Everything old is new again

The great bard once called it the winter of our discontent, the season brought nothing but despair and angst. Funny how times change. One of the constant factors in life: Change.

But one thing that never changes: your old favorite things

When you leave for college, the biggest fear you have is not going to a new place. No, no, no. It's what's going to happen to your room? Will it still be there when you get back? Or will the parents transform it to meet their needs signalinging that you are growing older everyday?

When I departed for my first session of college, plans were drawn up for a new sewing room, one that would be outfitted with all the newest advancements in clothes construction to meet my mother's needs. I started to resign myself to the fact that the room that I once used to put on my one man productions was going to be gone, forever weaved into my Mom's creative fabrics of designs.

But when I came home, nothing change, it was just neater. Shocked, you better believe it. I thought for sure my treasure chest at home would be discovered and taken away. But my parents ruled against it. Would things be different if I had another sibling? Maybe. Knowing my parents, however, they would respect my wishes to keep it the room the way I wanted.

This past winter break, I came home tired and worn out. I had a rough semester and I was ready to let loose and do something I rarely did: relax. I started to rummage through some of my old bins and discovered all these old comic books. When I was younger, I would stay up FOR HOURS reading about the adventures of the X-Men and my process was always the same: start by looking at the pictures, reread some dialogue, and then read the entire story. Again, reacting to old instincts, I did the same thing. I relived the Inferno Saga, mourned the loss of Phoenix during the Phoenix Saga, and celebrated the rebirth of the X-Men franchise in New X-Men. Probably to many of you, the topics I just mentioned have very little meaning. But to me, it served as a link to my childhood, and as I approach 21, the feeling of it slipping away everyday becomes greater and greater as the minute hand clicks.

Though, what really made this break the best was the enjoyment provided by the oldest entertainment system in the world: Super Nintendo. Yes, the 16 bit game processing system with classic titles like Star Fox, Super Mario World, the Super Star Wars series, Super Godzilla, and the list goes on. For countless hours, I sat there, trying to get Mario to get the coins, evade the blasts to my Arwing, and trying to find every cheat imaginable to complete each game. I never knew how much fun it would be to play the system again, but the time I had was invaluable. I felt a connection with the childhood I left. I remembered playing tournaments with my parents, enjoying them watch me play, and enjoying them try to master the Super Nintendo System. As I was playing, my Dad walked in to drop something off, and he just stood there for 10 minutes. He was mesmerized by the game. A game that was, oh I don't know, at least 10 years old. And he couldn't take his eyes off of it.

"This is the game that I want to play when I'm 80. Nothing else. Just this game."

It just goes to show you, everything old is new again.


What is your favorite childhood memento? Do you still go back to it?


Rock it!

OH and before I forget, check out Britney Spears' "Mmm Papi", a great workout song, something you can definitely get to shaking your body to.