In a Flash

The older I get, the more I realize I'm getting older. When I listen to the radio or look through magazines, there's a whole new crop of singers, bands, and actors that I don't know. I'm not familiar with their music, their shows, or their movies.

The other night I sat down to watch the recording of Oprah's kick-off to her 24th season. I had heard she blocked off part of Michigan Avenue to have a concert, but really hadn't heard much more. When I saw that the Black Eyed Peas were performing I was a little more excited. They are one of those groups you think you kind-of like until you look at your iTunes library and realize you must really like them because you've got a bunch of their music.

So they were the first performers on, and to Oprah's surprise and mine, they had coordinated about 800 fans in the crowd to do a choreographed dance to their new song I Gotta Feeling. Since I knew nothing about it, it was really cool to watch unfold. If you haven't seen it yet, see for yourself. (Although I have to say...it looked better on our high def t.v., but you'll get the idea.)

Here's where my aging comes in again. Apparently this is called a flashmob. It's when a large group of people assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, and then disperse. By its own name and definition it is something that comes and goes quickly. Had I not seen this episode of Oprah, it is quite possible that I would have lived my entire life not ever knowing what a flashmob was.

The more I think about it...I'm okay with that.