Take a stroll down memory lane, won’t you?

I remember right where I was when Operation Desert Storm began. Well, here. I’ll let fourteen year old Leslie tell you courtesy of my stellar journal and an entry dated January 16, 1991, 9:30 p.m., to be exact,

“Dear Diary,

Dad got a job in NC and we moved there. Sherry Jones* has changed and she’s a big jerk and a slut! She changes boyfriends every month {and yet, that is exactly what I will proceed to do in the next year}!  I’ve got a boyfriend (I met him at church) named Josh Carr who’s really sweet. Guess what? There’s a war going on! {how do you like that transition? Boyfriend, war, it’s all the same} See, this guy from Iraq named Saddam Hussein invaded this country named Kuwait. He claimed it as his when it wasn’t his. The U.S. gave him until Jan. 15th to move his troops out of Kuwait. If he didn’t Congress voted for having a war. Well Hussein wasn’t out so we declared war on Iraq {not a bad summary for a seventh grader, huh?}. Right after church ended (we go to Redeemer Pres) Susan* (also a jerk who likes Josh) {sheesh, possessive much?} told me that the U.S. had bombed Iraq. I’m kind of scared but not really {I was a sensitive child, no?}.Today in school I took a major test on Africa. I hope I made a good grade. Well, gotta go to bed!  

Love,

Leslie

P.S. I saw Bush make his speech about the war {at least that’s recorded for posterity}.”

*Names have been changed to protect their privacy and so they don’t look me up someday and rightfully kick my butt for being the snotty, judgmental teen that I was.

Just to give you an even more accurate picture of fourteen year old me, when I heard the news about the bombing I was flirting with Josh in the church lobby. Even though the bombing was nowhere near Winston-Salem, NC, I immediately used it as an excuse to act terrified and snuggle closer to him.

Shameless.

Anywhoo, Debbie {of recent TriOut celebrity and fame} uncovered this gem of a video today which sent me thinking back to my experience of the early 90’s. Do yourself a favor and carve out five minutes to watch this priceless slice of American pop culture…

 

A few thoughts:

1.) I can’t decide if Celine Dion has had plastic surgery somewhere along the way or if tweezing her eyebrows could really be that transforming.

2.)There was a great outcry on twitter today for more Peter Cetera. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that he may have been a pioneer in the auto tune. Eat your heart out, T-Pain.

3.) It’s good to know that Bobby Brown has always been such a master of understatement.

4.) You’ve got to love that country music’s lone representatives are Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Kathy Mattea, Kenny Rogers {pre-plastic surgery, natch} and his trophy wife- Linda something. I just know she’s one of Hee Haw’s cornfield sweethearts and Brody Jenner’s mom.

5.) Please, please, please don’t miss 2:08 and the Fresh Prince.

6.) This may or may not have made me kind of miss Michael Bolton. I can’t rightly say.

7.) Please notice that out of the celebrity actors in that choir, the two most legit singers are standing next to each other. Get it, Meryl and Michelle.

8.) 3:44. Kevin Arnold. ‘Nuf said.

9.) Apparently the crazy started early for Gary Busey.

10.) Debbie Gibson! Debbie Gibson! Debbie Gibson!

Of course it was songs like the classic “We Are The World” that paved the way for songs like the one above. And as long as we’re going back to my childhood, in fourth grade, I listened to that song every time my babysitter Rebecca came to our house because she owned the record. I’m pretty sure that staring at the album cover for hours at a time is what started my obsession with celebrity and pop culture. That, my friends, is what a therapist might call a breakthrough memory.

I can’t really bring myself to comment on the 2010 version of “We Are The World.” It breaks my whole “I’m not being super critical anymore” stance. But y’all feel free to go after it in the comments. If you go after Miley, you win bonus points with me. I’m just sayin’, is all.