You Know, I Don't Remember the 80's at All

For those of you who came looking for the book suggestions we're going to vote on Saturday, they're in the post down below.

Otherwise, it's time the get your 80’s groove on (via Sag Harbor).

First, pull on your Cosby sweater...

People we knew started wearing sweaters with mind-melting patterns, in tribute to the Coz Himself, and the barber shops buzzed up versions of Theo’s latest haircut, whatever he and his friends sported on set, in their brief careers, those handsome boys who went nowhere. The young men marched out of barbershops to all coordinates with flattops, fades, hi-tops of Pisan ambition: Theo’s army. “They’re a real Cosby Family,” people said, when acquaintances broke the atmosphere to better orbit. A term of affection and admiration. Page 193

...I walked in just in time to hear the newscaster say, “A surprising announcement about an American classic.” Somehow I knew. I stayed through the commercial break and watched as Roberto Goizueta, the CEO of Coca-Cola, cheered the end of the world. It was inconceivable, like tampering with the laws of nature. Hey, let’s try Gravity-Free Tuesdays, buckle up, motherfuckers. From this day on, water is incredibly flammable, see how that goes... Page 127

You Cha-Ka lookin’...

You could also preface things with a throat-clearing “You fuckin’,” as in “You fuckin’ Cha-Ka from Land of the Lost–lookin’ motherfucker,” directed at Bobby, for example, who had light brown skin, light brown hair, and indeed, shared these characteristics with the hominid sidekick on the Saturday morning adventure show Land of the Lost. Page 52


Here We Go...

Bobby turned on his MC voice, “One Two Three, in the place to be,” and Reggie said, “Alright!” They started their routine and I rolled my eyes in the darkness. Bobby and my brother had memorized the lyrics to Run-D.M.C.’s “Here We Go” and had to perform it at least ten times a day. Page 169



The highlight of the summer was the U.T.F.O.– Lisa Lisa concert...

Lisa Lisa was shorter in person, but her chest was bigger. I signed off on that. Page 253



U.T.F.O. (Un Touchable Force Organization) represented teen striving, youthful perseverance against the odds, and goofball personas that made our own stabs at reinvention look like genius. Page 235



Everybody Hated WLNG...

...All I could do was succumb to the LNG Effect. It proceeded thusly: out of the speakers emerged a song you’d heard only once before in your life, one that left such a faint record in your brain that it was a memory of a memory. Paralyzed by confusion, you wondered, “Where have I heard that before?” The answer was, Nowhere important. Page 269.