Friday, October 05, 2007

ahead of the curve

I'm middle-aged and unhip in the bad way as opposed to unhip in the good way like moonboots on Napolean Dynomite. I unintentionally turned up a top 100 tunes/album/whatever the hell list when I was clicking around the web the other day and I kid you not, I did not even recognize ninety percent of the bands/artists/whoever the hell on the list. I exclusively wear comfortable shoes and we don't even have cable. But as I type, I just realized that regardless of my age, middle or otherwise, I have never been hip. A quick search of the memory banks and wildest thing I can come up with on the fly was the time I sneaked into the back door of a "The Knack" concert at the University of Hawaii student union when I was 19 because my surfer dude friends Howie and Lucas dared me and I didn't want to be left standing around like a loaf outside for a couple of hours. But I couldn't even enjoy dancing (there weren't any chairs, just the band on a short stage above a gym floor, obviously booked way before they had a number one hit) to My Sharona because I kept waiting for the tap on the shoulder and the bums rush out the front door when someone in a position of authority discovered our devious scheme. I'm so pathetic that way. And, really, age does have a lot to do with it too: I'm always the oldest parent at back to school or driving on field trips, always. And, yes it causes me no small amount of heartache that I am a dull reflection on my bright and energetic children. They did nothing to deserve being stuck with an old AND unhip mom but when you don't start building your family until your, late, ahem, thirties, someone has to pay the price.

So you can imagine my glee when my urban dictionary word of the day popped into my inbox:

Brick

High five, mini celebration, yay me. I turned my laptop into a brick and used the right word WEEKS ahead of discovering that I was using the freshest jargon, slang, argot, the lingua franca of the times, shall we say, to describe it. I'm hip, that's right I'm hip. Although using a term like lingua franca and admitting to being 19-years-old when I saw The Knack perform My Sharona at the height of the band's popularity probably just off-set my hip credits and now I'm back in the unhip column, brick or no brick, oops.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

And the Dell support geek didn't even recognize what you meant by "brick." Most decidedly unhip. Kristen

Lisa and Tate said...

I'm right there with you... oldest parent and so not knowing any of the music right now. Brick... had to look it up and now I just might be hip for a minute IF i end up using it...

Lisa

Chantal said...

I can relate. The clerk in a store asked me yesterday if I was old enough to get the senior discount. Couldn't have been the hair- it's touched up. Must have been the tired face!
Chantal

Abby said...

I just have to say that I bought a couple Pink Lady apples on the street today in Copenhagen and thought of your post! The lady looked at me like I was crazy, smiling so much. Just had to share. =)

~Abby from MA (currently in Denmark!)

Abby said...

hahaha, and even better is to look back right now and realize that it wasn't you who was talking about Pink Lady apples!! Must have been my other friend who posted about them. I swear, I'm getting dumber by the day. Sorry about that! =)

Anonymous said...

OK, Marji:

I am officially worried about you and your girls.

No posts for a month = worried in Iowa.

Teri

Anonymous said...

I found your blog because zen mommy told me about it. I am a single, who was a foster mom to 4 wonderful children (although each with unique challenges) and am now on the path to adoption. I really enjoy your honesty about your life and adoption, many blogs "gloss over" adoption and like I always say, fostering and adoption are the greatest joy and sorrow mixed into one. Nora is one of my favourite names, as is Eleanor. I teach med students and social work students about attachment, and I really appreciate your posts because I think so few people admit that attachment is a 2 way street and isn't always easy/straightforward...
My email is
aspecialfamily AT yahoo DOT com if you ever want to email.
I hope you had a nice time at Disney!
Kate