It's 1990.
Reagan just finished up his time in office, and G.W. Bush is settling into the White House.
Wilson Philips was telling you to "Hold On," and Sinead shaved her head and cried to "Nothing Compares 2 U."
Me? I'm five years old and sitting front row at the national tour of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Rock Show in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Thanks to Buzzfeed for these gems (click for article).
Who's the Shredder now, Raph?
How does a kid get this sweet hookup? Turns out, when your dad helps restore a studio barn for one of the creators of the TMNT there are a few perks involved.
My parents got a babysitter and attended the premiere of the 2nd movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" in downtown Northampton. They also bought a Civic hatchback from from one of the creators, which our family held on to until I was in middle school.
The TMNT indoctrination was real. I still have my concert tee.
This all becomes very important fourteen years later when I meet my future husband in college. As we get to know one another, I slowly learn just how much of a TMNT fan he is. At the age of 19, he wears TMNT t-shirts, he has TMNT boxers, he and his friend have BFF TMNT walkie-talkies. I should have had a candid camera going when I told him my TMNT connection secrets.
For reasons other than turtles, we got married in 2011. He has since been to my hometown of Northampton a few times, and enjoyed some perks of his own courtesy of the TMNT.
Like his 30th birthday party, which was Donatello themed (his fav turtle, of course).
And his Christmas present from 2015:
Team Donatello: almost every iteration of my husband's favorite turtle that has existed, including the original comic design where the turtle brothers were only distinguishable by their weapon of choice. Donnie's is a bo staff.
It started by locating references images off Google search, then editing and arranging them in Photoshop to get just the right feeling of Team Donatello. The greatest challenges were translating the non-animated Donnies to a 2-D world. I felt slightly cramped by my assortment of marker colors, and looking back I should have scanned the line art to practice a few times before the final inking.
Criticism aside, my husband was speechless (which is rare) and now has a one-of-a-kind mast head for his TMNT gallery in the Man Cave, as every avid TMNT fan should.