like all 24-54 year old women ...

recently a local radio station switched formats. they dumped all their fergie and justin timberlake, irreverant morning show personalities and booming repetitious kia commercials in favor of the likes of lionel ritchie -- who incidentally ushered in 92.1 FM's format change with one of my personal favorites: "hello." 92.1 FM is now a soft rock station. while this song-choice is not nearly as punk rock as when KJ104 FM out of minneapolis reverse-evolved from joy division to the billy ray cyrus genre in 1992 -- signing off the former with REM's "end of the world as we know it" -- 92.1 FM's inagural song was a cute gesture.

i've never denied that i'm a bit of a lionel ritchieist.

when it comes to radio, i'm typically a public radio sort. not only do i enjoy the soft drones of a pledge drive and the way ira flato freaks on science friday, i also consider it one way of making sure i'm not standing in line at target, giddy about this lime green champion sports bra, when something big has happened out there in the world.

this format change on 92.1 FM may mark a format change in my lifestyle.

the first song i heard on the new soft rock 92.1 FM was "true" by spandeau ballet. the second was "i've had the time of my life," sung by bill medley and jennifer warnes. i've also heard: "stuck on you" by lionel ritchie, "faithfully," by journey, "in the air tonight," by phil collins, "you've got a friend," by james taylor and "i'll have to say i love you with a song," by jim croce. more recent soft rock instant classics have included: "unwritten," by natasha bedingfield and "she will be loved" by maroon 5.

this music reminds me of, in no specific order:

roller skating in my parent's unfinished basement; listening to the xanadu record with my head smooshed in a pair of my aunt's gigantic, futuristic headphones; a pair of jean shorts cuffed at the knee; waiting in the car for my mom to get groceries; seventh grade mixers. ballet on ice.

additionally, the format change marks the return of the nationally syndicated "delilah" show, where a soft-hearted creature channels kasey kasem's "long distance dedications," tugging listeners sympathy ducts with the equivilent of a soft-rock magic 8 ball: boyfriend falsely imprisoned for lifting twinkies from a pump 'n' munch? delilah can make you forget with "nothing's going to change my love for you" by glenn medeiros.

according to the new radio station, they have targeted a certain demographic within this format change: women between the ages of 24-54. granted, they have cast a pretty wide net -- or should i say maxi pad -- in determining their audience, but this is where i get uncomfortable.

i hate being part of a demographic. just because i'm between the ages of 24-54 doesn't mean i'm going to like that station. i do, but still.

i hate that if i pulled up at a stoplight next to the station manager and i was cooing along, bobbing my head to "rocket man" by elton john, the station manager would nod and say "yup. i knew it." i hate that they are right about me. i don't necessarily have the interests of a 24-54 year old woman. lean cuisines are geared toward my demographic and i don't eat them; unbridled enthusiasm for bed and breakfasts is probably a key interest of my demographic, but you don't see me walking around with creases in my cheek from a night of snoozing on a decorative pillow with "i'd rather be golfing" cross-stitched into it.

[i do, however, like creating profiles for certain demographics, and then getting all judgey mcjudgerstein about it. i wonder if that is standard practice for 24-54 year old women?]