Dark Shadows

As a kid, I was really into Dark Shadows. I loved watching the stories unfold on the TV screen. However, there was much more to Dark Shadows than the TV show.

First off, there was also a whole series of books related to the show. The author, Marilyn Ross, was actually Dan Ross writing under his wife's name. I probably read most of these books at a young age. A precocious and avid reader, I tended to sneak and read the things I actually wanted to read instead of the more age-appropriate offerings.

I also had two board games that tied in to the series: Dark Shadows and Barnabas Collins.

Dark Shadows was a game in which you moved a token around the board. It was a traditional board game by Whitman, and it was my favorite of the two. As a bonus, it included a wallet-sized photo of Barnabas himself.

Barnabas Collins was different; the object of the game was to collect bones and put the skeletons together. Milton Bradley also included a set of fangs that glowed in the dark.

I also found this cool site about Dark Shadows collectibles. Looking it over, I think I recognize the pink Magic Slate, so it's possible I had one of those. I have no idea why I didn't have the two jigsaw puzzles, since I loved putting them together, but I'm pretty sure I didn't. Still, the one in front looks vaguely familiar, so maybe I really did have that one. My memory is pretty faulty, so I just don't know.

I remember how happy I was when Dark Shadows was revived back in 1991. It was really good, but unfortunately, it was only around for twelve episodes.

I've tried to watch the original series as an adult, but I gave up. It just wasn't the same, so I thought it was best to leave the series in my memories.

First Apartment

Most people probably remember their first apartment. I finally got mine after living in the dorm for two years.

My first apartment was very small. It was one of several in a house that had been converted into apartments intended mainly for college students. I believe this particular house contained four apartments, although I might be leaving one out. It was a very short walk from campus, the downtown area, and other necessities.

My tiny place was one of two apartments on the house's lower level. It was furnished and had one bedroom, a living room, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. The grand total for rent was $100 plus electric. Unfortunately, I had electric heat.

I lived there for one year and then moved to another apartment. While a student, I never paid more than $200 a month for rent. Then I got a job, moved away, and found out how expensive apartments could be.

Zzzzzzzz

I remember when I couldn't take a nap if I tried. It just wouldn't work. No matter how sleepy or exhausted I was, if it was the middle of the day, it wasn't going to happen. I've never been a high-energy type, so it certainly wasn't that. I don't remember ever being able to take a nap as a kid, teenager, or beyond.

Well, that was then. Now, I can sit down on the couch and be asleep in no time at all. Notice that I said "sit." I can konk out without even having to lie down. Don't get me wrong; I'm not narcoleptic, although I've had my moments. It helps if I'm trying to read or watch TV. Something about trying to stay awake makes me fall asleep faster. It figures.

In the past, I didn't understand how some people could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I think I get it now.

Video Games

When I was in college, I spent an inordinate amount of time, energy, and money playing video games--arcade games, to be exact.

There was a game room in my dorm. It wasn't very big, but it did have quite a few games, and it was often packed with people. I played a lot of Pac-Man, Q-bert, Millipede, Galaga, and many more. For some reason, the dorm didn't have my favorite arcade game. The only time I could ever play it was when I left town for the weekend. That game was Moon Patrol.

I also owned some video games, as well as a few hand-held games. Still, I preferred arcade games. I could put more strength into them without worrying about breaking a tiny joystick.

Lance Choc-O-Lunch Cookies: Then and Now

Yesterday, while writing my post about Keebler Opera Cremes on Diary of a Non-Person, I realized I had a similar product to mention here: Lance Choc-O-Lunch Cookies.

Lance Choc-O-Lunch cookies are still being produced today. However, they're not the same as they used to be. That's why this post goes here instead of in the other blog, which is only for things that no longer exist.

The Choc-O-Lunch cookies being made now are chocolate sandwich cookies with vanilla creme. In the past, they were chocolate sandwich cookies with lemon creme. What an incredible combination!

I still like Choco-O-Lunch cookies, and they make a great snack. I just wish they still had the chocolate/lemon combination.

Gym Class

Back when I was in school, people pretty much either loved gym class or hated it. Those who were good at sports enjoyed taking the break from the classroom. Then there were those who weren't the least bit athletic; they dreaded their time in the gym.

Gym class, also known to some as "phys ed," wasn't restricted to the gymnasium. For example, students could end up on the tennis court or on the track, depending on what was planned for that particular week. Over the years, I had to do everything from climbing a rope to roller skating around the gym. I had to learn how to square dance and how to play several different ball games. Gym class was nothing if not varied and unpredictable.

In junior high, gym class alternated days with health class. That's when things got really interesting.

Easter Egg Candy

Chocolate bunnies are good--no doubt about it--but I always preferred the candy eggs.

When I was a kid, there were these large candy Easter eggs that had to be sliced because they were too big to eat the whole thing at once. In fact, some of the slices had to be sliced in half; that's how big they were.

These candy eggs had a thick milk chocolate shell. My favorites were peanut butter, coconut cream, chocolate butter cream, and maple nut. I also remember fruit and nut, which was a cherry-flavored cream filling containing small pieces of (you guessed it) fruit and nuts. I think Russell Stover made all these varieties, but I'm not sure.

I've seen some homemade versions from time to time, but nothing recent. The homemade versions were smaller and had much thinner coatings. They were different from the store-bought eggs but obviously still tasty.

Once, I found a Russell Stover egg I hadn't seen before: heavenly hash. It was a solid chocolate egg that contained marshmallows, nuts, and (I believe) raisins. It was wonderful; unfortunately, I was never able to find another one.

Nowadays, Russell Stover has the small candy eggs, and they're delicious. I just wish they'd bring back the eggs a lot of us remember from the past.

All-Nighters

Back in my college days, I occasionally pulled all-nighters. I'm sure students still do that, but I doubt it's the same.

Basically, whenever a research paper was due, it was a sure bet that I'd be up all night just to get it finished. It's not that I hadn't done any work. I had. I just hadn't finished. So there I'd be, sitting at the table with my pen and paper in front of me, going through a whole lot of books I needed as sources. Yes, that's right. Pen and paper. This was back when hand-written papers were still accepted.

I was always careful but sometimes I'd mess up pretty badly and have to start that page over. Sometimes my pen would run out of ink, which is why it was always a good idea to have two or three of the same kind handy. My hand always hurt long before I finished writing.

When I had to study for a major test, things got a bit more complicated. If it was a final, sometimes I'd just go to cafeteria at the student union and study there. Otherwise, I'd stay in my dorm room or apartment. After staying up all night, I'd think, "I know this material. At least, I know it well enough. Maybe I should just go ahead and take a short nap."

Sure enough, I'd either:
1. Get up late and just barely make it to the exam.
2. Be unable to get to sleep because I was worried I wouldn't get up on time.

Fortunately, I didn't pull all-nighters for every paper or test--just the big ones.

Blogging From A to Z April Challenge

After having to neglect all my blogs for several months, I've joined the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2011.

On Mondays through Saturdays in April, I'll be posting on anywhere from one blog to all five of them.

I'm hoping this will help me get back in the swing of things.

When Coolers Were Wine

After writing a post about Dewey Stevens wine coolers for Diary of a Non-Person, I started thinking.

Back in the '80s, wine coolers actually contained wine. These days, people tend to still use the term "wine cooler," but most of these drinks don't actually have any wine in them. In fact, they're flavored malt beverages now. Occasionally, through the years, I've wondered how that happened, but I've never taken the time to delve into it.

I'm actually not much of a drinker; when I do drink, I lean toward having a strawberry daiquiri or some other frozen concoction that contains rum. Even so, I miss some of the wine coolers of the past, such as Dewey Stevens, California Coolers, Seagrams, and Bartles & Jaymes; I preferred them to any of the flavored malt beverages I've had in more recent years.

New Coke

I still remember the uproar over the introduction of New Coke. As a Coca-Cola fan, I wasn't even remotely amused by the idea of replacing my favorite soft drink with some inferior version. It just didn't make any sense!

I was perusing the bulletin boards at the student union and saw a note urging everyone to complain about it by calling the Coca-Cola Company's toll-free number, so that's exactly what I did when I got home. I think it was the first time I ever actually called a company to complain, but I was mad! The customer service representative informed me that the new formula had done very well in taste tests. I didn't believe it. Who were the tasters, anyway?

In panic mode, I stocked up on 2-liter bottles, trying to space out the opening of each one. Once it was open, it would start going flat. I would have preferred to buy cans, since they would last longer, but with no car, the best I could do was buy a couple 2-liter bottles at a time and lug them back to my place. When I bought cans, it was one at a time from the many vending machines around campus, and I opened it right then and there.

I had a decent supply but didn't go overboard the way a lot of people did. I probably would have, but I was a student and couldn't afford that kind of extravagance.

Sure, I know now that it would have been healthier to just let it go and switch to water, but that wasn't going to happen. At the time, I wasn't amused, but I can admit now that it was better for me to cut down on them anyway. The problem is telling that to someone whose favorite product is about to go away.

I did try New Coke, and I didn't like it. I knew I'd be drinking more Dr Pepper and RC, two of my other favorites, if this stuff stuck around.

By the time the manufacturer admitted its mistake and brought back "Classic Coke," as they decided to call it, I still hadn't run out of my supply.

For the record, I do drink water most of the time now that I'm a lot older and a tiny bit wiser. Still, I remember fondly the days when it was rare to see me without a can of Coke in my hand or on my desk.

Simpler Times

I miss being able to buy food products without scrutinizing the label. I'm not talking about my more carefree days, when I didn't care as much about chemicals or trans fat in food. I'm talking about the manufacturing changes that have taken place over the years. Specifically, I miss the days when I could buy a regular, non-diet food or drink, and not have to check the ingredients for sucralose.

Sucralose was approved for use in the United States in 1998. Since then, it has become the most popular reduced-calorie sweetener, and I pretty much expect it to be in most diet products now. But what about the non-diet products? I've lost a lot of favorite products to this change. Unlike the use of aspartame, manufacturers don't even have to warn us that they're using sucralose; we just have to check the ingredients. All debates about the safety aside, I simply don't like the taste.

I don't drink as many soft drinks as I did in my younger days. Mostly, I drink water now, and when I indulge in a soft drink, it's somewhat of a treat. I was stunned recently to open a can of Shasta, take a drink, and realize that it tasted like a diet drink. What do you think I found on the ingredients list? Sucralose. It was down pretty far on the list, and high-fructose corn syrup was near the top (and yes, I'd much prefer sugar). I didn't even think to check for this before making the purchase; I just saw Shasta on sale at the store and thought it would taste pretty good--and bring back some memories. Well, it did bring back memories--of a time when it tasted so much better, and when trips to the store were much quicker and simpler because I didn't spend so much time checking lists of ingredients.

Elsie Stix

Borden was a company based in Columbus, Ohio, with a large product line. A lot of their products were dairy, such as ice cream, condensed milk, and cheese.

Borden used to have these great frozen treats, and there was something special about them besides the taste. Instead of a wooden stick inserted as a handle, each one had a plastic stick to hold onto. Elsie Stix (named for Elsie the cow, Borden's mascot) came in different colors and were designed to be interlocking so that you could build things with them.

A lot of kids--and probably adults too--collected Elsie Stix. It was nice to have something to play with after the ice cream was gone. However, the best thing about Elsie Stix was that you could enjoy your frozen treat without being subjected to a wooden stick. I can't be the only one who doesn't like those things!

Show 'n Tell

I had this really cool toy called a Show 'n Tell. It looked like a combination of a record player and television. It was small and box-shaped like a TV, with a screen in the front. On the top, it had a fully functioning record player. Also on the top, there was a thin, deep slot.

The Show 'n Tell played records, but its main purpose was to tell stories. To use this educational toy to its full potential, you had to buy the appropriate accessories. These were the '70s equivalent of educational videos and came in the form of a combination record/slide strip.

When you wanted to play one of the stories, you put the record on the turntable and started playing it, simultaneously inserting the slide strip into the slot, as far as it would go. As the story progressed, the strip would automatically rise, so that the next image would show on the screen.

I'm not sure how many stories I had, but I remember two of them. One was based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving. It was where I first learned about the Headless Horseman, Brom Bones, and Ichabod Crane. I played this one a lot.

The other was a cool lesson in Spanish. It featured a song with several verses that changed according to which family member was going shopping and what that person was buying. I still remember the tune and some of the lyrics.

The Show 'n Tell was pretty high-tech for its time.

So Many Books!

When I was in grade school, my classmates and I had to fulfill a reading requirement outside the classroom. I'm not sure how many years it was required, but I do know it was mandatory in at least the first and second grades.

The requirement was simple. We had to read a certain number of books in addition to the ones we all read in class. These extra books could be anything we wanted, as long as we read the entire book and not just a page or two. I believe the required number was 32.

At the beginning of the school year, we received a pre-printed form on which we (or a parent) were to write down the book titles. Then, at the end of the school year, we turned in the completed form. If we exceeded the requirement, we could continue the list on another sheet of paper, staple the pages together, and hand in the entire list. We didn't get any extra credit for them, but the teacher could see just how busy we'd been.

I was always an avid reader, read far above my grade level, and read just about anything I could get my tiny hands on. It always took me very little time to get through the required number of books. Just 32? No problem!

In the second grade, I was pretty pleased with my list. I'd read well over a hundred books and could easily have told you what happened in all of them if asked. (That was back when my memory was actually quite good, as opposed to now, when I probably couldn't tell you anything about what I read yesterday.)

I proudly gave my teacher the list. She glanced at it, scowled, and asked, "Why'd you read so many?"

Can you imagine?

Fortunately, her sour attitude didn't spoil my love of books.

Welcome to Ellie's Attic

The attic is where people used to store things, back when I was younger. Maybe most people still do.

In any case, Ellie's Attic is about memories. Whether it's toys, games, or something else from the past, this is where I'll be writing about the way things used to be. Good old days? Maybe in some ways, but definitely not in others.