I'm 18 Years Old, But I Was Born In 1982

I have always been a little bit of an outsider when it came to "the norm". I was born in 1998 but my parents raised me like a 1982 teenager. When my friends were pumped that they went to see the Cheetah Girls and Hannah Montana, my first concert was Bruce Springsteen and The E Street band: The Rising Tour. A year after that, my second concert was Madonna. I was 10 and the drunk man sitting next to me kept playfully punching my arm and telling me how awesome my dad is while his other hand rested on his barbie doll girlfriends boob.

My mom had a big shrine for Bon Jovi in our computer room/office. She made collages of the pictures she took at their concerts and hung them all around. There was a calendar hanging on the wall. And a little miniature figurine of Jon Bon Jovi wearing a powder blue tank top and skinny jeans with a guitar slung over his shoulder and a firm grip on a white microphone stand. Oh yeah I remember every detail of that thing. It stared into my soul every time I went to print something. I almost forgot one more thing! In kindergarten I made my mom a pencil holder for her office. It was hand drawn all over with my first grade illustration skills and, more importantly, made out of love. A few weeks later I would find it covered with a picture of Bon Jovi taped over it. Thanks mom. I literally never let her forget this. Nowadays the shrine has been toned down a bit. There are still pictures hanging but my mom told me she was going to try and sell that godforsaken figurine. I cheered on the inside.

My dad has been a die hard Bruce the Boss fan since he was a teenager. He eased me into liking him by playing his music in the car and watching some of his concerts on DVD. My mom tried to get me to like Bon Jovi by basically shoving it down my throat and overexposure. Worked for my sister, but not for me. I like Bruce, his music is authentic. My favorite Bruce song to this day is Mary's Place off his Rising album. It's not a very popular one but my dad used to always play it when we were in the car together. 

Madonna quickly became my hero after discovering a DVD  in my basement of all her The Immaculate Collection music videos. Like I said before, I was ten. I would sit downstairs on the couch for hours watching her dance around with big jewelry and no clothes on. I would keep playing this DVD over and over again because Madonna has that kind of music that made you want to dance like crazy for hours and shake your booty. So that's what I did. I shook my 10 year old, non-existent booty all the way to her concert. That same year we had an assignment in school to do a biography. My peers picked heroes like Susan B. Anthony, George Washington, Mia Hamm, and Jane Goodall. Of course, I did Madonna. Our teacher hung up our work and I had the biggest poster board and my project took up most of the space on the wall. I had pictures of Madonna all over that thing. Pictures of her from music videos, with her children, or just posing.

I'd like to formally apologize to all the parents who had kids in my elementary school class. I now realize the picture of Madonna from her "Like A Virgin" music video and the one of her on the stripper pole during one of her concerts probably weren't the best choices to paste onto my project. Your kids couldn't look away even if they tried. The poster was just HUGE.

Anyone who knows me knows that John Hughes has shaped who I am today. Heck I wrote a college essay all about it. We used to have movie nights at my house and one Friday evening of 5th grade my parents decided that having their 5th and 8th grade daughters watch the Breakfast Club was a good idea. AND THEY WERE RIGHT. IT WAS A GREAT IDEA. High school was the furthest thing from my mind at the time but gee wiz did that movie make me think. I was literally 11 years old and had no idea what any references or anything meant but I still connected with it. I somehow knew that this movie was going to open new doors and new ways of thinking for me. And boy it did. It opened the door to my teen rom-com movie obsession and a changing mentality on life.

I can honestly say that if I had seen The Breakfast Club any later, my whole life would've been different. The eight years since then have been the perfect amount of time to study these other rom-com's perfectly and have allowed me the time to insert the lessons I've learned into my everyday life. Thanks mom and dad for showing me a R-rated movie before I was old enough to wear a training bra.

The point I am trying to make through these stories is I wasn't brought up in the same way as some of my peers. I was never shielded by the HORRORS of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. (Drugs are scary so I don't like to mention them) I came out of the womb voguing. By the time I entered High School, I felt like I already had four years of experience. Well, more like 15 years of experience due to all the movies I watched.

My parents raised me and my sister in a way that I am forever thankful for. I hope to raise my kids the same way. (I told my mom that once and made her cry. hehe.) Anyway, it is hard sometimes when I sing a Pat Benatar song and nobody knows what I'm singing. Or when I make an Airplane! reference and nobody gets it. Like, surely you can't be serious. (GET IT??!!?) But I'm thankful that I was raised in 1982. I have found that by being exposed to these things early I developed a sense of maturity and values at a young age. I don't need to go ding dong ditching with my friends when I can just sit on their couch and talk to their moms about how much I love Anthony Michael Hall and how I was unimpressed by St. Elmo's Fire. I not only had a connection with the kids my age, but with older (loosely using the term older) generations. 

I think I can speak for my sister when I say that who were are today was greatly impacted by the popular culture of the 1980's. The music, the movies, the lingo, the clothes. All of it. I'm a kid of the 80's who was born at the end of the 90's and I wouldn't want it any other way.

-L
Here's a dance break from your boring day of work or school

It's Lindsey, Bitch

I'm back to blogposts. I love that I get to write for the Odyssey but I miss writing my own thoughts and opinions on my blog. I also get to release them whenever I want which is also fun. So here I am just telling you that I will keep posting here and on my Odyssey page. Double the fun! Double the me!!
Hope all is well with everyone. :)

WOOT WOOT.