Day 8/30: Things I Won't Be Buying Today

#mushroomtumbler 

My friend John stated that the "Things I Won't Be Buying Today" series, with the concept started by him and borrowed by me for this month-long writing exercise, is an ongoing list of "perpetual materialistic longings". Aptly put, dear sir.

So, although I immediately rattled off, 8 days ago on an envelope, 30 items I wouldn't be buying and am hen-picking one each day, this list could really go on into perpetuity.  

PERPETUITY.

I apologize in advance. 

But here we are on Day 8. You might not have felt any particular kinship with the other 7 things I've posted about but maybe today, on day 8, in the spirit of the upcoming holiday, you might experience a nostalgic ping in your heart for this little fella. Today is about a short, bald cartoon man with a dog named Fuzz and an outlook that alternates between sweetly positive with rainbows and sunshine to sourly pessimistic with quips about Mondays and rain and coffee that brews way too slowly. 

You guessed it, it's little pink-domed, u-nosed, beady-eyed Ziggy. 

And today I won't be buying him. 

 

Back in the 70s and 80s, Ziggy was insanely popular. He found himself on greeting cards and calendars; birthday party decorations and clothing. There were plush Ziggys, Ziggy jewelry, Ziggy lap desks, Ziggy trays and Ziggy cork boards. And if that weren't enough, you could buy a Ziggy mug, Ziggy beer glasses and a Ziggy poster. 

My mother and I used to make homemade valentines for my elementary school classmates out of red cardstock and white paper doilies; that is, until Ziggy valentines showed up in the local stationery store and we retired our scissors and glue and bought those instead. 

I mean how could we resist? He is so darn cute (and he rarely wears pants!). Now, you see, Ziggy had this habit of SWAKing everything. Do you remember that? S.W.A.K., or "sealed with a kiss", was this non-threatening pre-teen way of being lovey-dovey without invading your crush's personal space or getting weird.

So, after a couple years of buying and delivering Ziggy valentines to the desks of my classmates, and seeing the Zigster all over the mall in his various and sundry iterations, I dreamed I'd someday have a boyfriend who would gift me a Ziggy item (preferably SWAK-printed) for Valentine's Day. You know, like this:

Or this:

 

Or this:

 

All of which are on eBay right now.

But, as I'm sure you have figured out, I never received a Ziggy for Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, 'cause I've been lucky in the Valentine department, but I can't help but wonder if all the people selling their SWAKY ol' Ziggys have lovely pre-teen love stories about how they came to acquire them. 

I'll bet they do.

So Happy VD from me and the Zig man. Now, go plant a kiss and watch love grow.