Nails of 1984

Last week, there was a flurry of nostalgic picture posts on a forum I frequent. I had some scans of old photos handy, so I joined the fun. I went from me as a baby



through my awkward teen years



and finished up with my late 80s/early 90s attempts to channel Princess Diana's wardrobe



Over the weekend, I remembered I had a photo in one of my albums of my nails back in my college days, so I went looking and found this:



Yep, those are real. These look crazy long to me now—no way I could manage with this length today, not with all the hours I spend on my computer and smartphone. But back in 1984, I didn't have either of those things. I took notes in class with a pen and notebook. I did have to type papers (on a typewriter!), but apparently this particular summer term I didn't have many of those, at least not during the time I was growing these talons. I don't recall those details, but I do know that I took this photo because this was the longest I'd ever gotten my nails to grow. Too bad the readily available cameras back then didn't have a macro function so I could have gotten the shot more in focus. Still, I'm glad I have even this slightly blurry memento of that earlier time.