Half a lifetime ago....

Hold on to your hats, folks, because I'm finally responding to a tag (thanks, Amanda)! Yikes. The sad news is this particular write-up will be far from interesting. But here we go:

Half a lifetime ago would put me at 14.7 years old. The year was 1994. Ten things that were going on at that time were:

1. I was a sophomore at Bishop Carroll High School. Uniforms were mandatory. Most girls were rebelling by trying to wear their plaid skirts as close to being above their knees as possible. I, on the other hand, got mine tailored to practically touch the ground. I was so awesome.

2. Interview with the Vampire premiered. Watching that movie- well, that was the moment I FELL in LOVE with Brad Pitt. Sigh. I'm fairly sure I watched that movie at least 5 times in the box office. Can anyone say OBSESSED?

3. Forrest Gump also came out that year. I so wanted to be a hippie like Jenny. I also wanted to run like Forrest. The running part didn't work out so well for me.

4. Whitney Houston received a Grammy for her song "I Will Always Love You." I'm fairly sure I tried to reach that high and long, long, looong note more times than anyone living in my house ever appreciated. But I didn't care. I was Whitney. And I was hot.

5. I watched O.J. Simpson drive along the LA freeways for a long arse time. I remember thinking it was a waste of my time to be watching that. It was a white Bronco. On a road. With a football player as the driver. Once I heard it was about a football player, I zoned out. Foot-wha?

6. I had decided that in order to be a hippie like Jenny from Forrest Gump, I needed to become an environmentalist (the two went hand-in-hand for me). I saved up some cash and went shopping at The Body Shop. THEY had paper bags that talked about recycling and caring about the Earth on them. Along with some other random stuff, those bags were pinned up on my bedroom wall to show that I cared.

7. Woodstock 1994 happened. Again, I thought in order to be a hippie I needed to get way into this concert. The only problem was that I wasn't really into bands. So instead I went out to the nearest mall and bought myself a huge potato sack (it was really a potato sack) that had a guitar neck and two doves painted on it. That totally made me a hippie. Minus a lot of things that actually makes you a Woodstock hippie. But I didn't care because I loved Brad Pitt AND I had The Body Shop paper bags tacked on my wall.

8. Jackie O died. I was heartbroken about that because I had become infatuated with JFK when I was in 7th grade. Or rather, I became infatuated with what I was told about JFK. And I always thought his wife had to have been one of the strongest women on this planet to have experienced what she experienced. I still believe that.

9. I smoked my first cigarette. Come on- I mean, it was New Years Eve and I was with my best friend? She offered me one? What would you have done? I felt like a grown-up, so I took a drag. There's no doubt in my mind that I was hoarse the day after due to my hacking. And hacking. And hacking. (Don't worry... I'm not a smoker)

10. And sadly, I found out a few years ago that it happened to be this very year that hundreds were massacred in Rwanda. I'm ashamed to say that I was unaware of this when it happened. But I am glad I now know, and glad I can spread the word to help make others aware of the injustices that occur around our world. Let's continue to open our eyes and make changes.

Let peace and peace and peace be everywhere.