Our Popular Culture

Like many of the kids of my generation, the batman comic books were actually one of the last pieces of the batman franchise I was exposed to. I grew up on the old Adam West Batman and Robin shows, and after that it was the Batman cartoons. Then, of course, there were all the innumerable Batman movies, a few short-lived video games, and all of the Justice League cartoons. Between all of that, I actually did not read any batman comics until I was in college. When I did, it was like a whole new world had been opened to me.

Vintage sewing machines are more than decorative, they work! Antique collecting is a popular hobby in America. There’s something about antiques that’s so appealing. Perhaps because home furnishings were for the most part, handmade with great attention to detail and perfectly fitting joints, we can all feel some nostalgia when these furnishings are compared to their modern, machine made counterparts. Detailing on table legs, chairs and even the household sewing machine, were elaborate and ornate.

When I was just out of high school, getting a nose piercing was something that many found shocking. Today, it is not that big of a deal for the most part, and more and more people are doing it. In fact, it may soon be just as common as having two or three earrings in each ear. If you want to have your nose pierced, you have a few choices in the type of nose piercing jewelry you want to get. There are some that you are going to get when you first get it done, but after that, you may want to get something else. In most places where my friends and I have gone, the nose piercing jewelry that you first get is going to be a corkscrew ring. That means there is a small head on the ring, like a gem or even a silver or gold ball. The end of the rod is going to curl around. That helps it stay in your nose. You may have thought that nose piercing jewelry looks like the earrings that go into your ears, but that is not the case. That sharp end to an earring for your ear is going to poke through the other side of your nose if you are not careful.

It seems to be some rule of candy that if you stick with one brand for long enough, they will do something stupid that will make you not like them. Maybe I am a little bit too harsh and judgmental, but it certainly seems to apply most of the time. M&Ms, of course, are the classic example. Do you remember what they looked like when you were growing up? There wasn’t any blue color. There were two shades of brown, a light brown and a dark brown. Although a description of the colors in a bag of M&Ms does not sound so appealing, the actual look of the whole bag together was quite attractive. They were quite distinctive from say, Skittles, or other similarly sized candies. When they added that atrocious blue and removed one of the browns, it was a blow to this chocolate lovers heart. I have never forgiven them for that.

Join a paperback book club and read to your heart’s content. There are plenty of us who would rather read than watch television. While public libraries and bookstores might hardly be exhausted, libraries don’t usually stock the latest bestsellers and bookstores can be an expensive resource. Some people are just hooked on reading and that’s an excellent habit. Reading increases your knowledge, is highly entertaining and keeps your mind active. Joining paperback book clubs is an inexpensive way to feed your habit. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages.

My older brothers were big Star Trek fans. They were collecting sci fi collectibles before it was really all that acceptable to do. Most of the kids I knew had a few Star Trek collectibles when they were young, but my brothers took it to another level. They had their own star trek phazors, figurines, and costumes. One of them had a model of the Starship Enterprise, and the other had a Klingon Bird of Prey. They would always stage mock battles with these ships, incorporating whole story lines from the original series.

Music boxes make a perfect gift for women of all ages. Music boxes have enthralled women for hundreds of years. Why has this musical invention retained its magical effect for so long? Perhaps it’s simply a way to escape the everyday, supplanting the worries of the day with a familiar and sweet song, with music that soothes your soul. Music boxes are usually operated with a key, wound up and played. The box itself is a thing of beauty, made of wood, glass, or metal, typically adorned with figurines, twirling to the notes of the song. A music box creates a sort of imaginary secret garden wherein you can lose yourself, if only for a few moments. Watching as you listen, it usually lifts your spirits and brightens your emotional outlook.