Still waiting to grow up

Sometimes I forget that I'm now in my 30s.

I'll be watching some person on telly, and they'll make some pop culture reference that I connect with, and I'll go... hang on, we're the same age (range)?! For example, on tonight's show, Rove McManus remarks to Carrie Bickmore that New Kids on the Block won't be touring Australia after all (blaming it on the financial crisis - although Pink and John Farnham haven't had the same problem). Carrie reacts with disappointment, saying her girlfriends had been asking if she could get free tickets for them.

And I'm like, Aah, so you're from that era. Wait, I'm from that era. What are you doing, being on telly, on the most successful celebrity talk show in the country, sharing a couch with international stars? It's bizarre, seeing people my age being blatantly successful. Not like it hasn't been going on before now, but there's something disconcerting about the realisation that I'm no longer watching people older than me, and that the people I admire are actually at the same life stage.

I remember having this epiphany when I discovered that Angelina Jolie was only two years older than me. I was absolutely astounded, because there I was, thinking, Gee, when I grow up, I'd lurve to be like her, all beautiful and talented and clever and humanitarian. Well... actually, I've wanted to grow up to be like Lisa Simpson, but I admire them both for roughly similar reasons.

The point is, it feels like I must still be waiting to grow up, when people my age are already accomplishing great things (and not just in showbiz). I know my own achievements, and am quite proud of them, but I do feel like a kid still, going through the motions of being a grownup.

Maybe it's a Gen X thing.