age and life

So, I have noticed that this week is the 25th birthday of both MTV and the PC. It has been making me think about how both of these things have dramatically influenced and changed life forever, particularly for those of us who were born after the advent of both of those things (like me!).

What would life have been like without the advent of the pop-culture machine of MTV? Its influence over young people is undeniable. Even though I was never really allowed to watch it as a teen, (or I just scorned it, I can’t really remember) MTV has influenced pop-culture to an extreme, especially when you consider that it single-handedly spawned reality TV (which now permeates our culture to a sickening degree!).

And PC’s! I remember when I was in the 4th grade, learning how to us a computer with MS DOS….the pitch black screen with blinking green letters. That led to hours and hours playing Oregon Trail (which I STILL think is one of the greatest computer games ever). In today’s world of online banking, online stores, online news agencies, email, chat rooms, etc, what life would have been like if we didn’t have computers?

Anyway, this is just something that has been running through my head this week. Another funny thing that happened to me: I visited PA this weekend (because Leah was there visiting friends of ours) and she had some more of my stuff they had discovered in the house in WI. I was going through some of the papers last night; old choir programs (really funny), pictures from high school (also highly entertaining), my first driver’s license AND my birth certificate (which I hadn’t seen in ages). I was looking at it, and something struck me. My parent’s ages. It’s funny, because I know how old my parents were when they had me, but seeing their ages in print on my birth certificate was just oddly real. My mom was 22 and my dad was 23 when I was born. I will be 24 next month. Scary!