I remember when I was growing up, my dear girly-mate had this cool glitter lamp. Love glitter lamps. They are colorful, vibrant, and fun. Hers was purple liquid, and the based was like the sorcerer’s hat in Fantasia. I LOVED that thing. It was cool then. Good memories of the two of us listening to Pure Moods CDs while talking about stuff. I miss those days. I miss who I was back then. Being a kid with big ideas and big dreams. It was so long ago now. Over two-thirds of my life now.
And like so many cool things from when I was growing up, it has been discontinued. They stopped making them in 2003. You know what one of those lamps goes for now? Over $100, at least. Because it is a piece of vintage tech from back in the day. That’s where we’re at. The cool things that I grew up with are vintage. A relic from a time when the world was so colorful and vibrant and exciting. All gone, now. All gray and cold and dead.
There was a study released that shows that everything is getting monochromatic, now. Cars are less flashy colors and more black, white, and gray. Same with both the interior and exterior of buildings and homes. Everywhere you look in cities and towns, there’s less and less color. Just look at what a Pizza Hut or a McDonalds or a movie theater or a store interior looked like in the 90s and 2000s compared to now. It’s all so cold and dead.
Anyone remember the aesthetic of tech where it had this kind of see-through thing with neat colors? There were these Mac computers that had that, and they pretty dope! Same with the Gameboy Color. I owned one of those. Probably still around my parents’ place, somewhere. That was another cool thing from my childhood that went away. It was colorful and unique and special. It made going to the computer lab fun, when I was younger, because they were rad computers. Now? Unless you got a rad gaming rig PC that you had made or made yourself, color just isn’t there. My laptop is pretty neat. The keyboard lights up when I use it. That’s pretty rad. Cost a small fortune, but I got a bonus when I started my shit job, so I put it to use. My last computer was going on ten years old, and it was ready to be decommissioned.
Why did the world get so bland and boring and awful? Where did the expression go? Where did the color go? Why is everything so lame now? I remember this car I wanted. It had a REALLY cool color – Cajun Red. That was a DOPE color! It was a 2019 Chevy Impala. I still want that car. They don’t make the Impala anymore. I got a 2013 one moving down, but it wasn’t in the cool color. Beggers can’t be choosers, with the price range I had. Used cars are as expensive as the new ones now. I got lucky when I got mine. But that was a cool color. In Final Fantasy XV, there was this blue color that also would be pretty dope on a car. This deep, deep blue. Gorgeous! Don’t see a lot of cars with that color, either.
It seems like, the older I get, the more boring everything is becoming. And I know this isn’t just me having the nostalgia goggles on. There’s actual evidence for this. Gaming is getting less and less interesting, because gaming companies are trying to make as much money as possible for less and less effort. The Internet has killed malls, so those are out as a place to meet people and see cool things. In the 2010s, every fast food place decided that they would ditch the fun colors for grayscale modern look that is boring. Every brand of vehicle looks like every other one. It’s the same thing, everywhere you look. The homogenization of America. Taking away the cool individuality that things had, to make them like their competitors, because everyone wants to be like everyone else.
And so, the cool glitter lamps that I used to love are now a vintage item. And because I live paycheck to paycheck, I will never be able to afford one. At least not for the foreseeable future. Saw this pretty dope one in red. That looked cool! But nope, it’s $139. That’s the world we live in. I think I know part of why I find the world of Cyberpunk 2077 interesting – because it’s colorful and unique and cool. Sure, it’s basically capitalism run amok, but at least it has personality. What has personality anymore? Where is the see-through tech aesthetic? Where is the colorful computers? Where are the glitter lamps? Where is the colorful Pizza Hut buildings? Okay, maybe that one dates me a bit. Suddenly thought about Blockbuster. But know what – you met people there! You had conversations. You would run into someone and talk about what movies you wanted to see. There was something to that! It was fun! Where did that kind of world go?
I’m a dinosaur, at this point. I know that. I know that all I do at this point is just date myself for how much I am behind the times. But hopefully you all can see where I’m coming from here in saying that the world used to be more exciting. It isn’t just because I was young. There’s real data to back up how lame everything has gotten. The uniqueness of things that gave you a reason to get invested in something. The world of open ideas and exciting futures. It’s gone!
I bet you money that if someone built a place where people could go and see something new and different and colorful, and they were able to advertise it as somewhere that one could go for self-expression and imagination, people would go there! Somewhere with those neat things that you touch and the electricity goes to your hand. Where you can get glitter lamps for your home. Where you can go through rooms with crazy colors. Where somewhere has nature vibes, even if it is just simulated. I think part of what’s wrong with the world is that everyone feels so alone. There’s nowhere to share in creativity and expression. Somewhere to throw paint at a wall or meet people to talk about what movies or whatever you’re seeing.
As for me, one day, I’ll get one of those wizard hat glitter lamps. I’ll have the money for that. And then I’ll put it somewhere where I won’t risk knocking it over. Then listen to Pure Moods on my old CD player. A shame my girly-mate isn’t around to spend time with, but you can’t get back everything.
Until next time, a quote,
“Grandad, what do you do when you can’t do nothing, but there’s nothing you can do?”
“You do what you can.” – Grandad, The Boondocks
Peace out,
Maverick
Lucien Maverick's Den 