I had my first recurring nightmares in preschool. They involved the witch from Disney’s Snow White waiting to snatch me in my laundry room. Sleep is a major mindfuck for most children. I was convinced I didn’t sleep until I was three because I couldn’t remember it. But I’ve had vivid dreams and bad nights since, at least, then.

In December my friend Paul posted on Twitter, “when you finally ‘get’ the britney spears song HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME like 15 years after hearing it for the first time.” This had been on my mind too: how “…Baby One More Time” had started to strike me as very deep and very sad. Spears’ first single is comfortably one of the most important pop songs of all time. The song and its iconic…