Down in space, it's always 1982

I was born July 9, 1982, which means that I am 27 today. I share my birthday with Courtney Love, Fred Savage, John Tesh, O.J. Simpson, and Tom Hanks. When I was younger, I used to think a lot about my astrological sign, Cancer, and how these people were somehow tied to me. I don't really do that anymore. Here's the highlights of 1982:

1. January 13th--a plane crash claims 78 lives and 3 people died when a train derailed. Both events happened in D.C. Now, you're saying, "Bette, I thought there was no tragedy on your birthday?" Unfortunately, I am obsessed with major disasters. It is not that I wish for them to happen, so much as I can't get myself away from being dazzled by the aftermath. I have always thought I would die in a plane crash. Woohoo, happy birthday to me!

2. Remember when plain ol' Bette used to be BetteDavisLies? That harkens back to the album of the year for 1982: Kim Carnes's Bette Davis Eyes. See, everything has a reason under the sun.

3. At the 1982 Academy Awards, Chariots of Fire won best picture. I've never seen the movie, but I know it is recorded on VHS somewhere at my parents' house from the days when my Dad would pop a tape into the VCR and record everything that came on HBO.

4. Reagan was president and the Falklands War was in the news, but, of course, I don't remember any of this due to the fact that I was a mere infant, though I did think Reagan looked a lot like my father's father, who was a WWII vet and the autobody teacher at our local high school. He died when I was six, but I'm pretty sure he was the reason my Dad was so old school masculine back in the day. I connect Reagan-era politics/ideology with my family's personal gendered family norms.

5. June 21-- Princess Di gives birth to Prince William. My mother says she hoped upon hoped that we would share the same birthday since I was due way before the 9th, but I had to be pulled forcibly from the warm confines of her body. In X-rays, it is clear that my left scapula is several inches lower than my right. When mom first found out, she cried, saying between sobs, "I....just....knew....they....wrenched...
you....outta...me...TOO HARD!" She was more disappointed that Prince William and I didn't get to share the same day than she was about the long ass labor I put her through, and she did it completely drug free. Yay, mom.

6. July 9-- I was born, and a Pan Am flight crashed in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 146 on board and 8 on the ground. When first I learned this, I took it as a sign to corroborate my belief that I will die in a plane crash. I told you I was seriously superstitious.

7. October 1--Sony releases the first CD player, though I'm sure it costs a million dollars. Remember the yuppie couple--Todd and Margot?--in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? When I think about CD players before the 90s, I always think about how Clark W. Griswold destroys said player.

8. November 30--the best-selling album of all time is released: Michael Jackson's Thriller. I had a major crush on both Michael Jackson and Prince when I was a girl. Really, I just liked exotic/dark-skinned men. My father was pretty racist, or at least concerned about what everyone would say in our small, Southern town if his daughter dated black boys. I was so scared of his wrath, that I had to keep my affection for both pop icons a secret. In fact, I didn't even tell my parents about my obsession with Oates of Hall and Oates fame because he was kind of black. I think it only made me long for these taboo men more.

9. December 26--Time magazine's Man of the Year award goes to its first non-human--a computer. I didn't realized inanimate objects were sexed in the English language.

10. A brief but severe recession occurred during the year 1982--I think some of this evidence is backed-up by my previous post with photos from early-1983. I guess this is the reason I'm not down on the economy because I know we'll all be okay, and I'm a glass half full kind of girl anyways.

Tonight, I'm off to see Wicked at the Orpheum in Memphis, and I'm eating my favorite, Indian food, with some of the best people I know. Tomorrow night, the Bunny is making me some homemade macaroni and cheese, and we are going to see Bruno. The best things in life are semi-cheap, generally edible, and always full of spectacle.