Nostalgia

nos·tal·gia:\nä-ˈstal-jə, nə- also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl-\: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition; also : something that evokes nostalgia

Our senses are powerful.  Touch, sight, smell, taste, sound.  Every so often I'll be going about my day to day and I'll catch a whiff of a familiar smell and it will take me back to a particular period in my life.  For example, Drakar cologne...mmmm mmmm!  Need I say more?  Coffee.  My dad is a serious coffee drinker.  As a child, I woke up to the smell of fresh brewing coffee every morning.  Needless to say I am a coffee drinker too.  What feelings do you get when you look at old photographs of yourself or your loved ones?  I get a warm sensation inside.  How about a song?  It's safe for me to say that most of you who read this blog are of the same vintage as me.  How do you feel when you hear "Hard Times" by Run DMC?  I can remember to the tee where I was, who I was with & what we were doing.  Or Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, "The Show?" 

*Excuse me Doug E. Fresh
+Yes
*Have you ever seen a show with fellows on the mic
Wit one minute rhymes and don't come out right
They bite, they're never right, that's not polite
Am I lying
+No, you're quite right
*But tonight on this very night you're about to hear
@We swear the best star rappers of the year
*So + so *cherrio +yo scream @ bravo
@Also if you didn't know this is called the show

Those now "old school" rappers take me back to a time of middle school dances (my crew was the junk & we always won our poppin' battles), Levi's, assymetrical haircuts, no worries and no responsibilities.  A time when all I had to concern myself with was who's house I was going to spend the night over on the weekend - Chamika, Ericka or Toya?  Carefree.

Nostalgia reminds you of an irrecoverable period.  You can never go back.  You can never duplicate that exact event, but you can remember - the feeling, the look of, the aroma, the taste, or the melody.  What takes you back?   

                                                                Circa 1988 - 8th Grade

Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick "The Show"   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDkqz5C62SM