30 Years Wiser and Required Reading.
August 13, 2007. This is the day I will be turning thirty years old.
Thirty years. That's quite a long time to have spent alive. Three decades. 33.33333333% of a century. Six counts of five years. More days than I plan on calculating. More than a third of my life passed, as I don't fully expect to reach ninety years old. If I do, I'll come back here and edit this entry.
I know people tend to worry or freak out or tense up or enter a complete state of denial about getting older. For some reason, it scares them. I guess for some people it's the One Year Closer To Death thing. Others, maybe it's a longing for the days of youth, what with little to no responsibility. True, when you're young the only things you really need to worry about what time Mom said to come home, and whether or not Dad will leave a dirty mag lying around that you can sequester yourself with for a few days.
Perhaps it has to do with what one perceives as their own physical attraction to members of the opposite sex (or the same, if you go that way). I'm Getting Older So No One Wants To Do Me kind of thing. Could it be they feel like as the years pass they are not allowed to act as they did before? Well, yes, that is the case, but you don't need to let everything go. Look at me. I have an extensive collection of graphic novels, and many toys adorning my desk, bathroom, and other various places in the house.
I just do not see the point in worrying about getting older. Why stress over something that you absolutely have no control over in any way, shape, or form? You can buy some skin cream to get rid of some wrinkles, but you're still going to age. Go ahead and buy you some hair coloring to hide those grays, or inject your face with the newest chemical distilled from sperm whale feces, but you're still going to add a 1 to your age come next year.
So who cares? Enjoy yourself. People worry about not having time to do the things they want with their life. People say life is short. One of the best things I've ever heard was from one of Chris Rock's stand up acts. I might be paraphrasing a bit here, but it's pretty damn close.
Thirty years. That's quite a long time to have spent alive. Three decades. 33.33333333% of a century. Six counts of five years. More days than I plan on calculating. More than a third of my life passed, as I don't fully expect to reach ninety years old. If I do, I'll come back here and edit this entry.
I know people tend to worry or freak out or tense up or enter a complete state of denial about getting older. For some reason, it scares them. I guess for some people it's the One Year Closer To Death thing. Others, maybe it's a longing for the days of youth, what with little to no responsibility. True, when you're young the only things you really need to worry about what time Mom said to come home, and whether or not Dad will leave a dirty mag lying around that you can sequester yourself with for a few days.
Perhaps it has to do with what one perceives as their own physical attraction to members of the opposite sex (or the same, if you go that way). I'm Getting Older So No One Wants To Do Me kind of thing. Could it be they feel like as the years pass they are not allowed to act as they did before? Well, yes, that is the case, but you don't need to let everything go. Look at me. I have an extensive collection of graphic novels, and many toys adorning my desk, bathroom, and other various places in the house.
I just do not see the point in worrying about getting older. Why stress over something that you absolutely have no control over in any way, shape, or form? You can buy some skin cream to get rid of some wrinkles, but you're still going to age. Go ahead and buy you some hair coloring to hide those grays, or inject your face with the newest chemical distilled from sperm whale feces, but you're still going to add a 1 to your age come next year.
So who cares? Enjoy yourself. People worry about not having time to do the things they want with their life. People say life is short. One of the best things I've ever heard was from one of Chris Rock's stand up acts. I might be paraphrasing a bit here, but it's pretty damn close.
"Life is not short. Life is loooong. Life is the longest thing you will ever do."
Amen. You see old people around, right? Chances are you know some old people, have old relatives, or maybe you're old yourself reading this really close to the screen with thick glasses and a diaper on. Maybe your grandkid left on this new-fangled contraption and you're just trying to see what the hell this Internet thing is all about. These old people you see, for the most part, how do they look?
I'll tell you how they look. They look Fucking Tired. They have lived through 80 years worth of life, and are now officially Fucking Tired. They are usually hunched. They fall asleep while watching local news. I know this, I have two grandparents both well into their 80's. I love them dearly, and wish they could be there always to be as good to my children as they were to me. But they are tired. Their day consists mainly of getting up, going to the couch, watching more Law & Order and CSI than should be legally permitted, then going to bed. They love seeing all the kids, they enjoy a visit at any time, and always have a kind word. I love them, but they are Fucking Tired.
So stop bitching about growing old. Stop worrying about it. It's going to happen. You are going to grow so old you won't believe it. Your grandkids will marvel at pictures of you when you were young and not be able to believe that woman in the picture hugging that guy in the picture with a beer in his hand and a Transformers t-shirt on is actually Grammy and Gramps. Eventually, you are going to be so old you won't be able to get any older. This is when you will pass on from this life.
What you should think about now is how you will be spending the time in between now and then.
I used to have a sticker on my old car that read: QUITCHERBITCHIN. I loved that sticker.
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My Mother emailed me the covers to some new kids books that are coming out. I tell you, they've sure changed the required reading since I was a young schoolboy, eager to get to 5th grade reading because I had a 5th grade crush on my student teacher, Ms. Moffit. She made me love the Hobbit. She also made my body do weird things at night.
It's still doing them and I cannot figure it out.
Amen. You see old people around, right? Chances are you know some old people, have old relatives, or maybe you're old yourself reading this really close to the screen with thick glasses and a diaper on. Maybe your grandkid left on this new-fangled contraption and you're just trying to see what the hell this Internet thing is all about. These old people you see, for the most part, how do they look?
I'll tell you how they look. They look Fucking Tired. They have lived through 80 years worth of life, and are now officially Fucking Tired. They are usually hunched. They fall asleep while watching local news. I know this, I have two grandparents both well into their 80's. I love them dearly, and wish they could be there always to be as good to my children as they were to me. But they are tired. Their day consists mainly of getting up, going to the couch, watching more Law & Order and CSI than should be legally permitted, then going to bed. They love seeing all the kids, they enjoy a visit at any time, and always have a kind word. I love them, but they are Fucking Tired.
So stop bitching about growing old. Stop worrying about it. It's going to happen. You are going to grow so old you won't believe it. Your grandkids will marvel at pictures of you when you were young and not be able to believe that woman in the picture hugging that guy in the picture with a beer in his hand and a Transformers t-shirt on is actually Grammy and Gramps. Eventually, you are going to be so old you won't be able to get any older. This is when you will pass on from this life.
What you should think about now is how you will be spending the time in between now and then.
I used to have a sticker on my old car that read: QUITCHERBITCHIN. I loved that sticker.
_______________________________________________________________________________
My Mother emailed me the covers to some new kids books that are coming out. I tell you, they've sure changed the required reading since I was a young schoolboy, eager to get to 5th grade reading because I had a 5th grade crush on my student teacher, Ms. Moffit. She made me love the Hobbit. She also made my body do weird things at night.
It's still doing them and I cannot figure it out.
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