So tomorrow marks the end of my first weeks of Summer break. Working in the education field has ensured I've always had summers off. It's a great way to reconnect with my younger self and remember how it felt to spend the summer months carefree and filled with fun. I'm hoping to blog daily starting today about how I'm spending my remaining 63 days. I'm hoping that the daily blog will motivate me to do more interesting things and avoid wasting my time....it always seems to fly by. Anyway here's how I spent my first week.....
I didn't waste anytime getting my summer started. The very day I finished for the summer I completed a shelving project in my man cave. Now my man cave is sort of an L shape. There's a larger area where I've got a couch and tv then the cave narrows. This narrow section is "The Nerd Nook". Now last summer when I began seriously collecting Super Powers toys I had no idea how many figures I'd collect and couldn't really plan my display. Here's how it looked before.....
I had 5 IKEA shelves hung which really didn't hold that many figures. The rest I hung on the wall around the shelves.
I decided I wanted to change things up. I wanted a better presentation....brighter and more efficiently arranged. I got a few suggestions from other collectors and didn't waste anytime getting to work...
I used 6 feet long boards and L brackets to hang them. After a nice coat of white paint, my collection has never looked so good!
The new display is much brighter and each figure can be seen and appreciated! My summer was off to a great start!
Wednesday one of my oldest friends and I headed out to Strasburg, PA. We went out to see a Steam powered train pulling freight and to check out the train museum. This trip in itself was quite a jolt of nostalgia. I'd been to this very place years ago as a kid. It was neat being back there....
Honestly the rest of the days up until now I spent sort of catching up on all the stuff I put off until break began. Tomorrow I'm planning to start my daily bike rides and other fun stuff.
Anyway that's it for now. As of tomorrow the Summer of Rich will be in full swing! Stay tuned for what I hope will be loads of good old fashioned summer fun...with a strong dose of nostalgia!
Ahhh summer break. That's right, summer vacation. Two words that sum up
so much awesome! Schools closing, pools opening, beaches, BBQ's, water
guns, playing outside, hot days, warm nights, friends, games, and of
course carefree fun.
PRESS PLAY!
For most, summer break is a childhood exclusive idea. Summer breaks typically become a thing of the past once most finish up school and join the work force. Well for us in the education field that is not the case. I have had a summer break always! I love being off in the summer. It gives me the opportunity to feel like a kid again. Having no real responsibilities to worry about is not a feeling adults experience too often. Being off all summer gives me the chance to feel the way I did when I was a kid in the summer. I figured a cool way to complete this league assignment would be a walk down the memory lane of the summers of my childhood....hope you like old photos =)
I'll start with Atlanta. I moved there when I was 3 and that's where my earliest memories start. Atlanta was a time in my life of He-Man, Thundercats, Super Powers Super Heroes, and all sorts of other outside fun. As a kid I was pretty outdoorsy and would catch all sorts of wildlife. Atlanta sure was a fun time!
When I was about 3 my family moved to Atlanta, GA. This photo was taken not long after the move. I love the 80s outfits my brother and I are sporting. I'm the one in the sweet white Adidas shirt! Side note, I really wish my mom kept that E.T. lamp. Loved that thing.
Here's another great summer photo from Atlanta. I'm on the bike with the training wheels. That's my brother in the pink helmet(expect to see him in lots of the photos. Being only a year and a half apart, we were pretty much inseparable as kids.)
I love this photo. To me it screams 80s! That yellowish tint, the overalls, my mom's 80s hair.Classic. I'm sporting my "used car salesmen smile" as my mom lovingly described it =)
Hittin the beach. I'm on the right. I believe we were on summer vacation in Florida when this was taken.
The condo's swimming pool was pretty awesome...even had a diving board!
Atlanta Braves fans! That's Dale Murphy in the photo. Ironically he followed my family when we moved to Philly in '87 and played with the Phillies. Love the old school McD's boxes in the right photo!
Another photo w that great yellowish color. I'm on the left.
Just hangin....
July 4th a looooong time ago. My brother was probably zoning out watching "Jaws"...
So that's all I have for Atlanta summers. Those photos really don't do justice to all the fun I had down there!
In 1987 my family moved back to Philadelphia. We'd stay in Philly until 1994. I categorize this time in my life as my comic book/card collecting, sports playing, super hero addicted phase (most of this and what I mentioned in Atlanta continued even until now)
This shot sort of sums up alot of what I did in the summer as a city kid. We played stick ball, rode bikes, and did all sorts of other things in the school yard across the street from my house. I'm still wearing my T-Ball uniform in this one.
So my big brother's b day is in the beginning of July. He'd always have outside parties involving pools. Looks like he scored a pretty awesome Masters of the Universe toy in this shot. And yes, I'm in the red speedo, lol!
Even in Philly, my mom got us a season pass at a swim club. Here I am with a giant inflatable alligator my uncle bought for us. That thing was awesome!
Summertime and baseball! Need I say more?
City park this time. Notice the change to a Phillies shirt. It would remain so indefinitely =)
Phillies Phever! 1993, the year they made it to the World Series.
One of the hottest days of the summer of '93 happened to be my brother's bday party. I suppose it wouldn't be a summer post without a water park!
So like I said, my family would live in Philly from 1987-1994. We moved to Jacksonville, FL in June of '94. I would characterize this time in my life as my Star Wars and action figure phase. I'd watched Star Wars way back when I lived Atlanta but was too young to get it. I thought the characters were cool but didn't get the story. Well that all changed in Florida. I spent my time collecting Star Wars toys, playing the old Tie Fighter and N64, and hunting for critters. Florida really was a fun 3 years.
Being city kids, my brother and I knew how to play! It wasn't long before our block was the hub of all sorts of sports and outside play. Parents would literally drop their kids off to play on our block. My mom once told me a friend of theirs who lived up the street told her how nostalgic he'd feel driving by us playing. Said it reminded him of growing up in New York. By the way I'm the one in the grey, full stride!
Summer and friends. Can't beat it!
So anyway my family moved back to Philly in 1997 and has been here ever since.
I got my first car when I was 17 and I guess that's about when things changed. I didn't realize it at the time of course, but that's when those childhood days sort of faded and grown up life started sneaking up....and yes, I had a 1990 electric blue Chevy Camaro with T-tops for my first car. IT.WAS.AWESOME. But that's a whole different story with loads of other great memories. Old "Big Blue" as my friends came to call it......
Now as an adult I spend my summers collecting toys, going to shows,
watching old movies, and reminiscing often! My brother and I have been
going to breakfast together each Saturday for close to 10 years now.
It's our way of making sure we still hangout and catchup even with all
of our adult "stuff" to deal with. We always end up reminiscing about
the past, talking sports, old movies, comics...you name it.
Anyway I guess you could say I got around as a kid. Summertime for me is when I feel most nostalgic. The other day when I walked out my front door ready to head out for the day, I found myself thinking back to the summers of my youth. It was only 7:30 but the sun was already bright in the sky. The temperature already climbing. I could feel the humidity. I could have closed my eyes and imagined my brother and I stepping out our front door, leaving our family stationed in the kitchen, ready to have the kind of summer day that only exists now in my memory.
So anyway that's it for me. I've got to get off this computer and squeeze every bit of summer fun I can out this 31st summer break!
Be sure to check out these others Summer Vacations around the League!
Kong's World Tour has been underway for some time now. He arrived in Philly ready to see the sites.....but first things first......a Philly cheesesteak! This was priority #1
Pat's or Geno's???
Kong couldn't decide so he went ahead and had both......
Next up....a bit of local histroy......
He insisted on visiting the "Rocky Steps" so we headed over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.....
I couldn't get him back into the car without filming his triumphant run to the top....
....he got a bit winded halfway but made it nonetheless.... !
What a bunch of tourists!
Finally back in the man cave, Kong was happy to pose with my new and improved shelving display for my Super Powers Collection....
Hosting Kong was fun while it lasted! He's a bit cranky in the morning and always hungry....other then that he's a real sweetheart! Kong is now officially on his way to his next destination....keep a close watch....there's no telling where he'll end up next!
So as a Portal and Toy fan these guys are the best of both worlds! I've been looking forward to this pair ever since I played Portal 2 two years ago! They are set to be 7" tall (Atlas a bit shorter I suppose). They will feature an LED lit Portal gun (Aperature Science Handheld Portal Device if you wanna get technical) and will be made Neca. Needless to say I can't wait!
Picked this guy up at my local collectible shop. Always loved the character and Neca did a great job with this toy.
That "bump" on the back of his head is how you pose his eyes. It seems like a good idea but he always ends up with "drunk face" unless you have the eyes all the way left, right, up, or down. It's next to impossible to have them looking straight.
He's a great figure and he fits right in with the rest of the Nerdom in my Nerd Nook!
So this week the league is doing something that kids these days will probably never be able to do......imagine our dream arcade rooms! Yup back in the day if you wanted a truly awesome gaming experience you needed quarters and a dark noisy place called an arcade.
Now I played arcades machines all over the place...and in the interest of nostalgia (I always feel extra nostalgic in the summer)....I'll bore you with a few details.....
So here we go.....
First in my ultimate arcade gaming room I'd have "Street Fighter 2"
Growing up there was a 7-11 around the corner from my house (I was a city kid). Every Saturday morning (after cartoons of course) my brother and I would head over and play their Street Fighter Arcade. You wouldn't think this was the most exciting thing in the world, but it's synonymous with some of the best time spent with my big bro.....
Funny story...a few years back Xbox360 released this on their system. I managed to climb to the top 25 on the leader boards!
Next I'd have to have Golden Axe and Michael Jackson Moonwalker!
You're probably wondering why I put these two together....well it's because we always played them at the same place. An old video rental store, long since out of business, call West Coast Video. They had two machines and these were them! We eventually had Golden Axe on Genesis as well. What a great game!
Next I have to grab the X-Men arcade...(You didn't think you'd be the only one didya Shawn?)
The 90s is where my love for marvel really took off. All through my earliest years (the 80s) I loved DC heroes mostly from the Super Powers Collection. It wasn't until I moved to Philadelphia and got into comics that I really began to love Marvel as well. This machine was plain awesome! I could have probably paid for my first car with the quarters I dumped into this thing....
I would most definitely need to have the TMNT arcade machine...
Back in the late 80s early 90s, my grandmom constantly needed new eye glasses (she had trouble with her eyes back then) so we would frequently travel to the mall so she could hit up Lense Crafters. This began sort of a routine that after she got her glasses we'd (my mom, bro, and grandmom) hit up Chi Chi's (do these even exist anymore) and have a good Mexican dinner. I loved the food and the fact that they had this arcade machine! It truly was a match made in heaven.
And finally, my room wouldn't be complete without The Simpsons arcade.
As a kid my mom would send my brother and I to this awesome summer camp in the Olde City section of Philadelphia. It was loads of fun and I enjoyed every minute of it. We did all sorts of things including trips to museums, historic sites, the arcade around the corner, parks, pools, it really was fun. Now if that wasn't enough, add in the fact that they had their very own Simpsons arcade in their reck room! So awesome!
So that's it for my ultimate arcade room. Just typing about it and remembering all this stuff was pretty awesome. That time in my life is one that I would say I hold closest to my heart. It's the time where I was engrossed in a world of friends, comics, toys, trading cards, and carefree fun. In 3 days the Summer of Rich will begin! I've been inspired by Tim over at Flashlights are Something to Eat, and am planning to document my 70 day summer vacation. Stay tuned for that if you're interested in loads of nostalgia seeking, past tracing, toy collecting, movie watching, and just plain carefree fun!
Check out these other great posts from around the League!
I'm a big fan of these silly little characters! Needless to say I had to buy one when I saw them for 7 bucks at Target. This guy is "Minion Dave". He's about 2 inches tall and super lolzy! He's already made himself quite comfy in the Nerd Nook!
These might be too cool to pass on! They are called mini masters and come with an awesome package that can be used to display them in what looks like Castle Greyskull. I'm a fan a mini figures, especially ones of my favorite characters. Very likely I'd be adding these to my collection!
I'm sure you guys are well aware of the Black Series of Star Wars figures being released this summer. They look super cool and I know I'll end up buying more then a few of them! Well here's a must have for me....San Diego's exclusive Black Series Boba Fett with Han in Carbonite! The photo can speak for itself ;)
