32 is the New 14

My birthday went very well - nice and leisurely with my brother. Plus, I got two birthday cakes. One at my brothers (cheesecake sampler from Whole Foods) and one at my parent's the next day (Trader Joes opera cake). So, yeah my stomach is all ready for Thanksgiving gorging. I got a bunch of workout/gym gear thanks to my parents. Also, word to the wise - name brand sports stores are fine if you really want to spend a lot of money but local sports stores are where customer service and prices are AWESOME. Plus, supporting local business is a really good move.

So, why is 32 the new 14? I have an evil acne breakout for the first time in about 18 years and I've been really moody all week. I can't count the times I've flipped people off while driving. I never thought at 32, I would be researching home acne remedies online. BTW a baking soda scrub is really effective.

Granted, at 14, I had no idea about the internets (do you think pluralizing internet will die out after Obama gets inaugurated?). If you work at a college/university right before the fall semester starts you usually get an email detailing the incoming freshman's mindset. Like this class' first remembered president was Bill Clinton, there weren't two Germanies or the USSR when they were growing up etc. It's a handy email to a)dial down your expectations of the freshman and b)make you feel ancient.

So, here I go with my own historical perspective: my first remembered president was Ronald Regan. The first computer I used was an Apple IIE. The first video game system we owned was Atari. I played Oregon Trail on the Apple IIE at school. Basically no one owned their own computer when I was a kid. I was in 3rd grade when the Challenger exploded. No one really talked about it but growing up there was a feeling that we'd all be vaporized by an atomic bomb which made every boneheaded move by Reagan feel even more dire. Jelly bracelets and cabbage patch kids were huge when I was in 2nd grade. Michael Jackson's Thriller came out when I was in 1st grade and it was still popular up to 4th grade. The Berlin Wall fell and the first Iraq war started when I was in middle school. I was a sophomore in high school when Bill Clinton was elected and I was able to vote for him when I was a sophomore in college. Good times... The internet and email were still fairly new and low graphic freshman year in college. It was a time before browsers like Netscape Navigator. I owned my first cell phone when I was 24.