WHAT'S YOUR MOOD?

No matter what your age or what your “generation” is or was, mood rings bring in a rush of youthful memories made and those about to be made. Many first attempts at demystifying the crazy emotions found while growing up were facilitated with the magical mystical mood ring, giving it a long-lasting relationship with pop culture, a relationship that was at its heady best in the 1970s when everyone wanted something to put their emotions on display. Of course, if thermometers and temperament work in tandem, the extremities seem like the least likely place to take a temperature, but alas the mood ring took off like the rocket ship of trinket fashion. Mood rings work as a sort of “biofeedback” based on your body temperature. Inside of the ring are little heat-sensitive crystals that change, usually turning green, based on body temperature. Good mood and feeling flushed – ooh la la, it’s green! It takes the cold touch of bitterness and anger to produce black… or sometimes it was just the refrigerator. Be careful when experimenting, though – one misstep with a freezer or boiling water and your mood ring will develop an attitude and quit on you. Whether you’re black, blue, in the middle with that grey-amber-red color, or good-to-go with green, mood rings have been one of the more steadfast fads pop culture has found in the last few decades. Though they may have had less to do with mood prediction than we thought, mood rings were good fun and a cheap prediction at a whim. Plus, an observant someone may just realize that you needed your hands warmed and that wasn’t always a bad thing.