Happy 30th Birthday, Britney!

My sordid past with Britney Spears has filled many-a-pixel here before, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t wish the gal a happy birthday.

Admittedly, just a few short years ago most people—myself included—didn’t expect Britney to live to see her 30th birthday.

Despite falling off the deep-end for most of her mid-20s, she is still undoubtedly the most influential pop-star of my generation and was—for a good five year stretch around the turn of the century—the biggest sex symbol of the my generation as well.

I spent hundreds of dollars on her CDs and posters and even her abysmal movie when I was in high school. I think one could safely say that I was her biggest male fan in the greater Northwest Iowa region for years. She laid the groundwork for my ongoing obsession with pretty blonde singers of high-school girl music and for that I shall always be eternally grateful…and mocked.

She’s getting a lot of well-deserved kudos and shout-outs today and I don’t want to make a big deal about it, because of our history and all that, but I just wanted to wish her a happy birthday and a pleasant “how you doin’” head nod.