Song of the day:
Happy Anniversary to Me
Earlier this week I celebrated 24 years of working in the California State University system, most of that time at San José State, with two and a half years at Cal State East Bay. That also means I’ve lived in California for 24 years, as I moved out just a few days before starting my job.
A lot has changed in 24 years, with me, the University, the world…I thought I’d give you a few reminders of what was happening during this time in 1998.
Entertainment
Iris, today’s song of the day, debuted in April that year and went on to be one of the year’s top hits (it’s still awesome today)
Other amazing songs out that year: Ricky Martin’s Cup of Life and Green Day’s Good Riddance (Time of Your Life); these are also still awesome
Saving Private Ryan and The Big Lebowski led the box office
Other big movies that year: Armageddon, The Truman Show, Mulan
The number one TV show was E.R.
Other popular TV shows: Friends, Frasier, Touched by an Angel
Harrison Ford was People’s sexiest man alive
Technology
Google was founded
MP3s were created and used for the first time
Sports
The Yankees won the World Series
The Broncos won the Super Bowl
The Bulls won the NBA Championship
The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup
Other
The President was Bill Clinton
Minimum wage was 5.15/hour
The federal minimum wage hasn’t gone up much since then and has been at 7.25/hour for quite some time
The average price for gas was 1.06/gallon
In comparison, I paid 6.09/gallon last night
The average price for a new car was 17,200
Today that price is 46,085, which honestly seems high to me
A gallon of milk cost 3.16, a pound of bacon 2.53, a loaf of bread 1.26 and a dozen eggs was 88 cents
Today those costs are: milk-4.33, bacon-7.22, bread-1.61, eggs-2.52
#RecentReads
No More Lies by Kerry Lonsdale - finished this one a couple of nights ago, and it was excellent. It’s the second in a three-part series and was just as good, if not better, than the first. Highly recommend!
In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer - a wonderful romantic comedy that made me laugh a lot. It was the perfect combination of humor and romance. Loved it!
Who Put This Song On by Morgan Parker - this is a fairly intense young adult novel that put you in the shoes of a young Black girl going through therapy to get through the trauma in her life. It dug in pretty deep and touched on a lot of topics teens (and adults) face today. It was intense at times, but well-written and enjoyable. Another good read!
Breathless by Jennifer Niven - this is another young adult novel by an author who I’ve enjoyed reading, but I didn’t enjoy this story as much as her prior books. I didn’t feel like I connected with the characters but then again, I’m not a teenager whose parents are getting divorced. You might enjoy it…if you read it, let me know!
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley - I read this as part of a book club and absolutely loved it! It’s quirky and fun and different from anything I’ve read before. The story is told from multiple vantage points with chapters overlapping each other in some ways. Highly recommend!
The Pilot’s Daughter by Meredith Jaeger - I also read this as part of the same book club and loved it, too! This one is historical fiction set in two timelines, and it had a ton of twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. It felt a little long in places but overall I absolutely loved it. Get it!
#FridayReads
Looking forward to starting Kasie West’s latest later today, Places We’ve Never Been. I adore her young adult novels and have no doubt I’m going to love this one, too. I mean look how magnificent the cover is?! It almost makes me want to take a road trip in a camper. Almost. Okay, not at all, but still…isn't it pretty? More on this one to come.
I hope you all have a great weekend and find some time to relax. I may have to go see Top Gun Maverick again because why not? I also need to get some things done around my house, but mostly I’m planning to relax and read. Anyone have any big plans? Let me know in the comments.
See you next week!
Video of the day:
It does go by so quickly that we have to make the best use of it while we can. We have been in Boise for 9 years now.
Ah, the days where Friends, Fraser and ER were current! Seriously, a lifetime ago!