Today is My Birthday

Today is my twenty-fifth birthday. 

That sounds so weird. So mature.  So established.

I have to admit, I think I am having a tiny bit of a quarter-life crisis (which I know is absolutely ridiculous...), so, instead of being a big baby even the tiniest bit sad on my birthday (becuase who wants that?), I decided to look back.

Entering the world twenty-five years ago were Mandy Moore, Jena Malone, America Ferrera, Scarlett Johansson, Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Sabrina Bryan, and Prince Harry.  Leave it to me to be born in a year when there were seemingly no boys born on this continent.

People were funny in 1984.  They were doing the worm:

wearing Day Glo:

and these t-shirts were all the rage:

There was also the Miami Vice look, Guess jeans (stone-washed denim, of course).  The Vanessa Williams Miss America scandal shocked the nation, and who could forget Courtney Cox dancing on stage with Bruce Springsteen??

In the world of literature, it appears to have been a bit of a scant year.  A few of the highlights include:  Cold Sassy Tree, The Color of Money, Hotel du Lac, The Hunt for Red October, Ramona Forever, and The Witches of Eastwick.  Good thing it seems I would be content with picture books for awhile.

Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Kids, Dungeons & Dragons, and Transformers flooded the market twenty-five years ago, and Sony introduced the first CD player.  Also, Apple introduced the world to the Mac for the first time.

Then:

Now:

In the world of the small screen, MTV first held the Video Music Awards, and shows like Kids Incorporated, Jeopardy, Punky Brewster, The Cosby Show, Who's the Boss?, and Miami Vice ruled, and the world said goodbye to Happy Days, Three's Company, and Dallas.

At the movies were now-cult-classics like The Never Ending Story, Revenge of the Nerds, The Karate Kid, Gremlins, and Ghostbusters.  There were also legendary action movies like The Terminator and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  Finally, the iconic Footloose and Sixteen Candles were released twenty-five years ago--two of my personal favorites.  Here's my own sixteenth birthday, at which time I was kidnapped (wearing one of the most hideous outfits I owned, mind you) and taken to a great surprise party.

 

Finally, in the world of tunes, there were some dynamite hits twenty-five years ago.  Madonna was singing about Lucky Stars and Holidays, and Michael Jackson debuted Thriller.  Stevie was Just Calling to Say I Love You.

  The Pointer Sisters wanted you to know they were So Excited, but they were also commanding you to Jump (as was Van Halen, actually).  Mike Reno and Ann Wilson thought they were in Almost Paradise.

Ray Parker, Jr. was askin 'who you gonna call?' (Ghostbusters!); Lionel was saying Hello and letting you know he could go All Night Long; and Bruce Springsteen was Dancing in the Dark.  Cindi Lauper was first telling the world that Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

Tina was asking What's Love Got to Do with It?, and Kenny Loggins was telling everybody to cut Footloose; Kenny and Dolly were going on about Islands in the Stream; and Chicago was singing about Hard Habits to Break; Billy Joel was looking for an Uptown Girl. 

  

Finally, Corey Hart was wearing his Sunglasses at Night

and Deniece Williams was pumping up men everywhere with Let's Hear it for the Boy.

Twenty-five... still sounds weird, but I know I'll get used to it.  It's a whole new world of possibility and who knows what's still to come.