33 Girlhood Favorites to Celebrate 33

Oh wait, did I find myself?

It was my birthday on Monday, and I’ve so enjoyed reading other people’s birthday lists and reflections (Raechel, Alicia, Cameron, Michelle come to mind) that I wanted to try. After a brief attempt at poignant reflections / quasi-advice I switched to more tangible things: People, characters, music, movies, books, snacks.

The first thing to come to mind when thinking about enduring favorites was MISS PIGGY, which made me laugh, and is very true. I love her. I want to be her. I could never be as cool as her. And then, after thinking about Miss Piggy for a while, there was Steve Martin (who had a cameo in The Muppet Movie where he was Miss Piggy and Kermit’s waiter.) A chain of loose associations, some apparent and some not, follow.

1. Miss Piggy. Particularly in Muppets in Space (1995) and The Muppet Movie (1979)

2. Steve Martin. Particularly as the short-shorts clad waiter in The Muppet Movie 

3. A slew of cheesy 80s/90s movies: What About Bob?, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Man Who Knew Too Little, The Pink Panther with Peter Sellers (but of course I’ve seen the Steve Martin versions too)

4. A vintage sweater from the Gap that’s green with flowers embroidered around the neck and silvery buttons (I found it for sale on Poshmark!)

5. Stones with naturally occurring lines around them 

6. Small, old, falling apart books with cloth covers

7. Hair: A Book of Braiding and Styles (with 3 Scrunchies) 

8. The Foggy Dew - Sinéad O’Connor & The Chieftains, 1995

9. Van Morrison - Days Like This (1995)

10. Dermot Kennedy - Days Like This (2020)

11. Dermot Kennedy - Moments Passed (2018)

12. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Runnin' Down A Dream (1989)

13. Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (1981)

14. Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Dhani Harrison and Prince - While My Guitar Gently Weeps played at a tribute to George Harrison (2004)

15. Sly and the Family Stone, Greatest Hits (1970)

16. Baba cakes with limoncello 

17. Meringue cookies – Spaans or Trader Joes brand 

18. R.W. Knudsen Hibiscus Cooler

19. The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

20. The Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery

21. Persuasion by Jane Austen

22. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

23. Dreamy, moody albums: Natalie Merchant’s Tigerlily (1995), Josh Groban’s Closer (2003), Maev’s self-titled album (1998), Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me (2002), especially Nightingale

24. Josh Groban’s cover of Vincent by Don McLean

25. The Saga Begins – “Weird Al” Yankovic’s spoof of American Pie by Don McLean

26. Josh Groban’s cover of America by Paul Simon

27. Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits (1972)

28. Live version of Red Rain by Peter Gabriel, Natalie Merchant & Michael Stipe (1996)

29. Annie Lennox’s album Diva (1992) - especially the songs Walking on Broken Glass and Keep Young and Beautiful

30. The Seven Year Old Wonder Book by Isabel Wyatt 

31. Best-Loved Folktales of the World edited by Joanna Cole 

32. Fables by Arnold Lobel

33. Yonder by Lloyd Bloom and Tony Johnston

Spending time thinking, remembering, re-reading, re-listening, looking for certain book or album covers, felt like cleaning a cluttered room and finding myself, sitting where I’ve always been. In my twenties I worried that what I liked as a child was odd or uncool and sought other references. Age has brought acceptance and love for the girl I was, and the perspective that I’m really the same in many ways. Asking questions, looking for beauty, feeling a hint of death – that was me at 9 and remains me today. My self folds into it the new things I find, and keeps around the old, dog-eared, and beloved things, too. What an obvious thing to write, but how do I explain it feels miraculous? It’s a relief to find my younger self endearing. It’s a comfort to sift through the things I loved and find love there still. I feel no distinct line between being young and old, but a more rounded self that isn’t as often teetering on the edge of “Who am I? What am I?” I just am, and I get on with my day. 

Devin, age 3-ish

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