He is only a year older than me. How is that possible? Grandparents are old people.
At least, that is the view I used to have. Once I reflected on this, it occurred to me that my son is 20 years old. Not that I am expecting him to become a father anytime soon, but he is at the age where that would not be such a shocking thing. It still catches me off guard when I am substitute teaching and meet a high schooler who is the child of someone I went to school with. I don't know why this surprises me since my youngest child is a junior in high school and 16 years old. Even though I have gotten older, I guess I don't think about the ages of other people that I don't see on a regular basis.
Years ago, I laughed it off when I heard a DJ refer to Motley Crüe as 'classic' rock. However, I have come to accept that it has been quite a while since we used floppy disks and had satellite dishes that dwarfed the cars sitting in our driveway. I distinctly remember when gasoline reached the outrageous price of $1/gallon and the excitement we felt when the new network channel FOX first came on the air.
I started looking around the internet to see how old some of the things I remember are and compiled the following list.
DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ARE COMFORTABLE BEING REMINDED ABOUT YOUR AGE!
- Windows XP was released 11 years ago, in 2001.
- Ren & Stimpy debuted over 20 years ago.
- The "new" Millennium is over a decade old.
- Pluto was downgraded from planet status 5 years ago.
- Pierce Brosnan last acted as James Bond 10 years ago.
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air has been off the air for 18 years.
- It has been 11 years since 9/11.
- Ellen DeGeneres came out 15 years ago.
- The Matrix came out 13 years ago. Keanu Reeves is 48 years old today.
- Princess Diana and Mother Theresa have been dead for 15 years.
- The Challenger space shuttle disaster happened 27 years ago.
- Macauley Culkin is 31 years old. Home Alone came out over 20 years ago.
- Terminator 2 is over 20 years old. Edward Furlong, who played kid John Conner, is 34 now.
- Sean Connery is in his 80's and retired. He hasn't made a new movie in 9 years.
- Brittany and Madonna's famous on-stage kiss was 9 years ago.
- Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered 18 years ago.
- There hasn't been a cast member from I Love Lucy alive for 32 years.
- If the Simpsons' actually aged, Maggie would be 24 today.
- The youngest Spice Girl is 36, the oldest Backstreet Boy 39, Gwen Stefani is 42, Madonna 53.
- The last Goosebumps book was published 14 years ago.
- Kurt Cobain has been dead for 17 years.
- The first Harry Potter book came out 15 years ago!
- The first season of Friends was aired 18 years ago.
- The Macarena dance craze was 16 years ago.
- The little red headed girl who starred opposite Jim Belushi in Curly Sue is 30 years old and married.
- Kids born in 1994 can legally vote this year.
- All 3 Hanson brothers are married with kids.
- Ask a teenager what this means: "BE KIND. PLEASE REWIND."
- Marilyn Monroe would be 86 now.
- Jurassic Park is older than Justin Bieber.
- Nintendo 64 hit the market 16 years ago.
- Bryan Adams' cult classic song Summer of '69 was released 27 years ago.
- Kids who you remember in diapers have been posting their own pictures on Facebook.
- Rudy from The Cosby Show is now 33 years old.
- Facebook has been around for 8 years.
 |
| 27 years ago. |
At least I can hold on to the fact that I still have no grandchildren.
Submitted to
Weekend Funnies at My Half Assed Life
What the hell? The Macarena dance craze was 16 years ago? And still, I can rock that move like it's still 1996.
ReplyDeleteThat was one of them that shocked me. I need to get out and start living.
DeleteI need a drink.. after reading that I now realize that even that has now been replaced with a day of the week pill sorter.. Thank goodness I didn't just live in the 80's, I LIVED in the 80's. Glad there wasn't a facebook or youtube around to record my "adventures".. I would never have been able to find a man to marry me LOL.
ReplyDeleteYES! We had the advantage of going out and having the time of our lives without fear that someone captured a picture to throw online before we got home. I definitely lived in the 80's as well and wouldn't trade it.
DeleteRudy is 38? She's older than me? I don't remember her being older than me!
ReplyDeleteI went back and double checked and it looks like I did the math wrong. She is 33.
DeleteHi Brett, I’m Anne from Life on the Funny Farm (http://annesfunnyfarm.blogspot.com), and I’m visiting from Finding the Funny.
ReplyDeleteThat is one humdinger of a list. Did I just date myself? Loved this!
Anyway, it’s nice to “meet” you! Hope you can pop by my blog sometime to say hi…
Thanks for visiting. I dug around the internet for a few hours to find things. I hated to read several of them.
DeleteI still feel that way when I see YOUR daughter. Kids her age are kids I babysat as a teenager. lol. I think everyone kind of forgets how quickly the time has passed until they see someone from their past. A girl I went to high school with, who had a baby our freshman year of high school now has a 13 year old daughter. If she followed in her mother's footsteps (which no one would want I'm sure) she would become a grandmother in 2 years at 30.
DeleteSeeing people that you remember as being young is one of the worst. You are significantly younger than me, so look what you have forward to.
DeleteSh*t. Now I need a beer. And it's 10 am. Thanks, Brett.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite welcome. It makes work easier to tolerate.
DeleteWow. That Ren & Stimpy fact knocked me back into my seat.
ReplyDeleteDude. And Maggie Simpson?
...okay, why am I identifying with the animated portions of this list?
I've had a theory that you are half cartoon.
DeleteLOL. That would explain a lot, wouldn't it.
DeleteI love lists like this, it makes you stop and think.
ReplyDeleteI got more and more depressed the more I extended the list.
DeleteAre you old enough to remember when Jewelry stores actually sold jewelry instead of just buying gold and silver?
ReplyDeleteCC
I do remember that. I didn't have the money to go in and buy any, but have heard the jewelry was in there.
DeleteIn the immortal words of the birthday boy . . . Whoa!! I remember thinking he was the cutest boy back when I was a teenager. Yes, I am indeed old.
ReplyDeleteAnd I actually knew that about the Macarena. I am crafting a post now, due out on Friday, which will explain why I know that. Stay tuned . . .
Looking forward to that post.
DeleteIs he no longer cute?
I don't remember a lot of that stuff because I was a toddler, or not even born yet... However, I think I will show it to my mom, just to remind her that she'll be forty next year. lol
ReplyDeleteYeah, sorry. It was geared more toward people my age.
DeleteYou'll get there. Can't say you will appreciate it, but it will happen.
OK Brett, I remember everything you brought up and yes I am now a Grandpa, I had to laugh because I can see the confused look on any teens face if you said to them "BE KIND. PLEASE REWIND." Ha Ha
ReplyDeleteHeck I remember cassette tapes coming out to replace 8-Tracks thinking to myself, this will never last and seeing them replaced now :)
I took a DVD back to the rental store a few months ago and told the gut behind the counter, "Sorry, I forgot to rewind it."
DeleteHe didn't get it. I should have said it to someone who wasn't a teenager.
...the backswing of the awesomeness of you posting all the corkin' time means i am constantly behind on them...this list is AWESOME! seriously, i just had so much fun reading this and laughing my @$$ off, because it's astonishing to me that these things that i remember so clearly were really a full 20-odd years ago. and if i had a blog, i'd make up an obscure award to give you just for the Truffle Shuffle...
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm glad the list didn't bring you down..
DeleteI will put your obscure and imaginary award in my dream chest.
My head is spinning. 15 years since Ellen came out and Maggie is 24? I am so, so old...and now "Be kind, rewind" will be echoing through my head all day as nasty reminder of how very aged I am...
ReplyDeleteSorry. This just couldn't be helped. I found lots of things that I didn't include. It was fun doing the research, but I didn't feel good afterward.
Deleteshocked by numbers 12, 16, and 22!!!! oh and btw.....sounds to me by the $1 gas....You're old!!!!!!! lol
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how quickly time goes by.
DeleteI was in high school when gas hit a gallon. It ran about 70 cents when I first got my license.
This year was my shocker - when I realized I've got a child exactly the same age as I was when I had him. Thankfully neither of them is in a hurry to make me Grandma - I'm good with waiting a few more years.
ReplyDeleteI don't expect to be a grandfather for several more years, but the very idea that I am old enough for it to not only be possible but normal, really showed me how old I was.
DeleteThe one's that really made me feel like a geezer is #16 & 23. Seriously feels like it happened yesterday!
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
-Ellen
It's amazing how time just flies by. I remember them so well, but have trouble knowing what I had for breakfast this morning.
DeleteMost of my high school friends are grandparents now. I am an OLD mom. OLD. As in, I was 38 when I had my youngest, and she is 14 now. Do the math. But MY theory is, I'm not nearly as old as my former classmates because I have young kids and couldn't POSSIBLY be a grandparent yet. Or that's what I keep telling myself, anyway. 18 years since Nicole Simpson was murdered? Yowza.
ReplyDeleteThat's one way to do it. It would make you feel younger. My youngest will turn 18 next year and I will only be 42. My oldest will be 21 next month. I am definitely feeling it.
DeleteI am so glad that I'm already halfway through a bottle of wine right now! I remember almost all of those things from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteMore and more lately, I find myself saying things like "I remember when...", or "Back in my day...", and I'm only going to be 31 this year.
I also never imagined that I would use the word "only" before the number "31". That's not old anymore. I remember when that used to be ANCIENT!
Great post, darling. I giggled from start to finish, and now need another glass of wine, because - old.
Thank you. I had a lot of fun with this one.
DeleteTime slips away really fast. I've got 10 years on you. It seems like I just turned 30 yesterday.
I didn't realize that Ren & Stimpy debuted that long ago or that Britney & Madonna's kiss was 9 years ago. Wow! Well, my daughter is 19 & I made sure she knew about albums, cassettes & even 8-tracks although I didn't use them (except when my uncle had them) She shocks her friends a lot with the stuff she knows about from "way back when"...lol. I grew up with my mom & dad's 60's & 70's music & my daughter grew up with my '80's stuff & even likes a little of it. And I'm not a grandma yet either (thank goodness)
ReplyDeleteP.S. I still have a VCR & tapes even if we use the dvd player now or watch stuff online.
I still have a few VCR tapes, but don't own a VCR to play them in. My daughter is 17 and loves David Bowie, Frank Sinatra and Billie Holliday. People from way before my time.
DeleteMy son is a big fan of classic rock.
Ok, I was fine until you mentioned the first season of Friends. After looking back over the list the Fresh Prince ended at the same time Friends started. I think I could have done without knowing The Goonies was 27 years ago. I think one of the things that makes me feel really old is realizing that the very first class I taught, who were in second grade at the time, are now 28 years old.
ReplyDeleteRunning into people that I still think of as children is always a big one for me.
Delete