Memories = The "Before" Times

Newsletter + On This Day

MEMORY, ALL ALONE IN THE MOONLIGHT
I CAN DREAM OF THE OLD DAYS
LIFE WAS BEAUTIFUL THEN
I REMEMBER THE TIME I KNEW WHAT HAPPINESS WAS
LET THE MEMORY LIVE AGAIN…

MEMORY FROM CATS
WRITTEN BY ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER + T.S. ELIOT

For the first few years of my life, I lived without cable TV, a microwave, a personal computer, or even a VCR in my house. All would arrive by the time I was in middle school, but I remember the world before always-on media and being “social” online.

As a Gen Xer, the middle child born between Boomers and Millennials, I’ve often felt my generation was overlooked and under-appreciated. Middle kids usually do. But as part of the generation that grew up during these cultural and technological shifts, I’m grateful to have been born when I was.

Growing up, being social and consuming media were two separate, distinct things. Unless you were going out to a movie together. That separation? I miss it.

Before the internet “connected” everyone and everything, being social meant meeting up in person, picking up the phone, or writing a letter. There were no endless emails, group chats, or text messages. If you wanted to talk to someone, you had to show up or dial a number.

It may sound “quaint” now, but there was something satisfying about the slowness of it all. Waiting to see friends in person, passing notes in class, even relying on word of mouth for news—it felt personal.

Consuming media was an event, especially television. Your choices, at least in the U.S., were VHF or UHF. Pick one. Watch what was on, when it was on. Plan your schedule around the TV Guide.

Shows aired at the same time every week, and movies of the week were special occasions. Before home video, catching annual broadcasts of classics like The Wizard of Oz was a big deal.

“Water Cooler Moments” happened around in break rooms around real water coolers.

There was no "on-demand" culture. We made do with what we had. And honestly? It was kind of great. We consumed stories, but they didn’t consume us.

Then came cable TV, personal computers, and eventually, social media. The line between social life and media consumption blurred until it all became one noisy swirl.

Today's virtual realities may be convenient, but ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby.

Of course, not everything from way-back-then was golden: I’ll never forget seeing Cats in the early 1990s. It was my first trip to New York, and people swore it “you have to see it to believe it.”

They weren’t lying. I didn’t believe I paid so much to see something I disliked that much. Other than a song or two, Andrew Lloyd Weber is not my cup of tea.

The point is, we’ve all fallen for fads, peer pressure, or trends at some point. Maybe the difference back then was that these lapses in judgment didn’t infiltrate every part of our lives. They were easier to shrug off and move past. At least I think they we

Today, when I look at social media and streaming, all I see are traps.

Everyone—myself, as a content creator, included—jockeying for likes, trying to stay relevant in a sea of endless content. It’s exhausting. And somewhere along the way, being social and consuming media became the same thing.

Even though I use social media reluctantly, it’s still part of my daily life. I mostly use it to appreciate, research, and share stories from the past. And I remind myself that the “news” I see is often just another form of “reality” content.

To me, it’s important to remember what it was like when interactions were all “in real life,” and media was either on-the-page or over-the-air. It was live or Memorex—not virtual, and definitely not AI-generated.

Those memories remind me that it’s okay to disconnect—that sometimes, the best moments aren’t the ones you share online, but the ones that pass quietly, unposted and unrecorded.

Thanks for reading and subscribing,
Clint

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

• I'M WHAT THE CULTURE FEELING… (F.D. SIGNIFIER)
  I’m half-way through this 3-hour opus about “one of the best stories in history of hip-hop.” While I know very little about the “beefing” artists—Drake and Kendrick Lamar—at the center of this video essay, I grew up listening to and loving hip hop. I stopped listening around the time gangster rap made toxic masculinity popular so understanding the what I missed (and what I witnessed) is fascinating. I look forward to finishing this doc tonight!

• JACK DOHERTY JUST GOT HUMBLED LIVE (ATOZY)
  STREAM LANDED FOUSEY IN THE MENTAL HOSPITAL (ATOZY)
  This duo of cautionary tales reminds me why I haven’t missed anything by not watching anything on the Twitch-like streaming platform Kick. Or most influencer and streamer content for that matter. By another “keep-it-real” creator.

• PEOPLE WON'T STOP ASKING GOOGLE IF I'M… (D’ANGELO WALLACE)
  It’s no secret I love D’Angelo’s content. And I’ve googled a few of these things myself. Good on him for turning parasocial curiosities into entertaining content.

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ON THIS DAY = OCTOBER 7

BIRTHDAYS

• 1728 = Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste Andre Timothee d’Eon, also known as the Chevalier d'Éon, was born on this day in Burgundy, France. Embodying a complicated life and legacy, d'Éon performed in drag for the country's court ball and eventually became part of a network of spies for Louis XV -- oftentimes carrying out his missions while dressed as a woman. Having lived such an extensive part of his life as a woman, over time he came to be perceived entirely through this framework. It was only after he died that it was confirmed d'Éon was, in fact, biologically male.

• 1931 = Desmond Tutu = South African archbishop and Nobel Prize laureate

• 1942 = Joy Behar = American talk show host and comedian

EVENTS

• 1913 = Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving vehicle assembly line.

• 1964 = Walter Jenkins, Lyndon B. Johnson's top aide, was arrested for having sex in the men's bathroom of his local YMCA just blocks from the White House. Married with a wife and children, Jenkins rocked both the Johnson administration and public perception with this high-visibility scandal.

• 1976 = Elton John came out as bisexual in an interview with Rolling Stone. Though he now identifies as gay, his admission of bisexuality initially negatively impacted his career, with many fans calling him a pervert and boycotting him and his music.

• 1977 = We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You, by Queen, are released.

• 1982 = Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats opens at Winter Garden Theater on Broadway, NYC; running nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.

• 1993 = Annie on My Mind and All-American Boys, two books with predominately gay themes, were at the center of a public book burning in Kansas City, Missouri. The burning was initiated by a donation of the books to a large number of high schools in the area, resulting in their subsequent banning within several school districts. The novels would go on to become the subject of a First Amendment lawsuit two years later, culminating in the return of the books to school shelves.

• 1996 = Following a conservative Christian majority takeover of the school board in Elizabethtown, Penn., in 1996, officials passed a "pro-family" resolution in regards to education, stating, "the traditional family is under relentless attack by those who want to redefine family to include homosexual and lesbian couples and by those who want to indoctrinate children in pro-homosexual propaganda against their parents' wishes.'' In protest, approximately 250 students simultaneously walked out of their classes on Oct. 7.

• 1996 = Fox News Channel begins broadcasting.

• 1998 = Charmed premieres on The WB.

• 2023 = Hamas launches a major air and ground attack on Israel from Gaza, killing over a thousand people and taking hundreds of hostages. War criminal Benjamin Netanyahu responded by declaring, "We are at war." Referring to Gaza, Nyet-and-Yahoo! is unable/unwilling to to see the difference between the Palestinian people and the Palestinian terrorists. Nor accept his role in escalating the region’s history of tension and violence. The majority of Israelis and Jews I’ve listened to, despite the increased anti-semitism after the attacks, feel similarly about him and and his regime: Genocide and war are not the answer. Never were. Never will be.

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FOUND EPHEMERA OF THE DAY

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