37 Years Later...

On this day, 37 years ago, I entered this world. In the year 1973, the cost of a new house was around $32,000, while a gallon of gas would set you back a whopping 40 cents. Ironically, those numbers seem to have switched in recent years. Weird. The year I was born, a bill was signed to allow the construction of an oil pipeline in Alaska, while another was signed to make abortion a constitutional right. (Please, no politics...I'm just saying it happened in 1973. That's all.) The Sydney Opera House opened, and Richard Nixon tried convincing us he was "not a crook" as the Watergate hearings began. Skylab was launched into space, and the Sears Tower opened in Chicago. The year I was born also saw the "birth" of barcodes, optic fibers, and jetskis.

It was the year that gave us the films The Exorcist, Deliverance, Live and Let Die, American Graffiti and The Sting, among others. On the "boob tube" we were introduced to The Odd Couple, The Partridge Family, Columbo ("One more thing..."), M*A*S*H, Sanford and Son, and The Price is Right. On those glorious AM radio stations we (well, not US, per se, but people...) grooved to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Elton John's Crocodile Rock, and the Rolling Stones' Angie. Among the celebrities born in 1973: Tyra Banks, Kate Beckinsale (hellooo, Nurse!), Paul Walker, and Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin & Hobbes...the BEST comic strip EVER!!!).

It's strange, really. Every once in a while I sit back and think about the last 37 years. Not the stuff that I did, or didn't do, or wish I could do again. I'm talking about the things that happened around me. Things I didn't think about at the time, or didn't think I'd remember by the time 2010 rolled around. I never thought I'd live through a space shuttle exploding, a war in which my father - or myself - might have to participate, domestic bombings, a terrorist attack that destroyed a landmark and nearly a nation, a devestating storm that leveled a city and threw a giant spotlight on our government's inadequacies, or a black president. When I was a kid, Transformers were brand new and hadn't yet been ruined by Michael Bay, G.I. Joe introduced "swivel-arm battle grip" instead of "points of articulation", and my Star Wars action figures couldn't even bend at the arms because of the light saber you had to MANUALLY push through the slot. Hell, even their legs didn't bend...do you know how LAME those fights were?

Seriously, these kids today don't know just how good they have it...

Ahem. But I digress...

Some things haven't changed all that much. Thirty years ago I couldn't imagine living without my TV; today, I can't imagine living without my cell phone. (Though part of me realizes I'd be better off had neither invention come into my life.) I still play with Legos; or I would, if they weren't so bloody expensive now. I still read comic books, even if they feel the need to call them "graphic novels". Hell, I've even lived long enough to see new versions of Knight Rider, The Bionic Woman, The A Team, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Clash of the Titans. Some things, however, have definitely changed for the better. I can watch hundreds of channels on TV in gloriously clear high definition, I can listen to music on the go without having to flip a cassette over every 30 minutes, and I can watch a movie or read a book practically anywhere.

Without being too nostalgic, I find myself looking back at the first 37 years of my life and realizing just how much it all blurs together after a while. Not in a bad way, but definitely in a glossed-over amalgam of bittersweet flashbacks. I've heard that "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Turns out that's true. Who knew? (Aside from John Lennon, of course...the man was a friggin' genius, after all.) You spend all your childhood days wanting to crisscross the galaxy in the Millennium Falcon looking for ancient civilizations, and instead you end up writing a blog about how much gas cost back when you were jumping unbuckled in the back seat as opposed to actually driving the car.

In the end, I guess, it's the memories, not the events themselves, that make this existence so much fun. We remember how much fun we had, and find new ways to recapture that excitement. Sometimes it works (looking at you, high def!) and sometimes it doesn't (cuz Clash of the Titans 2010 sucked!!!).

I hope my time down the timeline brought up some fun memories for you as well. I'd love to hear about the things you remember - good or bad. Maybe you'd like to elaborate on something I mentioned; maybe you thought of something I didn't. Either way, comments are always welcome. Grab your friends and family, bring 'em on over here, and let's have a big ol' memory fest.

C'mon...you know you wanna...