I'm just a squirrel.

1991. Age: the same age you were.

I didn't really plan to write reactions to, or reflections of, every year in the nineties, and the fact that VH1 is showing two episodes a night is really going to make this fall apart ... sometime tomorrow, probably. Anyway.

I seem to remember infinitely more about this year than I do the previous one. I wonder if this is cause or effect of the theory I've had for some time: that six is the last age that you're "little." You're still a kid, you're just not a little kid. Seven just sounds older. According to my recollection, it feels older, too. Memo to the Stephenpat: your child is turning seven. I guess I'll have to start writing to her about stock reports, or something.

This year, according to television, was the start of Gulf War I. That seems about right, but I don't remember anything about it. All I remember was that it was always on television, though I wasn't sure what was happening. That, and my jean jacket with the button on it that said "Don't Mess With The US." I was adorable walking propaganda.

More importantly, that year I started taking jazz and tap lessons in addition to ballet. Or maybe it's just when Miss Diana began to play the C&C Music Factory song *repeatedly* as we warmed up. Even then, I was pretty sure that the "rap" of the song was perhaps the stupidest thing ever. I can't count how many times I heard that, and "Rhythm Is A Dancer."

Speaking of music, this was also the year that I first saw the video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Or maybe it was '92. I always thought it was, but the show, placing a segment on grunge in this year, has made me doubt that recollection. Anyway, no matter what year it actually was, it's interesting to me that it actually did change my perception of music. I remember my cousin Denise hurrying excitedly to where I and her brother were, telling us that we had to check out what was on MTV. (I think this was '92. Oh well.) We all quite literally had the reaction of "what in the hell is this?" Only, we probably said heck. Because we were small and innocent. After that dispelled, I had the distinct impression that this music was new, and that it just might be great.