me back to a time that most of us would like to forget but your ending statement was really great! I have to admit that I would be ok if i NEVER see one more teased bang plastered sky high with Aqua Net…like EVER AGAIN! Yikes…that look was pretty scary! 😉July 9, 2013 – 11:53 pmReplyCancel

  • Jennifer - I admit to stuffing my bra in the 7th grade. I also wore 2 bras sometimes, which seemed less obvious than tissues at the time. We’re Not Gonna Take it was pretty much my husband’s theme song in middle school. He actually played the video for our daughters the other day, and said, “Look, that was my school”. They believed him. I enjoy reading your posts-they are so witty.July 10, 2013 – 12:35 amReplyCancel

  • Kenya G. Johnson - The 80’s really were the best for EVERYTHING except for hair and clothes weren’t they? I wonder if everyone says that for their years of the same age. I’ll have to ask someone 10 years younger than me if they 90s for them was all that. I’ve gone back to having some jeans that cover my belly button. They are by Lee and they keep from having half my butt show in the back. If short shirts come back out there’d be a problem but then again I don’t have the short shirt torso so no worries there. Never heard of “The Pushbutton Telephone Songbook”, I’m off to see if there’s an app for that. There always is.July 10, 2013 – 10:57 amReplyCancel

  • Kenya G. Johnson - No app. Phooey.July 10, 2013 – 11:00 amReplyCancel

  • Jak - Another great throwback post filled with excellent tunes! I, once again, was familiar with them all 🙂

    It’s crazy just how shitty that government vehicle was. Is it possible your father lied and got it from a drug dealer or something? The story about the back seat (compared to the stories that one potentially can share about the back seat of a car) was hilarious.

    An “I don’t kiss and tell” woman, eh? I may not have any idea what nasty, naughty things you did, but I can venture a guess! Olalala (or Muhahahahaha!?) Just remember:

    Adventure should
    Never be in
    Absence of
    Love

    So, I’d no idea what a ring phone song was. That’s interesting to say the least. I am really curious as to what the prank was that involved so much craziness and warranted such a life sentence to hard labor.

    You’ve been to so many damned concerts I’m literally a bit jelly. I’ve never been able to see Metallica! That would be a great show. Not so sure how they would be live now? They are getting preeeetty old…

    What music was I listening to?

    DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Metallica, Megadeth, and also most of what you posted. Maybe a lot of Genesis and Peter Gabriel >.>

    I LOVED Twisted Sister, though that is literally the only song I knew (or at least remember) by them. I’d listen to that song so much I’ sure it drove my mother batty lol

    I agree it’s even more important to love your me of now!

    Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of InkJuly 10, 2013 – 1:53 pmReplyCancel

  • Kim Pugliano - You and I are about the same age. I didn’t do the math because my brain isn’t in a good mood, but I could tell. I have never fit in. I was always trying so hard. Elementary school was bearable, middle school started my life of suck when my straight hair was cut short and then suddenly curled up like pubic hair, then came high school when my older cousin and my younger sister were part of the beautiful partiers who got together with people and I was the dork watching TV on my bed. Then came college, where my mom said I’d find a bunch of girls like me. Apparently they all had bipolar2 without knowing it and drank and sexed. A lot. Like a super lot. And quit school but drink and sex was all that mattered. Sadly I wasn’t diagnosed until like yesterday so my behavior went on and on…but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my 40s and I realize it wasn’t all for nothing. EVERYTHING led me here. I may not like my husband today and my son is 14 and all that goes with that but I wouldn’t trade a thing about my life. And I too was beautiful back then, just not in the way society wanted me to be.July 10, 2013 – 6:07 pmReplyCancel

  • Sarah Almond - I’d never heard of a Pushbutton Telephone Songbook until tonight but I WANT ONE! You are officially the coolest person I know!July 10, 2013 – 10:21 pmReplyCancel

  • Molley@A Mother Life - Ok wait! I think we had the same childhood! That was fun!…
    Thanks for hooking up to the Hump Day Hook UpJuly 17, 2013 – 2:56 pmReplyCancel

  • Terrye - I loved the 80s. 🙂 I actually saw Ratt, Def Lepord, BoC, and a few others live. And pot was legal. AK was the only state that had legalized it back then. 😉 I had almost forgotten about those cool ass pants with the zippers at the ankles but were a bitch to wear in the winter with snow boots.:DJuly 17, 2013 – 4:33 pmReplyCancel

  • The Shitastrophy - Loved the shoelaces with the hearts/stars/smiley faces. I am sitting here typing this while my 8 year old sings the Twisted Sister song, parenting right over here! Thanks for the memories, I loved the A-Team/the Dukes/and everything neon too.July 17, 2013 – 4:43 pmReplyCancel

  • MJM - Girl…you rock it like a hurricane. Awesome…I freaking love the 80s…and really miss them.July 19, 2013 – 8:52 pmReplyCancel

  • Joy - You featured One! I love you! <3July 23, 2013 – 2:46 amReplyCancel

  • Police Humor - This is attention-grabbing, You are an too much qualified tumblr. I’ve got registered the rss and check forward to in search of even more of your current wonderful article. Additionally, We’ve distributed your internet site in my web sitesAugust 12, 2013 – 5:40 amReplyCancel

  • Mike - You had me at RATT “Round And Round” (“You’re In Love” also is kick ass). Holy heck I was all about the 80’s too. Maybe I still am. Too much lol…as far as reminiscing. Thank gawd you didn’t set Jeff’s ass on fire! There are a gazillion Comments I have to this post, my friend. Loved it, Kristi! 🙂February 2, 2014 – 9:55 pmReplyCancel

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