Jim who?

It's a bad sign when one finds oneself confused by tv commercials.

There's this I-Pod Nano commercial in which the camera never moves from a close-up on a woman's torso, as her hands clip her Nano here and there, while this really quite interesting song plays. Something about "I want a girl with a something something and a long, looong. . . jacket." I like the song. But what I don't know is, is it really a song? Or is it just something made up for a cool I-Pod commercial? Who's singing? Should I know this? Does everyone know this--except elderly out-of-touch folks like me? Have I become the 21st century equivalent of that person who doesn't realize that the "I can see for miles and miles and miles" on the Windex commercial is actually a Who song? or the "Our house, is a very very very fine house" on the commercial for umm, something to do with houses, is really a Crosby, Stills, and Nash song? And is the fact that I remember those commercials--which probably haven't been on for years, now that I think about it--is that fact yet one more reason for despair?

And yet--I remember returning to Chicago from six months' Ph.D. research in London. 1985. I was 25--thin, fit, sexy, definitely not elderly or out of touch. This commercial for scooters--the Vespa type, not those metal kid things--came on and there was this guy, this really horrible actor, pitching the scooter. I turned to my then-boyfriend and complained, "Geez louise, what were they thinking when they hired that guy?" And Boyfriend stared at me in amazement, shook his head, and then said in this horribly patronizing tone (which really summed up the whole relationship but let's not go there), "My dear, you have got to be the only person in this entire city who doesn't recognize Jim McMahon." "Jim who?" I replied.
[In case you, like me, are clueless: In 1985, the Chicago Bears won the Superbowl. And Jim McMahon was The Quarterback. If that explanation doesn't help, if you don't understand the significance of the Superbowl and have no idea why a quarterback is important, well, hey, let's get together and can I marry and have babies with you?]

It helps to remember that I can't remember Jim McMahon. After all, I chalk up lots of things these days to menopause and aging, and get frustrated and anxious and angry. Which is pretty dopey because a. really, there's only one alternative to growing old, and really, is that what I want? and b. actually, I've been doing or not doing most of this stuff most of my life. As Keith has frequently reminded me, if I should be afflicted with Alzheimer's, who will notice?