Deliciously burning tops of mouths since 1974 (photo: Stouffers.com)

Sometimes I like to scroll through this blog for the fun of it, as if I’m walking down Memory Lane to revisit writings about Memory Lane! In addition to enjoying periodic nostalgic memories, I’m reminded of where my own cultural center of gravity is located. I am, at heart, a middlebrow kind of guy, grounded in the late 20th century. Here are 25 reasons why, many of which are drawn from previous posts:

1. My MP3 music lists include the likes of 80s and 70s pop hits, old standards featuring music of the Gershwins and Cole Porter, and soundtracks & cast recordings of classic musicals by Rodgers & Hammerstein.
2. I still have much of No. 1 on CDs.
3. I like Stouffer’s French Bread pizza.
4. I belong to the Book-of-the-Month Club and occasionally hunt down past BOMC premium books on e-Bay.
5. I make my coffee using a drip coffee maker and pre-ground beans.
6. Despite my dovish leanings, I enjoy watching old World War Two movies.
7. I will indulge myself with an occasional Big Mac.
8. I own, and sometimes even read into, a pre-owned set of the Harvard Classics.
9. Give me the voices of Olivia Newton-John and Karen Carpenter over those of most of today’s female pop singers any day.
10. I miss American Heritage magazine.
11. I love watching re-runs of The Dick Van Dyke Show on Netflix.
12. I still regard Baskin-Robbins ice cream as a treat.
13. My leisure reading tastes go to mysteries and suspense, sports books (baseball, football, basketball), and popular history, as well as self-help and psychology.
14. Walter Cronkite remains for me the iconic example of a television newscaster with utmost integrity.
15. Given a choice, I’ll take a casual meal at a favorite diner over a fancy meal with multiple forks.
16. I’ve been a steady subscriber to Sports Illustrated for decades.
17. My first computer was a Commodore 64, and I got years of use and fun out of it!
18. I continue to rely on Rick Steves for travel advice when planning blessed trips to Europe.
19. Pumpkin pie is my favorite Thanksgiving dessert.
20. Having my own personal library is deeply meaningful to me.
21. Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” are simply awesome to me.
22. I miss talk radio from the days before it got so politically strident and polarized.
23. I regard Stephen King as one of our great contemporary storytellers.
24. Growing up, I pursued hobbies such as stamp and coin collecting, science, and playing sports simulation board games — and I still do when time permits!
25. There’s something thrilling and adventurous about being in a large old train station.