On May 16, 1986 Top Gun opened at theaters. I was 8. I remember seeing it on VHS when it finally was available and I think I about wore out the tape. I know for sure I nearly ruined the soundtrack cassette. It is hands-down one of my top 10 favorite movies, to date. I had to make that Facebook official recently when I was tagged in one of those pseudo-chain mail thingies. I usually never give in when I get tagged but because this one was all about the movies I love, I couldn’t resist.

Aside from watching the movie one million times over the past 33 years, I also can sing every word to every song on the soundtrack, again, bordering on ruining the tape. Current movie soundtracks just aren’t like they were in the 80s, or at least it feels like that. Again, it could be that I’m just marinating in nostalgia so forgive me if that’s the case. Sometimes you get one or maybe two catchy songs that are overplayed on the radio. But, those classic movies are jam-packed with anthems that you know for life, that when they come on the radio, you risk blowing out your speakers because you turn it up to 11 and drive like your hair’s on fire. When Kenny Loggins comes on, everyone around me on the freeway better look out.

In 8th grade, my obsession for Top Gun was blossoming, just like me. We had a mother/daughter luncheon and fashion show. We had one or two cool stores to shop at in my little home town. It was either that or K-Mart but either way, everyone looked like everyone else because there was only so many options. I lived for shopping trips to Reno, NV where I knew I would find things that *maybe* no one else would show up in at school. The interwebs did not exist so that was my ticket to coolness.

We all got our two outfits for the fashion show at Beno’s. We also got to choose the music for the runway. I honestly don’t remember one of the songs that I chose and walked to in a rare appearance of me in a dress. But, I do remember the other song. It was “Playing with the Boys” by Kenny Loggins from the Top Gun soundtrack. It plays during one of the most iconic scenes of the movies – the volleyball scene. One could argue that the whole movie is iconic scene after iconic scene but this is seriously number one or two. I played the song for my hubby recently and he didn’t even remember it. I nearly divorced him on the spot. Now, to his credit, it’s no “Danger Zone” but c’mon, the VOLLEYBALL SCENE! How could he not remember?! I’ve since gotten over this betrayal.

Now, I was a huge volleyball fan and a decent player. I actually was co-MVP with my other best friend that year. I played on a hard court with six on a team, but tried beach volleyball, only to realize how fucking hard it was to move around in the sand. Growing up in the high desert and mountains, we didn’t have a lot of sand. My best friend and I, on many summer break occasions to the beach, thought we could just roll right into it and kick-ass like we did on the court. Yeah, right. It was in the words of Charles Barkley, TUURRIBLE. We spent most of our time just admiring the hot guys and cheering them on, which was a-ok too but we always had Maverick and Goose aspirations.

My volleyball fashion show outfit, complete with an actual volleyball in-hand, was a hooded flower top with white jean shorts and white high tops. I played basketball too so just about every shoe in my closet at the time was a Nike, along with some Vans. I also wore shades, a must. And yes, the pictures you see here are from my yearbook – our little school had limited events so they needed to fill those pages. When you reached the 8th and final year, you got a lot more real estate in the book, too. My best friend rocked a volleyball too but you only get to see me in that dress…and bangs that were their own zip code.

Say what you will about ol’ Tom Cruise but he makes great movies and timeless classics that are hard to top. I know he’s a hot mess when it comes to his personal life and all the crazy Scientology crapola but man, he can entertain. I also think whatever deal he made with the Scientology Devil err Head Alien, what’s his name…David Miscavige, has worked out to make him not really age. It’s clearly worth every terrible, guilt-ridden penny. He’ll be 57 on July 3 and still looks amazeballs.  Crazy looks good on him, just sayin’.

When news broke that they were finally making a sequel to Top Gun, that day was like Christmas for me. Now, they’ve pushed back the release date some and that was like cancelling Christmas or at least postponing it a wee bit but it’s still on the calendar for June 26, 2020. I will be there with my aviators and dog tags on, maybe even a fly boy jump suit. One can never know for sure. By 2020 I clearly will be even more nostalgic and even more crazy than I am now. I mean, that’s really only a year away. Let me write that again, A YEAR AWAY. Fuck me – time is just cruisin’ (get it?!;)) faster than Maverick in his F-15! I’ll be ready to buzz the tower a couple of times over, just like Maverick. In the meantime, I’ll keep showing up to Alamo Drafthouse for their movie parties and next time, I will *try* to refrain from reciting the whole movie and singing all the songs like an asshole. Maybe one less beer next time too…nah.