I cannot even tell you how many times I've had this phrase repeated to me. People have been saying it to me for years and I generally just laugh it off because I know they're completely wrong. But, lately it's been bugging me that so many people think you live under a rock simply because you haven't heard the latest songs on the radio or seen the most recent Nicholas Sparks movie. I mean, to be honest, I don't think anything can really top The Notebook for me, so why waste my time?
Believe it or not (and this may come as a shock to some of you), the reason I may not be up to date on all the latest fads isn't because I have no time in my crazy schedule or because I'm an antisocial hermit. Oh no, my friends, I actually CHOOSE to enjoy other things (*GASP*). Allow me to shed a little light on the ignorance around me...
I honestly don't care too much for today's music (except for a chosen few) and pretty much the only movies I go see these days are the magnificent Marvel masterpieces and, of course, those heart-wrenching Disney-Pixars (Finding Dory changed my life, y'all). I have no regrets. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE music, and I can certainly appreciate a well-made movie. But what I really enjoy is the good old stuff. I mean, there's a reason they're called classics. I grew up with songs made famous by icons like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra or some Big Band melodies with Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. I grew up learning the proper phonetics with Audrey Hepburn (My Fair Lady) and scoping out burglaries with Cary Grant (To Catch a Thief). Now, in my opinion, you are sadly deprived if you have never heard of, listened to, or watched these legends work their magic (and, unfortunately, most people under the age of 30 have not).
I also take immense pleasure in literary exploits. In other words, you could say I'm a big nerd. Say what you want, but there is absolutely nothing quite like being swept away into another world by your own marvelous imagination. So many incredibly talented authors - Charles Dickens, L.M. Montgomery, Ernest Hemingway, C.S. Lewis, to name a few - have shared their remarkable gifts with the world, and their stories (some of them centuries old) are still available for us to enjoy today. That's pretty amazing to think about. I can't even tell you the wonders you will find and the adventures you will take just by opening a book.
All of this brings me to one very important (and shocking) point: I actually do have a life!
It may be very different from yours, but I am perfectly fine with that...I actually prefer it. We simply have different tastes, that is all. And that's okay. I understand your confusion and dismay, but it's really not my fault, you see - I may have been born in 1994, but my heart will always belong to the Golden Age. There's an awful lot of pressure to conform to our current society, but I'm pretty happy with my antique books and dilapidated records. Bless you all for trying to "educate" me...but I'm afraid I'm a lost cause. Enjoy your Bruno Mars and your Magic Mike and whatnot. I'll be in my nook listening to Floyd Cramer play the ivories and reading the captivating mysteries of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
