While driving around on New Year’s Eve running a few errands, I was listening to The Top 50 of 1994 countdown on Lithium, SiriusXM’s ’90s alternative and grunge rock channel.
Man, that took me back.
I have such a fondness for the ’90s – and that year in particular. To borrow from Dickens: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was also 30 years ago. Hard to say which I miss most: the great music or my youth.
Probably both in equal measure.
It’s not like I’m wearing rose-tinted glasses (or any other colored eyewear, for that matter): I know the ’90s weren’t perfect, and even if I could get that time machine I’ve been tinkering with in the basement to finally work, I wouldn’t go back to 1994 permanently; I don’t want to wait another 30 years to find out if Carmy’s fine-dining restaurant gets a good or bad review and whether he finally gets his head out of his ass and apologizes to Claire Bear.
Let’s face it, Season 3 felt about that long already.
But I would absolutely spend a long weekend there (or, more accurately, then) — even though 1994 people would think I was nutty, ’cause I’d spend the whole time wandering around going, “OMG! Blockbuster!” and “OMG! A pay phone!” and “OMG! The Montreal Expos!” and “OMG! Toys ‘R’ Us!” and “OMG! Zima!” and “OMG! Living World War I veterans!”
But man, to turn on the radio and hear the “new” Soundgarden tune, “Black Hole Sun” (#1 on the Lithium countdown) – that alone would be worth the trip…though if I wanted to download the track, I’d have to turn on my dial-up modem, hope for no incoming phone calls, and wait seventeen hours.
As nostalgic as I am for the past, there’s a lot to be said for instant gratification.
The rest of NYE – the Eve-iest part, if you will – was low-key and fun. Tara and I played cards, listened to music, drank beers/canned cocktails, and ate egg rolls. Most shocking of all, I actually stayed up ’til midnight for the first time in years (though a last-second scramble to find Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on Hulu proved fruitless, forcing us to welcome 2025 with fireworks in Chicago rather than a ball drop in New York City).
New Year’s Day was pretty laid back, too. Other than taking a long walk in the cold — I was amazed by how many people still had decorations up; seeing Christmas trees twinkling festively in living room windows and inflatable snowmen in yards momentarily, for a very brief second, made me regret packing everything up already — we didn’t do a whole hell of a lot. Tara made good-luck ham and black-eyed peas and we finally started binging Fargo again. This time we started with Season 1 instead of inadvertently powering through Season 5, so we’re makin’ progress, kids!
Now that it’s Thursday and we’re two days into the new year, the holidays are over and it’s back to the grind. Bah, humbug. I had to turn alarms on that had been silenced for weeks. Oh, well – the condensed work schedule and copious time off was fun while it lasted, but like the ’90s, all good things must come to an end.
What do you miss most about the past (’90s or any decade)? Was your New Year’s Eve rockin’ up ’til midnight or did you crash early? Still got your holiday decorations up?
Mark My Words 
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