Happy Birthday, Mariah!

For the record, she's 39 this year, not 40. The magazines should really put more effort into finding out how old someone is before publishing it for the world to see. They claim it's only 1 year of difference, but anyone who's turned 40 could tell you it makes a world of difference.

To commemorate her 39th birthday, here's a list of the 39 things (I know, it scares me too) I love about Mariah:

1. Her whistle note, of course
2. Her melismatic way of singing
3. Her Guinness World Records
4. The fact that she co-wrote or wrote every song she's ever sung, with the exception of covers
5. Her 18 Billboard number 1s
6. She's Artist of the Millennium
7. Her amazing New York apartment
8. Jack, her Jack-Russel terrier. Very original name, I know.
9. Her festiveness
10. Her widespread influence
11. Her racial ambiguity ("Is she black? Is she white?")
12. Her amazing duets
13. How conservative and traditional she is
14. Her acting abilities
15. Her bad taste in men (Mottola, Cannon, Miguel...)
16. She's Artist of the Decade (the craziest acceptance speech I've ever seen)
17. 'Hero'
18. Her very dramatic performances
19. How she refuses to let old sluts like Madonna get the best of her
20. Her symbolic and meaningful music videos
21. All of her 11 albums
22. Her strength in overcoming the devil that is Mottola
23. Her refusal to give up acting even after this
24. Her dancing abilities
25. Her magnanimity
26. Her inspirational songs
27. She endorses Obama
28. Her belting
29. She has an evil alter ego
30. She has a hidden talent
31. She dresses up as the weirdest things for Halloween (bride, firefighter, cookie, mermaid..)
32. Her elaborate tours
33. Her weird laughter
34. She has insane fans
35. She can poke fun at herself
36. She sings 'Happy Birthday' too
37. She does great charity work
38. She's nice enough to sing background for her background singer
39. And finally, because she's Mariah Carey

Happy birthday, Mariah!