Stuff I Did in the '80s
The Legend Begins
The Legend Begins

The Atari 2600 was a fixture in many households during the 1980s. I certainly spent many hours sitting in front of the television with a joystick in hand. The chasm in digital quality, between what you played at home and what you played in an arcade, was vast. Even beloved games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders looked pretty simple when played on a home unit…but that all changed in 1985 with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (that came with a Robotic Operating Buddy to play with you!).

The games were fun, the controls easy to master and the graphics were close to arcade quality. My favorite, by far, was 1986’s The Legend of Zelda, which my brother and I spent months playing. Like Atari’s Adventure before it, Zelda was one of the few games I actually took the time to conquer. I loved exploring the world of Hyrule and battling Octoroks, Peahats, Tektites, Leevers, Moblins and the mighty Ganon. Along with books and films of the day, this game ignited my imagination and continues to inspire.

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Introduction Half a Boombox I’m Not a Member I was Simon Le Bon (For Fifteen Minutes) Motown 25 Watch Whatever, Whenever Snowblind You’re the One That I Want Call Me Your Kiss is on My List Electric Boogaloo Dear Daryl Hall and John Oates Where Shopping is a Pleasure Dialect of a Decade I’m Alright The Sunshine State Shazam! It’s Just a Fantasy I’ve Got a Secret Sunday Funnies Impeachment American Top 40 License to Drive Risky (Show) Business Jumping Someone Else’s Train Yakety Sax I Want to be Elton John When I Grow Up Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Tetherball, Dodgeball & Flag Football Sk8 or Go Home Roll a Saving Throw vs. Velour Piano Man The Duckman Cometh Money for Nothing Waiting for the Bus More Than Meets the Eye The Legend Begins Whip It When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best Master Chef Muppetmania I Want to Ride My Bicycle WW III My Octopus Teacher Some Like it Hot Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs Dare to Be Stupid Keeping the Faith
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Never Abandon Imagination Tony DiTerlizzi: Never abandon imagination.

Imagination is a world of possibility that exists within each of us. It is what makes us uniquely human. It is our creative fingerprint that touches and influences the world around us. Imagination is essential to art and science; to innovation and prosperity. It gives us hope, calls us to action and leads to change.

Whether it’s fairies, dragons, robots or aliens, all of my children’s book characters are siblings born of my imagination – an imagination strengthened through years of encouragement from family, teachers and friends. While so many others abandoned it during their transition from childhood to adulthood, I fiercely held onto mine, hoping for a day when I could share it to inspire the next generation of dreamers. Innovators. World changers.

Imagination empowers us to envision and create a reality of what could be. We must hold it dear, foster it and never abandon it.