The wonders of social media and the internet never cease to amaze me. I was watching a youtube video on my archaic Blackberry this past Sunday. It was of Chelsea Williams, the Chevrolet / billionaire song / up-and-coming young star doing one of her street gigs, and covering Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”, and while I was watching it on the tiny screen my six year old granddaughter sidled up next to me and said “I know that song” and proceeded to sing along, knowing all the words, in perfect pitch.
First of all, I didn’t know six year olds could have perfect pitch; didn’t think it was physically (vocally) possible at that age, actually. But what do I know? Secondly, where do kids hear songs nowadays? It’s not like there are any radio stations that play new contemporary music - then my son reminded me of satellite and internet radio, both of which he has in his car. This reminded me again that I am on the downslide of seniority. Which brought the following sequence of random thoughts below the orange pattern in the snow.
I periodically receive emails from folks in my age bracket with pictures of one hundred year old objects ( butter churns, boot warmers, and the like ) with the inviting phrase “Do you remember these?” followed by the ever pleasing “Then you must be really old.” So I’m thinking after the latest one of these, okay, here’s a brief timeline of what I can remember. Humor me, this is going somewhere, I think.
hungarian refugees
Watson and Crick ( and Franklin )
Sputnik
the assassination of a president
moon landing
personal computers
collapse of the Soviet Union
reunification of Germany
world wide web
smart phones
social media
climate change
five wars and numerous incursions
Whew. Just a sample though. Now I love playing the lovable but crotchety old curmudgeon as much as the next guy, but “this might be my last Christmas.” I love saying that, and I love hearing the chorus of groans hurled back at me from my family. Actually I’m lucky if that’s all they hurl at me. But if I were to single out the most important single event during my lifetime ( non-personal, mind you; no weddings, births or deaths allowed ) from my perspective, I would choose the successful conclusion of the Human Genome Project; the sequencing of human DNA. In what must be one of the supreme ironies of all time, a species of life on this planet figures out the basis and key to its own existence shortly before its own extinction. Okay, for all of you optimists out there, not extinction, but a massive die off and shrinkage of the population and the decimation of most sea life, mammals, plants and forests. Well played, humans. Well played.