'Scrolling social media lately has been, for Gen X at least, a chance to swim in a glittering ocean of nostalgia. Normally, I’ve no time for the rose-tinted spectacles sported by the golden-agers of Facebook – the ones with a tendency to pen terrible poems about the glory days of the 1950s. (“We played on the bombsite and skinned our knees/and all the beds at home had fleas”). But when it’s my generation, which grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, nostalgia is a powerful and intoxicating drug. So why do we feel nostalgia?
Back in time with One Day
One Day, the Netflix adaptation of David Nicholls’ novel about Emma and Dex and their long, ’80s-to-’00s friends-to-lovers arc, blindsided many of us with its pinpoint-accurate depictions of the clothes, music, and attitudes we embraced growing up. From the tragic growing-out perm, to the ‘curtains’ Loaded lad hair, to the glass-brick loo walls and horrific coked-up mega-restaurants of the ‘90s.
Just watching the scene where Dexter is attaining toe-curling levels of dick-ishness shot me back to an evening at The Atlantic bar with braying media types. And the stolen Quaglinos ashtray that lived on my kitchen shelf for years.
The exquisite melancholy of the past
After that briskly refreshing plunge into the past, I went to see All of Us Strangers, a deeply melancholic film about isolation and loneliness. It sees a middle-aged Andrew Scott suddenly able to visit the ghosts of his parents who died in 1987. A world of patterned acrylic jumpers, Harvest-ware toasters, unquestioned indoor smoking, and Top of the Pops on the boxy living room telly.
Not only was it a devastatingly sad film, it also triggered a tsunami of memories of what most suburban kitchens looked like before ‘lifestyle’ got involved. And how back then, dads were not only permitted but encouraged to keep emotions to themselves. Nobody in my family ever said, “love you,” or “to the moon and back.” It was just assumed that you loved each other, and you’d simply get on with arguing about homework and staying up to watch Juliet Bravo.
The midlife nostalgia-fest was completed with the recent news that The Body Shop has gone into liquidation. My entire timeline filled with fond images of dewberry oil, ice blue shampoo and fuzzy peach perfume, as if a Laura Ashley washbag had exploded all over it.
As a result, I’ve been thinking heavily about nostalgia...
...nostalgia isn’t necessarily bad, as long as we don’t end up dwelling in an imagined past for too long. Thinking of happy memories can help put current troubles into perspective, says Kaur. “Nostalgia can evoke positive emotions; help with mood enhancement; and in some cases, be a tool for managing stress, as it allows you to ‘escape’ from your current reality.”
Although looking back, I’m not sure I truly want to escape to a time when TFI Friday was the biggest show on TV, Loaded was the best-selling mag, and ‘gay’ was a playground insult. One good thing about nostalgia – it’s a useful reminder that sometimes, the present isn’t all that bad.'
3 notes
·
View notes
Trying my hand at LBB separates and getting pretty discouraged about the usefulness, in no small part because I’m running into the above lighting issue every time I make one. The shorts looked too dark in Body Shop (compare with the head lighting) and then in-game they displayed OK but messed with the sim picture.
Anyone have any ideas as to what might be going wrong? Could it be my lighting mod? This has only happened when I’m been making separates for the LBB shape, so I also wonder if there is a Milkshape value I’m messing up?
17 notes
·
View notes
Diamond Auto Body Shop In Brooklyn, NY is a family owned and operated collision repair center and towing company that services the New York Tri-State area for all of your auto repair needs! We accept all major car insurances and repair all vehicle makes and models. Give us a phone call at 718-629-6400. Visit our website https://www.diamondautobodybk.com/. Visit our shop 1396 Utica Ave Brooklyn, NY 11203
2 notes
·
View notes
skinnysexygalbody
(free don’t worry lol)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/skinny-sexy-gal-74894948 (coat)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/skinny-gal-cute-74895762 (dress)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/skinny-gal-sims2-74895306 (swimwear)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/skinny-gal-body-74894463 (pijamas)
28 notes
·
View notes