Coolest site ever!!

Just found this great little site, Feeling Retro. If you were born sometime in the 60's, these toys should bring back some great memories. Some are especially poignant for me, including my best friend "Gunky" (I couldn't pronounce monkey).

I really had a great childhood (thanks Mom and Dad). Tons of friends, lots of toys, playing outside until it got dark in the summer, not afraid of being abducted - though we did have an urban myth back in the day (the mid-to-late 70's) about The Man In The Van, a guy who supposedly drove around in a white panel van looking for kids to steal. We spent hours outside, playing kickball, king of the mountain, war (with bb guns and cap guns - somehow, no one ever got really hurt) in the model homes being built in our sub-division. We were fit back then, well most of us, and even if we did get Atari later on, we still spent most of our time outdoors. Aaah, nostalgia!

I still remember everyone's names, 30 some years later - David Clinton, Chris Daniels, Trevor Evans, Rodney Speaks, Jeff Parker, Pat Cooper, Alex Lombardo (who moved to Hong Kong in the 4th grade), Jay Gholson. I remember being terrified of everyone's older brothers (especially Trevor's brother Brett - man, he was a sadistic SOB), though Jeff's brother Dwayne was like a big brother to most of us, looking out for us and making sure no one picked on us too much. We'd have sleep overs, with the inevitable "fart contests", which my baby brother inevitably won (he had the advantage of still wearing training pants, so if something more than methane came out, so be it)! Is there any wonder why boys and girls don't like each other when they're 7-10 years old? Though, I have to admit, I did have a crush on Jana Lauchenstrader (sp?) up the street, as well as Tammy Brandt, but I think we all had a crush on Tammy Brandt.

On Saturday mornings, Dad would make breakfast, and we'd run to the den and turn on the TV to watch "real cartoons", not thr 1/2 hour long commercials they have now. Then, we'd pile into the car (an aircraft carrier sized Chevy Impala Wagon! - I was oldest, so I always got the tailgunner seat) and head to either the library or drive into the city and visit the Smithsonian. Unless, of course, it was soccer season. And yep, I'm still playing.