The one when I was a Pop Culture Idiot.

Nearly ten years ago, right after Josh and I got married, we piled our wedding gifts, a donated couch, and my grandmother's bedroom suite into a moving truck and drove across the country to Utah for college. It was a great trip, punctuated with many a memorable moment. We laughed, we talked, we drove through places we had never been before. They were good times. But the crowning moment of our trip had to be the conversation when I tried to convince Josh that Garth Brooks had sold more albums and was definitely more successful than, ahem, dare I say it now... Michael Jackson.

(I told you I was an idiot)

For the purpose of this blog, I've done some research. You know, to help me look even more like a pop culture dummy. Garth Brooks hasn't had a shabby career. His total album sales have crested 120 million. Um... I'm impressed. But really. He's not even close to being in the same ballpark with Michael Jackson. Jackson's most impressive album, Thriller, sold more than 100 million copies on it's own, and holds the record for most copies sold of one single album. For total album sales, only two artists/groups surpass him: Elvis Pressley, and The Beatles. It is safe to say, however, that Michael Jackson FAR SURPASSED Garth Brooks with total album sales reaching 750 million.

(all this information came from wikipedia. If it's wrong, sorry. I'm not trying to write a news article, just make fun of myself a little bit. Is that alright with you?)

I don't remember exactly what my husband said in response. I remember him shaking his head in amazement quite a few times, his eyes wide with surprise and humor. I'm sure he bit his tongue and tried really hard not to say something along the lines of, "You're just too young to understand," thinking perhaps that wouldn't go over too well with his new wife.

But maybe I actually WAS too young to understand. I always like to tease him about the age difference between us. When I was twelve, and still reading Babysitter's Club books, he was a senior in high school. Five years is a big deal in Pop Culture. While my husband lived and breathed the success of Michael Jackson's career, by the time I made it into high school, and really started defining my own musical tastes, Michael Jackson was more of an enigma. I knew who he was. I knew he was popular. But I didn't really "know" his music. Plop me down in the middle of a high school where there is quite a bit of truck driving and country music listening, and well, maybe my ignorance was more circumstantial than anything else.

Okay, so who else went to high school from 1995, to the ever so wonderful graduation year of 1999? (Or thereabouts?) Help a girl out. Was my lack of Michael Jackson awareness simply timing? Or did I really just grow up under a rock?