I Long for a Time When "Back in the Day" Had No Meaning

I ventured into a suburban Urban Outfitters yesterday. Probably my first trip in since 1998 or 99, and definitely the first time I'd been in one in a "mall" environment, and I was horrified by the ridiculous display of "urban" artifacts and clothing.

Back in the day - before a time when that phrase meant anything to me, meaning circa 1991/92/93 - Urban Outfitters was the bastion of all things chic and nonconformist conformity... It was where I went to understand the culture of my time - to know which jeans, which obscure shoes from Italy, which t-shirt brands, etc. were outside the mainstream, not found in the mall, and therefore not only acceptable, but highly coveted and revered.

I would step into Urban's and pay huge amounts of money (back then) - $80+ for a pair of jeans - and understand that I was one of a particular persuasion, because I wore the identifiable uniform. Of course, we viewed it as an "anti-uniform", but seeing the goths and punks and emo kids of today, I understand that all the "we don't give a shit - we're not trying to be cool" trends that I so deeply embraced at the initiation of Grunge were certainly more than an identifiable uniform. They were, at their onset, not nearly as unique or groundbreaking as we thought they were. And by 1994, a commercialized land of trash. But in those first years, those trends were gods of fashion and, ironically, belonging...

Yesterday, in Urban Outfitters lite, the next generation, I overheard a frat boy employee, who was lost in a sea of horrendous bright colors and 80s-esque white t-shirts with giant black letters eschewing slogans like "Relax" and "...Vote", while he was in the process of opening locked dressing rooms (we used to change behind giant curtains, back in the day, no organized dressing rooms for our avante garde selves) comment (in response to the sound of Boy George over the stereo system), to a fellow clean-cut employee, "What is this music? Like from the 80s or something?".

Now I understand that this is how it feels to have a cultural broken heart. Back in the day, kids at Urban's knew their music.

I Never Do This...

Thanks to this one, here I go...:

You are The Chariot

Triumph, Victory, Overcoming Obstacles.

The chariot is one of the most complex cards to define. On its most basic level, it implies war, a struggle, and an eventual, hard-won victory. Either over enemies, obstacles, nature, the beasts inside you, or to just get what you want. But there is a great deal more to it. The charioteer wears emblems of the sun, yet the sign behind this card is the moon. The chariot is all about motion, and yet it is often shown as stationary. It is a union of opposites, like the black and white steeds. They pull in different directions, but must be (and can be!) made to go together in one direction. Control is required over opposing emotions, wants, needs, people, circumstances; bring them together and give them a single direction, your direction. Confidence is also needed and, most especially, motivation. The card can, in fact, indicate new motivation or inspiration, which gets a stagnant situation moving again.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.