What was going on when I was born?

CHRISTOPHE DE MENIL has been living in her East Side town house for 20 years and it's almost, but not quite, completed. That's partly because she was only a tenant for several years and partly because she had no clear vision of what she wanted her home to look like. Nor could she simply turn over the design to an architect or a decorator. She comes from a family of art collectors and patrons of the arts, has devoted herself for many years to nourishing undiscovered talent, especially in music and dance, and last year became an artist of sorts herself, designing a line of extravagant evening clothes. With that background, it was natural for her to work with several artists in the design of her home and to be involved in every esthetic decision from the selection of the furniture to the exact height of the countertop work space in the kitchen to the presence of a swimming pool on the first floor.

''I feel stunned, shocked and ashamed by what has happened. It is a night of shame for Liverpool.

An 11th-hour bid by a Cincinnati savings and loan association for the Home State Savings Bank was accepted by Ohio savings and loan officials yesterday. That ended the effort by the Chemical New York Corporation to establish a full-service commercial bank in the state. The winning bid was submitted by the Hunter Savings Association, a subsidiary of the American Financial Corporation, which is controlled by Carl H. Lindner, the Cincinnati financier. It came only hours before a Tuesday night deadline on offers for Home State, which closed its doors in early March after runs on its accounts by depositors.

A new Reagan Administration program to subsidize farm exports has upset United States allies in Europe and has drawn an unexpectedly cool reaction from American farmers, who say it has already depressed prices for their wheat and other commodities. In addition, the program has deeply divided the Administration. Agriculture Secretary John R. Block supports it as a way to help American farmers regain foreign markets. But the State Department, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the United States Trade Representative have expressed serious doubts about the wisdom and efficacy of the program. Under the program, announced May 15, the United States will give away $2 billion of Government-owned surplus commodities as bonuses to stimulate foreign buying of American farm products in the next three years. Details of the program have not yet been worked out. The bonuses are presumably designed to give foreign purchasers more for their money and to help American exporters undercut foreign competition by selling at reduced prices.

THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1985 The Tax Revision Plan Resistance to President Reagan's plan to redesign the income tax system started taking shape, with Congressional critics and lobbyists protesting particular elements. But Mr. Reagan warned that item-by-item revision of his proposal could endanger a ''historic'' attempt to make the tax law fairer. [Page A1.] Submitting the plan to Congress, he defended its more contentious aspects, including the repeal of state and local deductions. [A16.] Top officials in New York State, meanwhile, warned that Albany and local government swould come under fierce pressure to cut its taxes and the services those taxes pay for if the President's plan passes unaltered. [A1.]

King Hussein said today that Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization were now in agreement on holding peace talks with Israel under the ''umbrella'' of an international conference. After a meeting with President Reagan, the Jordanian leader also said the P.L.O., after years of refusing to do so, agreed that the talks be held on the basis of ''the pertinent United Nations resolutions, including Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338,'' which sought to establish a framework for peace. For the last 10 years, acceptance of the two resolutions has been stated by the United States as a condition for American dealings with the P.L.O. Jordan has always accepted the two resolutions, but the P.L.O has balked. Statement Called 'Significant' A senior American official termed the King's statement ''significant'' but said the United States would need an ''unequivocal'' statement from the P.L.O. itself before acting on it.