What About Age?

[Jack of Hearts]

This poster is fast approaching his twenty-third birthday. Thinking about that has prompted some interesting questions. How about these:

How do you feel about your age now?

If you could go back in time and talk to a younger you (say, approximately 23 years old), what would you say to him or her? If you're younger than that, pick a different age.

What is the value of experience?

For this reader's part, he feels his age is confusing and officially 'old.' 18 is gone. 21 is over. All that leaves is a mid-life crisis, death and taxes.

If he could speak to a younger version of himself, he would tell the kid to lighten up. Strangely, he thinks an older version of himself would also say that to the present version of himself.

And finally, experience is invaluable. Sure, sharp rational faculties are important, but experience is the treasure paid into those faculties with time. There is simply no substitute- but experience is wasted when it passes through us without reflection, this reader thinks, hence the need for the faculties that disseminate it.

What do you think?

[BienvenuJDC]

Age is but a number. You are as old as you consider yourself. I myself at age 38 am more defined by my current life situation, than a number.

[Virgil]

This poster is fast approaching his twenty-third birthday. Thinking about that has prompted some interesting questions. How about these:

Well congratulations. Twenty-three was the age I graduated college and first went out into the real world.



How do you feel about your age now?
Given that I'm two months away from turning 50, I would say, geez, how did it go by so fast? :lol: I'm not at a bad age, but frankly I wish it would all stop or slow down.


If you could go back in time and talk to a younger you (say, approximately 23 years old), what would you say to him or her? If you're younger than that, pick a different age.
That's a great question. I would say, don't be so cocky. Book smart is not worth all that much in the real world. A diploma gets you a job (if you're lucky) but doing well at that job requires common sense, an ability to work with others, and a shrewdness that no book will ever endow you with. And remember, knowledge is not wisdom.


What is the value of experience?
Lots. The human mind learns so much more than facts, equations, and principles. You can't teach experience.


For this reader's part, he feels his age is confusing and officially 'old.' 18 is gone. 21 is over. All that leaves is a mid-life crisis, death and taxes.
:lol: You mean you haven't paid taxes yet? I was shocked into awareness when I turned 30. I realized then i was no longer a kid, or I couldn't consider myself one. I became paralyzed with fear when I turned 40, thinking half my life was gone. Not sure how I'll feel in a couple of months. At 23, I'd say, chill out. I remember really enjoying being 25. You haven't even reached that yet.


If he could speak to a younger version of himself, he would tell the kid to lighten up. Strangely, he thinks an older version of himself would also say that to the present version of himself.
What comes to mind is to tell that young person to never stop exploring. I'm reminded of a TS Eliot quote from one of my favorite poems.



We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.


But exploration is not just a physical journey. Exploration includes the most hum drum of life. My greatest discovery is my relationship with my child.


And finally, experience is invaluable. Sure, sharp rational faculties are important, but experience is the treasure paid into those faculties with time. There is simply no substitute- but experience is wasted when it passes through us without reflection, this reader thinks, hence the need for the faculties that disseminate it.
That's pretty wise for a twenty-three year old.


What do you think?
I think life keeps moving and waits for no one.

[Delta40]

You couldn't pay me to be 23 again!

I would say, slow down and trust that you will become more defined with each passing year.

[OrphanPip]

I feel ancient at 24. Also, it's starting to feel creepy to hit on 18 year olds.

[Abookinthebath]

I'm 31 and I think I'm actually regressing back into my 20s! Apparently 30 is supposed to be painful....nah, Its a state of mind! I feel great!! (although the knees complain every now and again...)

To my younger self I would say 'You're on the right path, keep going!'

The value of experience - immeasurable. I was a manger at 19 and could barely tie my own shoelaces! Going back to that job now, I am sure I would be far more competent! Or in fact, looking back even 3 or 4 years, I was nowhere near as good at my job as I am now - I had the basic training and have developed through experience as much as any formal training.....


Damn - a 23 year old feeling old.......Get out and party! :party: (Yay, I get to use this smiley again!!)

[PoeticPassions]

I am 26, and I feel kind of old. My joints are creaky, my back hurts, I'm grumpy if I do not get enough sleep, and I get horrible hangovers (which did not used to happen), and am not able to stay up all night partying anymore. So... I'd say I would like to go back to being 19, briefly, but with my 26-year old experience and mind. I think I'd make some different choices. What would I say to myself though?
I'd say, 'Don't worry so much about everything. It will be okay. And remember, respect yourself and be honest with yourself.'

[MarkBastable]

If you could go back in time and talk to a younger you (say, approximately 23 years old), what would you say to him or her? If you're younger than that, pick a different age.


I'd say, "Don't be so responsible and moral. None of the things you decide not to do because you think they aren't 'right' will matter in the long run, except that, if you do them, you'll accumulate wider and more varied experience. Tend towards saying 'yes, why not?' as opposed to 'umm, I'm not sure that's such a good idea.'"

[Alexander III]

I feel ancient at 24. Also, it's starting to feel creepy to hit on 18 year olds.

I feel a strange admiration for you right now

[Emil Miller]

If you could go back in time and talk to a younger you (say, approximately 23 years old), what would you say to him or her?

I would say: "Stop letting other people do your thinking for you and start thinking for yourself."

[The Comedian]

You'll be fine. Just remember to mature as you age. There are few things more sad than seeing someone in his or her mid-20s doing things that teenagers do or a guy in his mid 30s (like me) acting like he's in his mid-20s.

If you grow with your years, you'll be able to look back at the time gone by and be glad with who you are and where you are. If you idolize your youth, you'll have a life a regret and longing ahead of you.

Than again, I'm over 35 myself, so by Thoreau's account, I've lost all credibility. ;)

[Buh4Bee]

Than again, I'm over 35 myself, so by Thoreau's account, I've lost all credibility. ;)

:seeya:

:lol::lol::lol:

[PoeticPassions]

You'll be fine. Just remember to mature as you age. There are few things more sad than seeing someone in his or her mid-20s doing things that teenagers do or a guy in his mid 30s (like me) acting like he's in his mid-20s.

If you grow with your years, you'll be able to look back at the time gone by and be glad with who you are and where you are. If you idolize your youth, you'll have a life a regret and longing ahead of you.

Than again, I'm over 35 myself, so by Thoreau's account, I've lost all credibility. ;)

Ah, bah, act how you feel, not how some number and society prescribes you should act. Of course, I am all for people taking on responsibility and being good human beings in general, but what's wrong with acting young once in a while?

And yes, you have lost all credibility... oldie :p :cornut:

[kasie]

Seize the day - it will never come again. Let no opportunity pass you by - lots of them never come again either.

23? Heavens, you've only just begun! There's so much ahead of you - just make sure you enjoy it. As the lady who taught me machine embroidery said, 'There are no mistakes, only modifications to the pattern you meant to make.'

Come to think of it, 29 was a pretty good age for me - I stayed there for some time until my hair colour made a liar of me....

[Helga]

do what you want as long as you can, I am only 25 but feel like I am 18, until I see the kids I used to babysit driving, that is scary! they seem to have grown up even though I didn't... also people usually think I am 18, that can be annoying!

[Vonny]

do what you want as long as you can, I am only 25 but feel like I am 18, until I see the kids I used to babysit driving, that is scary! they seem to have grown up even though I didn't... also people usually think I am 18, that can be annoying!

How funny, ditto for me! I don't feel 25 and people think I'm younger. Also I have a soft voice, so often when I answer the phone people will say, "May I speak to your mother?" Ack!

Well, the only difference for me is I didn't babysit.

[Emil Miller]

do what you want as long as you can, I am only 25 but feel like I am 18, until I see the kids I used to babysit driving, that is scary! they seem to have grown up even though I didn't... also people usually think I am 18, that can be annoying!

But you wont find it annoying when you reach 50 and people think you are 43.

[Delta40]

Relativity counts for so much here and how we identify ourselves at any age determines our behaviour. That is not to suggest that young people are beautifully naive - some of them have lived a lifetime I will never be subject to but the self-imposed standards we place on ourselves can steer our direction. Whetheer that means in a way that brings us satisfaction and contentment or living dangerousl

[Vonny]

Relativity counts for so much here and how we identify ourselves at any age determines our behaviour. That is not to suggest that young people are beautifully naive - some of them have lived a lifetime I will never be subject to but the self-imposed standards we place on ourselves can steer our direction. Whetheer that means in a way that brings us satisfaction and contentment or living dangerousl

Also, birth order - as someone said on another thread, he is the oldest of 5 children so he was an adult at 9 years of age. My oldest brother always says he was "born smoking a cigar." But then I'm the youngest by quite a bit, so it seems to them I'll always be "the baby," bleh!

[JuniperWoolf]

This poster is fast approaching his twenty-third birthday.

I'm twenty-three too. You shouldn't feel "old" yet, middle-aged people are still condescending when you're twenty-three.


How do you feel about your age now?

I think I like 23. I'm at my physical peak, and should be for the next five years or so. I can support myself, I can legally drink, buy cigarettes and possess marijuana, and I'm much less gross and resentful than I was as a teenager.


If you could go back in time and talk to a younger you (say, approximately 23 years old), what would you say to him or her? If you're younger than that, pick a different age.

1. Don't be afraid to get hit, most people are all talk anyway.
2. Don't worry, your boobs grow in when you're seventeen.
3. You find out that you like science in grade eleven, so start paying attention in math now for when you study biology in university.

[Delta40]

Also, birth order - as someone said on another thread, he is the oldest of 5 children so he was an adult at 9 years of age. My oldest brother always says he was "born smoking a cigar." But then I'm the youngest by quite a bit, so it seems to them I'll always be "the baby," bleh!

Great point Vonny. I'm the only girl and the baby. In my adult life, that has been a playing card when the chips are down to discredit what I have to say about something - especially family affairs.

When my eldest brother found out some years ago that my mother had borne a child before him but was forced to adopt him out, he was really affected by this and could not speak to my Mum for quite some time about it. I only bothered me about the pain she must have felt being 16 and forced to give up a child against her will but I think his sense of place was thrown out with his sense of security in the the family dynamic if you understand what I mean.

[jajdude]

Hmm, Jack, for some reason I imagined you as older.

[tonywalt]

I feel ancient at 24. Also, it's starting to feel creepy to hit on 18 year olds.

You should be so lucky hitting on 18 year olds. I can't say I could Top that....

[Buh4Bee]

This poster is fast approaching his twenty-third birthday. Thinking about that has prompted some interesting questions. How about these:

How do you feel about your age now?

If you could go back in time and talk to a younger you (say, approximately 23 years old), what would you say to him or her? If you're younger than that, pick a different age.

What is the value of experience?

For this reader's part, he feels his age is confusing and officially 'old.' 18 is gone. 21 is over. All that leaves is a mid-life crisis, death and taxes.

If he could speak to a younger version of himself, he would tell the kid to lighten up. Strangely, he thinks an older version of himself would also say that to the present version of himself.

And finally, experience is invaluable. Sure, sharp rational faculties are important, but experience is the treasure paid into those faculties with time. There is simply no substitute- but experience is wasted when it passes through us without reflection, this reader thinks, hence the need for the faculties that disseminate it.

What do you think?

My apologies, if this post feels like if I am directing this at you personally, Jack. That is not my intention, I just see too many of these posts and get annoyed. So here's my "Jersey" response:

I say don't think about it so much. Just go out and do it. If you need to be reassured that 23 is not old, I think plenty of people on here have made that point.

What's the problem? You have to leave college and enter the real world? So what, everyone does it and survives.

This poster doesn't see why young people complain. It sort of insults me, as an "older" peer. (36 years old)

Be cool, and happy birthday, Jack.

[Jack of Hearts]

Thank you all for sharing. Read this post, there’s a response for each of you.



Twenty-three was the age I graduated college and first went out into the real world.
This was highlighted for the use of the ‘real world’ concept. Check the response to Buh4Bee, who also mentioned it, if you’re interested that line of inquiry at all (which was not so much the point of your whole post, this reader knows).


And remember, knowledge is not wisdom.
Well said.


But exploration is not just a physical journey. Exploration includes the most hum drum of life. My greatest discovery is my relationship with my child.
This reader isn’t sure he understands what you mean…


Lots. The human mind learns so much more than facts, equations, and principles. You can't teach experience.
But what is this curious piece? It seems to act like glue and make everything cohesive…


I think life keeps moving and waits for no one.
That feels like truth. All things must pass.


I would say, slow down and trust that you will become more defined with each passing year.
Why is definition important? What is it? When you were younger, did you feel you lacked it? This was a curious response…


I feel ancient at 24. Also, it's starting to feel creepy to hit on 18 year olds.
You don’t have to be gay to like Bowie. It just helps.


To my younger self I would say 'You're on the right path, keep going!'

The value of experience - immeasurable. I was a manger at 19 and could barely tie my own shoelaces! Going back to that job now, I am sure I would be far more competent! Or in fact, looking back even 3 or 4 years, I was nowhere near as good at my job as I am now - I had the basic training and have developed through experience as much as any formal training.....
Such brazen assuredness. This reader likes it. And there’s something to that second bit, about experience. Again, though, this process is mystical so far. What is experience? Did you have to disseminate it to get any benefit from it? Is there a possibility that its just hindsight bias, and that time has passed and you are no more competent then than you are now? Big questions, these. Much interested in your response.


I think I'd make some different choices. What would I say to myself though?
I'd say, 'Don't worry so much about everything. It will be okay. And remember, respect yourself and be honest with yourself.'
What has changed your mind about these choices that you’d make differently? Just the effects that came of them? Or the way you reasoned them out at the time? And your advice to your younger self… what do you mean by respect and be honest with yourself? Were there elements of self-deception at play in your youth? Was there are process to defeating them?


I'd say, "Don't be so responsible and moral. None of the things you decide not to do because you think they aren't 'right' will matter in the long run, except that, if you do them, you'll accumulate wider and more varied experience. Tend towards saying 'yes, why not?' as opposed to 'umm, I'm not sure that's such a good idea.'"
Leave it to the man dressed like Heath Ledger’s Joker to bring in the element of moral nihilism. But this reader agrees and has to respect your intellect for articulating this so well. In high school, this reader was obsessed first with religion and then, when that failed, Immanuel Kant. Trying to live ‘morally’ in those systems is expensive and there are many regrets in terms of forfeiting life experience.

But here’s a metaphor for metaethics. Everytime you try to kick the dirty dog out the front door he hops the gate and sneaks back in through the back. So the next logical question…

Why not heroin, Mark? Why not murder, if you can get away with it? This reader has never experienced either of those. Pretty varied and wide out in the left field compared to normal, run of the day stuff. Where’s the line drawn for acquiring experiences?


I feel a strange admiration for you right now.
If we take this out of context, it looks like it’s about the original poster.


I would say: "Stop letting other people do your thinking for you and start thinking for yourself."
And, in your eyes, what were the implications of living a life where you let others do ‘your thinking’? While we’re at, what do you mean by ‘do your thinking’? Are you talking about being given moral values? And if so, is part of growing up breaking from these values and forming your own?


You'll be fine. Just remember to mature as you age. There are few things more sad than seeing someone in his or her mid-20s doing things that teenagers do or a guy in his mid 30s (like me) acting like he's in his mid-20s.

If you grow with your years, you'll be able to look back at the time gone by and be glad with who you are and where you are. If you idolize your youth, you'll have a life a regret and longing ahead of you.
This reader was a little confused about this response. What part of the original post it is responding to isn’t explicit. That said, there’s a lot of interesting parts in here.
How can a person ‘remember to mature’? Is maturing a process we will upon ourselves? That seems a little quirky… can you elaborate? But this reader agrees that a lack of maturity in conspicuous form is pathetic. And you sir seem to be dead on with your statement about idolizing youth. But isn’t easy to do?


Seize the day - it will never come again. Let no opportunity pass you by - lots of them never come again either.

As the lady who taught me machine embroidery said, 'There are no mistakes, only modifications to the pattern you meant to make.'
Especially liked the bit about modifiyng the pattern… but the addage about seizing the day, never miss an opportunity… life seems a little more complex than that. It seems you must choose between the things you will do as they present themselves. But how do you choose? That seems like a worthy question…


do what you want as long as you can
Like it a lot.


1. Don't be afraid to get hit, most people are all talk anyway.
2. Don't worry, your boobs grow in when you're seventeen.
3. You find out that you like science in grade eleven, so start paying attention in math now for when you study biology in university.
Another person who seems quite self assured. It doesn’t feel like anything has passed you by? Your whole post gives no indication that you feel angst about the passage of time. If this is the case, it’s very interesting.


Hmm, Jack, for some reason I imagined you as older.
Sorry.


I say don't think about it so much. Just go out and do it. If you need to be reassured that 23 is not old, I think plenty of people on here have made that point.

What's the problem? You have to leave college and enter the real world? So what, everyone does it and survives.

This poster doesn't see why young people complain. It sort of insults me, as an "older" peer. (36 years old)
This reader needs no such reassurance. In many regards, 23 is too old. If it existed, this reader would want the reassurance that he’s laying a solid foundation for a flourishing life, intellectually and otherwise- but he doesn’t think anyone is in an epistemic position to provide the reassurance.

There’s no real ‘problem’ to solve, nor a complaint, just the hope of having fruitful conversation. This reader, in the original post, provided answers to his own questions to get the ball rolling. Now, in the name of enjoyable discourse and expression, it’s your turn to tell anyone viewing the thread about yourself. And then someone may respond, and add something of their own, and we continue as best we can.

And the bit about the ‘real world’… referred Virgil to here, if he wants to respond, as well anybody else who feels like it.

Having financed his own education, and having worked more than full time while doing so, this reader views the concept of the real world in a slightly different way. Often, when an older person says something about the ‘real world’ to a younger person, they mean something about responisibility and maitaining a job or family- a degree of responsibility eschewed until after college or something. But this reader thought the ‘real world’ began when old answers fell away and new ones had to be searched for. Struggling with your own existence, having to find answers in your own life, etc. Whatever these pressures that come with living are, they arise in the ethically conscious person. And addressing these sorts of questions, for this reader, has always been infinitely more difficult than polishing off eight hours, or making rent or a car payment.

So what’s your guys’ real world? Is it totally different?

[Buh4Bee]

This reader needs no such reassurance. In many regards, 23 is too old. If it existed, this reader would want the reassurance that he’s laying a solid foundation for a flourishing life, intellectually and otherwise- but he doesn’t think anyone is in an epistemic position to provide the reassurance.

Correct, I think that kind of reassurance needs to come from a family member and better yet, a parent.

There’s no real ‘problem’ to solve, nor a complaint, just the hope of having fruitful conversation. This reader, in the original post, provided answers to his own questions to get the ball rolling. Now, in the name of enjoyable discourse and expression, it’s your turn to tell anyone viewing the thread about yourself. And then someone may respond, and add something of their own, and we continue as best we can.

My perspective on life is this; life is a box of chocolate, you never know when you are going to get the coconut.

Having financed his own education, and having worked more than full time while doing so, this reader views the concept of the real world in a slightly different way. Often, when an older person says something about the ‘real world’ to a younger person, they mean something about responisibility and maitaining a job or family- a degree of responsibility eschewed until after college or something. But this reader thought the ‘real world’ began when old answers fell away and new ones had to be searched for. Struggling with your own existence, having to find answers in your own life, etc. Whatever these pressures that come with living are, they arise in the ethically conscious person. And addressing these sorts of questions, for this reader, has always been infinitely more difficult than polishing off eight hours, or making rent or a car payment.

I am sympathetic to the existential anxiety, but if a person is having one then one has too much time on one's hands. We are by far too self-centered. Self-reflection takes time. If you have no time, the problem goes away. This however, is not where you are coming from, so bare with me and let me explain further. Like you, I financed my second degree (not a full masters) by working as an assistant in an elementary school, and the public system paid my tuition. I see that you are no stranger to hard work. You get reality, but I suppose you are trying to figure “it” out. That is a whole different business than self-indulgent reflection. My advice, in this case, is to find something to believe in. I'm not necessarily talking religion, but something that will keep you grounded. A “something” that you can turn to when things are crap or even when they are good, but something that is ethically yours. Such example are the joy of sports, volunteering, writing, ect.

[MarkBastable]

Why not heroin, Mark? Why not murder, if you can get away with it? This reader has never experienced either of those. Pretty varied and wide out in the left field compared to normal, run of the day stuff. Where’s the line drawn for acquiring experiences?


Too absolutist a reading, I think. I didn't say 'be immoral'. I said 'be less moral'. And the kind of morals I wish I'd ignored are the prissy, it's-all-my-call morals that really were none of my business. So - for instance - 'yes, she wants me to come home with her, but she's a bit stoned and she only dumped her boyfriend two weeks ago, so she might regret a liaison with me - it's probably best to put her in a cab and then slip away alone into the night feeling quietly pleased with myself for being so considerate and responsible'.

Utterly wrong-headed, and a bit pompous too. And a terrible waste of a cab fare.


As to heroin, I like Dury's suggestion, which was to start doing it in heavily in your seventies, when it's too late to screw your life up.

[JuniperWoolf]

Another person who seems quite self assured. It doesn’t feel like anything has passed you by? Your whole post gives no indication that you feel angst about the passage of time. If this is the case, it’s very interesting.


Nah, I had a pretty wacky childhood. It felt more like I was dodging bullets than missing oppertunities. The passage of time has only affected me possitively in every respect.

[Abookinthebath]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Abookinthebath
To my younger self I would say 'You're on the right path, keep going!'

The value of experience - immeasurable. I was a manger at 19 and could barely tie my own shoelaces! Going back to that job now, I am sure I would be far more competent! Or in fact, looking back even 3 or 4 years, I was nowhere near as good at my job as I am now - I had the basic training and have developed through experience as much as any formal training.....


Such brazen assuredness. This reader likes it. And there’s something to that second bit, about experience. Again, though, this process is mystical so far. What is experience? Did you have to disseminate it to get any benefit from it? Is there a possibility that its just hindsight bias, and that time has passed and you are no more competent then than you are now? Big questions, these. Much interested in your response.

There is no hindsight bias. I made some bad decisions, that I would never make now. I was immature and perhaps didn't have the 'life experience' or the 'tools' to cope with certain situations. Although perhaps I would make different mistakes now!!

I know that I am better at my (current) job because of the experiences I have had (I am a firefighter, which may help explain that bit). For example, pitching a ladder at 3am in snow and force 9 gales, on a grassy slope to a 100 year old tenement block is not the same as doing it on a nice level piece of hard standing, against a nice purpose built tower on the drill square on a summers day. You adapt the techniques to suit and remember them for the next time.

I wouldn't describe the experience process as 'mystical' though.....I guess its all about walking before you can run and learning from your mistakes.

Passing on experience is essential in my opinion. As with reading a book, someone will always have a different opinion and may enhance your learning from a particular experience, or indeed take something away with which to improve themselves.

[Paulclem]

[QUOTE=JuniperWoolf;1083225]I'm twenty-three too. You shouldn't feel "old" yet, middle-aged people are still condescending when you're twenty-three.

./QUOTE]

Anyone who condescends to a 23 year old will condescend to everyone. There's no need for it, and people with more experience should know that.

I think it's hard to be young. Everything's up in the air - career, relationships, where to live etc etc. It's also exciting for the same reason.

I blagged my way through a lot of my late teens - twenties life. I was so sure of myself that it made up for a lack of experience. I got myself into situations where I could then develop experience. I don't think a lack of experience is necessarily a bad thing.

I would tell my younger self to stop drinking sometimes and try some of the other things on offer - like a bit of culture, and other places to visit. I missed a lot of opportunities.

I suspect, Jack, that the reason someone thought you were older is that your posts have depth.

[prendrelemick]

I'm 53 and at last I am beginning to feel a bit more mature than 12 on the inside. This is probably because I am getting "old".

[Vonny]

Great point Vonny. I'm the only girl and the baby. In my adult life, that has been a playing card when the chips are down to discredit what I have to say about something - especially family affairs.

When my eldest brother found out some years ago that my mother had borne a child before him but was forced to adopt him out, he was really affected by this and could not speak to my Mum for quite some time about it. I only bothered me about the pain she must have felt being 16 and forced to give up a child against her will but I think his sense of place was thrown out with his sense of security in the the family dynamic if you understand what I mean.

We have things in common.

A positive side to this statement is that they take automatically take care of things, such as funeral arrangements, so that when my mother dies I won't have to worry with all that. I don't even have to say, "I don't know how to select a casket!!" :confused:

Once when my cat had to be "put down," I was planning to go into the vet's office with my cat while he got euthanized, and my brother Mark said, "I don't think that's a good thing for you to do. I'll go in and do it for you, and then I'll bury your cat." I'm really glad I didn't have to do that myself.

Then a year or so later, his cat had to be put down. I said, "Do you want me to go in with your cat for you, since you went in with mine?" He said, "No, I'll do it, I don't think it would be good for you to do it."

[JuniperWoolf]

I was so sure of myself that it made up for a lack of experience. I got myself into situations where I could then develop experience.

Haha, that sounds like me. I go into something arrogant and cocksure, get the crap kicked out of me, then reconsider my strategy (or position, if we're speaking in a political or philisophical sense). It's only happened about a thousand times.

[Scheherazade]

I would tell my 23-year-old-self, please don't refer to yourself as "this reader"...

:D

Out of curiousity, why, Jack?

[Vonny]

I would tell my 23-year-old-self, please don't refer to yourself as "this reader"...

:D

Out of curiousity, why, Scher?

(Oh, I hope I don't get into trouble, but why could I call myself flippant and no one would notice at all, but he calls himself "this reader" and it raises eyebrows? This is facetious, really!)

[Scheherazade]

(Oh, I hope I don't get into trouble, [Off-topic]I really wish you stopped saying this, Vonny.

No one on this Forum "gets into trouble" because they are making ordinary posts. Forum Rules are very clear and easy to access; unless one breaks these rules, they do not receive warnings or infraction points.

Additionally, there is nothing in the rules against calling one self names... So, feel free if you feel you must do so.

As a final point, I would like to remind that moderators are members of this Forum just like anyone else and take part in discussions like regular members. Speaking for myself, I would say, probably, less than 10% of my posts are done as a moderator and, to make this distinction, I tend to use bold fonts in my moderating related posts.[/Off-topic]

[Vonny]

[Off-topic]I really wish you stopped saying this, Vonny.

No one on this Forum "gets into trouble" because they are making ordinary posts. Forum Rules are very clear and easy to access; unless one breaks these rules, they do not receive warnings or infraction points.

Additionally, there is nothing in the rules against calling one self names... So, feel free if you feel you must do so.

As a final point, I would like to remind that moderators are members of this Forum just like anyone else and take part in discussions like regular members. Speaking for myself, I would say, probably, less than 10% of my posts are done as a moderator and, to make this distinction, I tend to use bold fonts in my moderating related posts.[/Off-topic]

I won't do it again.

I was being facetious, really, but I won't do it again.

(For some reason, this is how I talk in life... "I hope I don't get into trouble" it's my normal speech that really is meaningless.)

[Jack of Hearts]

Again, liking the exchange. One for each of you below. But if you want to reply to any of this reader’s responses, that’s dandy.


I am sympathetic to the existential anxiety, but if a person is having one then one has too much time on one's hands. We are by far too self-centered. Self-reflection takes time. If you have no time, the problem goes away. This however, is not where you are coming from, so bare with me and let me explain further. Like you, I
elementary school, and the public system paid my tuition. I see that you are no stranger to hard work. You get reality, but I suppose you are trying to figure “it” out. That is a whole different business than self-indulgent reflection. My advice, in this case, is to find something to believe in. I'm not necessarily talking religion, but something that will keep you grounded. A “something” that you can turn to when things are crap or even when they are good, but something that is ethically yours. Such example are the joy of sports, volunteering, writing, ect.
This reader recognizes your point. ‘Self centered’ seems to mean more than its parts, though. On a certain level, how can you have empathy if not through yourself first?

But that’s a digression. Certainly there’s a kind of thinking we call indulgent… but is it indulgent when the products of your thoughts are having a real bearing on the way you live your life? This reader doesn’t know and awaits your response.

What do you believe in? What keeps you grounded?


And the kind of morals I wish I'd ignored are the prissy, it's-all-my-call morals that really were none of my business…

… a bit pompous…
This reader senses something interesting here. Maybe you can help to articulate it a little more…

What are these kinds of morals? Can you remember your experiences with them? For this reader, they felt like a ethical adolescence of sorts. But looking back, they seem like they were maybe more ego driven than anything- wanting some sense of self in line with an ideal, maybe?

And these days, Mark, where are your boundaries drawn? At what point do you say that acquiring an experience carries too steep a moral price?


Nah, I had a pretty wacky childhood. It felt more like I was dodging bullets than missing oppertunities. The passage of time has only affected me possitively in every respect.
That seems disgustingly healthy, from a psychological perspective.


ere is no hindsight bias. I made some bad decisions, that I would never make now. I was immature and perhaps didn't have the 'life experience' or the 'tools' to cope with certain situations. Although perhaps I would make different mistakes now!!

I know that I am better at my (current) job because of the experiences I have had (I am a firefighter, which may help explain that bit). For example, pitching a ladder at 3am in snow and force 9 gales, on a grassy slope to a 100 year old tenement block is not the same as doing it on a nice level piece of hard standing, against a nice purpose built tower on the drill square on a summers day. You adapt the techniques to suit and remember them for the next time.

I wouldn't describe the experience process as 'mystical' though.....I guess its all about walking before you can run and learning from your mistakes.

Passing on experience is essential in my opinion. As with reading a book, someone will always have a different opinion and may enhance your learning from a particular experience, or indeed take something away with which to improve themselves.
This response has its feet on solid ground, seems like. Something in the experience itself does the learning and we carry it onward for the next time, or similar situations?

What this reader meant by mystical is that we’ve yet to provide a conceptual analysis of experience itself. We’re poking at it tangentially, it seems.

Maybe the propogation of experience is a form of disseminating it, or learning from it? That’s a great point you’ve made.

All that aside, have there been situations where you ‘should’ve know better’? That is, you’ve had the same or similar experience before, and it repeats itself, and you make mistakes it seems you shouldn’t have based on what happened in the first experience? What’s gone wrong here?


I blagged my way through a lot of my late teens - twenties life. I was so sure of myself that it made up for a lack of experience. I got myself into situations where I could then develop experience. I don't think a lack of experience is necessarily a bad thing.
Paul, glad you finally joined in. Can’t believe we started the part without you.

Your response prompts an interesting question- to what degree can bravado successfully substitute for real experiences?

And when you put it that way, it does seem hard to be young.


I suspect, Jack, that the reason someone thought you were older is that your posts have depth.
Finally, a compliment. We can stop the thread now.

Kidding aside; thanks.


I'm 53 and at last I am beginning to feel a bit more mature than 12 on the inside. This is probably because I am getting "old".
Mick, what do you mean by feeling like you’re 12? What did you feel like then? There seems to be something to this sense of youth, but what it is, this reader doesn’t know. Maybe he’s too near it to have a good perspective. But based on your blog entries, this reader finds your prose to be pretty far from a sense of ‘old.’ There’s something in the way you write that suggests an affinity for living, and that seems to have something to do with being young. Not sure what.

[NikolaiI]

This poster is fast approaching his twenty-third birthday.

...

Hey! :) "Lighten up" is often a good bit of advice. Haha! and also in some of my darkest moments, the best advice I clung to was Jimi's, "It's all in your mind, so don't waste your time thinking about bad things, just float your little mind around." I've lived an extremely varied life and traveled and literally experienced a huge portion of the spectrum of experience. I'm 23 too. If I could go back in time, I don't know if I'd tell myself anything, because at the pinnacle of my life, an enlightenment experience I had, I had kind of early and cleared that up for me. In my life everything happened, perhaps, as it was laid out by fate. If I told myself anything Iit would be the same thing I've always tried to rememeber and what I'd want to tell everyone - that is that no matter what happens, never, is anything, ever, ever worth worrying about. That there's an infinite light that's the source of all of this, and ultimately everything in existence is light. That's all I'd say.

Experience is great but self-reflection is necessary as you say. I find it very fascinating that one of the koans from Zen, which is emphasized by several masters, is "Who am I?" And that a Hindu spiritual master Ramana Maharshi also taught this as the best spiritual practice (for self-realization). And he and the Zen masters taught the use of this koan in the same exact matter, which is what fascinates me; basically, "In everything you do, keep this question in your mind and examine who it is performing the activities."

As my spiritual soul mate George Harrison said many times, "Many things in this life can wait, but the search for God, that cannot wait." If you want to replace the search for God with Self-realization, I think the principle rather remains the same. And I think the Zen masters and Ramana Maharshi, who taught that knowing oneself should be your real aim in everything, really had the right idea.

[Abookinthebath]

All that aside, have there been situations where you ‘should’ve know better’? That is, you’ve had the same or similar experience before, and it repeats itself, and you make mistakes it seems you shouldn’t have based on what happened in the first experience? What’s gone wrong here?

I'm sure we have all repeated mistakes! I would say it is what makes us human!

Personally - serious mistakes - no. Apologies for using another experience here, but I was trained never to put my weight on my front foot when searching in smoke and darkness. However, training is generally carried out in a nice safe environment with concrete floors. When you are in a derelict building, booby trapped by junkies and there are joists cut away and you nearly go through the floor, you remember not to make that mistake again - and remember not to be complacent.

I think it is also important to remember that although you should perhaps 'know better', there are always external influences that can drive you towards.....less sensible decisions.

[Buh4Bee]

This reader recognizes your point. ‘Self centered’ seems to mean more than its parts, though. On a certain level, how can you have empathy if not through yourself first?

But that’s a digression. Certainly there’s a kind of thinking we call indulgent… but is it indulgent when the products of your thoughts are having a real bearing on the way you live your life? This reader doesn’t know and awaits your response.

What do you believe in? What keeps you grounded?


I have faith, although not a very strong faith. I go to church, but it usually feels more like a chore than something enjoyable.

My work keeps me grounds. It is mine and all mine. It's a place I can go to be challenged and not think about laundry, dinner, or cleaning up the mess.

As far as self-centered thinking, we are both on the same page. You make a fair point that self-reflection can bare highly constructive outcomes.

[prendrelemick]

Mick, what do you mean by feeling like you’re 12? What did you feel like then? There seems to be something to this sense of youth, but what it is, this reader doesn’t know. Maybe he’s too near it to have a good perspective. But based on your blog entries, this reader finds your prose to be pretty far from a sense of ‘old.’ There’s something in the way you write that suggests an affinity for living, and that seems to have something to do with being young. Not sure what.

A late reply - sorry.


I suppose I mean confidence I displayed all the confidence of youth in my youth but it was mostly show. Now I really do feel confident in my opinions.

This is not necessarily a good thing.

[Paulclem]

Hi Jack - another late response.

Bravado can't replace experience, but, as Mick points out, it isn't always a good thing. Experience means you've done it before and solved it in a certain way, but that might also restrict your thinking to that method where a new approach, which you're not open to, might be better.

[LadyLuck]

This poster is fast approaching his twenty-third birthday. Thinking about that has prompted some interesting questions. How about these:

How do you feel about your age now?

If you could go back in time and talk to a younger you (say, approximately 23 years old), what would you say to him or her? If you're younger than that, pick a different age.

What is the value of experience?

For this reader's part, he feels his age is confusing and officially 'old.' 18 is gone. 21 is over. All that leaves is a mid-life crisis, death and taxes.

If he could speak to a younger version of himself, he would tell the kid to lighten up. Strangely, he thinks an older version of himself would also say that to the present version of himself.

And finally, experience is invaluable. Sure, sharp rational faculties are important, but experience is the treasure paid into those faculties with time. There is simply no substitute- but experience is wasted when it passes through us without reflection, this reader thinks, hence the need for the faculties that disseminate it.

What do you think?

I now feel the need to answer these :lol:

- I feel quite old now, but then again, I only have you beat by 4 years ;)

- I would tell her to hang on and enjoy the ride. Life is a roller coaster and with the ups and downs you will experience, savor the good moments. They'll see you through every dark one to come.

- Experience means you lived. It's value comes from learning the lessons you have presented to you. Life lessons suck if they're a bad one, but experience means you only do it once or twice.

[Jack of Hearts]

Mick and Paul, there seems to be a lot of similarities between your opinions. That's interesting. Paul's previous post about bravado seems pretty relevant when making that comparison, as well.


Thanks for sharing, LadyLuck. Experience means you lived, you say- this reader has heard others say that they would prefer an ugly stroke on a blank canvas rather than just a blank canvas itself. 'Better than nothing,' maybe?






J

[skib]

Hmm. It's funny how these threads keep popping up only days after I ask myself these questions.
Having not hit the 23 year mark quite yet, I would still like to tell myself to slow down. Even at a mere 21 my body hurts and I can only pull one all nighter a month, or else it takes me weeks to catch up. If I party, I get a hangover. Guaranteed. Is this supposed to be my 'prime?' Fantastic. I get laughed at quite frequently for saying I feel old, but in truth I am tired and I hurt more than I feel like an early 20's should. Can't wait to see what 40 brings.

[cafolini]

Hmm. It's funny how these threads keep popping up only days after I ask myself these questions.
Having not hit the 23 year mark quite yet, I would still like to tell myself to slow down. Even at a mere 21 my body hurts and I can only pull one all nighter a month, or else it takes me weeks to catch up. If I party, I get a hangover. Guaranteed. Is this supposed to be my 'prime?' Fantastic. I get laughed at quite frequently for saying I feel old, but in truth I am tired and I hurt more than I feel like an early 20's should. Can't wait to see what 40 brings.

You ought to go for a physical. You might have some deficiency you'll never know otherwise. Don't wait to see what happens.

[LadyLuck]

Thanks for sharing, LadyLuck. Experience means you lived, you say- this reader has heard others say that they would prefer an ugly stroke on a blank canvas rather than just a blank canvas itself. 'Better than nothing,' maybe?


Good, bad, or indifferent all experience is worthwhile. I like to think that the bad ones make me more cognizant of the good ones. How can you appreciate the good things in life if you've never had a glimpse of the bad? So I'm certainly in the category of people who believe something is better than nothing. What we do with the ugly stroke is what really counts in our lives. It's easy to deal with the pretty and pristine but to manage the truly ugly... that's something.

[Cross]

Though I'm only seventeen, if I could talk to myself a year earlier, there are a ton of things I'd tell myself. About school, about a girl, about so many aspects of life. I'm sure that people would go back and tell themselves something even if they could go back a few hours, its just a fact of life that you want to see everything coming, and not experience the unpleasant 'surprises' involved in life.

[Varenne Rodin]

I'm 30. I'm starting to notice that I look less like myself, still young looking, but different. I can't say I like it. I'm certain I lost my relevance and importance after age 28. I used to be afraid of 30. Now I know I'm the same kid stuck in this body. Now I think to myself how awful it will be if I live to 90. It's a long time to wait. If I could tell my 18 year old self something, it would be to ignore family pressures and move to New York or Los Angeles. That's pretty much it. I don't care what age I am now.

[B. Laumness]

I’m 30 too. I feel I’m getting older since 18 years old girls are less touched by me, some of them addressing me with the “vous” form (“you” and not “thee”, the French people using “tu” and never “vous” in an informal context, and the young people always using the “tu” between them). I’m still attractive for the young women (20 till 30), luckily. But now I see I attract mature women also…

[Emil Miller]

I’m 30 too. I feel I’m getting older since 18 years old girls are less touched by me, some of them addressing me with the “vous” form (“you” and not “thee”, the French people using “tu” and never “vous” in an informal context, and the young people always using the “tu” between them). I’m still attractive for the young women (20 till 30), luckily. But now I see I attract mature women also…

When you get to 40 you may well find that the 18-year-olds come around again.
It's a father substitution thing that has its obvious advantages but equally obvious disadvantages. You will just have to play it by ear and enjoy the experience while avoiding the pitfalls.

[JuniperWoolf]

When you get to 40 you may well find that the 18-year-olds come around again.

Emil, you sly old dog!

[Emil Miller]

Emil, you sly old dog!

Of course, it also helps to have money but young girls can be problematical, as shown in the clip below from 00.56 to 1.36.


http://youtu.be/GoxPgnOzopw

[Sancho]

Well I saw an old man walking in my place
He looked at me, it could have been my face
His words were kind, but his eyes were wild
He said, I got a load to love, but I want one more child

Well, I’m 51, but I have the mind of an adolescent, and I still do some pretty juvenile bullsheet – like trying to get around the anti-vulgarism rule on the Lit-Net, for instance.

As for the “real world,” I’m still looking for it. When I lived with my folks, I couldn’t wait to get out of the house, out on my own, and out into the real world. Then I was in college and I couldn’t wait to graduate and get out into the real world. Then I joined the Air Force and although I enjoyed squadron life and zooming around the skies, hollering ROGER and WILCO and everything like that,* we all kept talking about how things would be different when we got real jobs out in the real world. Then I got a real job (several actually), and oddly enough, the people at my present company are still fond of saying how things are different out in the real world. I betcha out in the real world, maybe on some mountaintop in South America, a bunch of guys in loin cloths are standing around, roasting up a guinea pig on a stick, and talking about how good they’ve got it and how out in the real world you just can’t find a big-ole, fat-bastard pig like this one to roast up on a stick.

*I ripped that off from Andy Griffith in the movie: No Time for Sergeants


Yes, well, so anyway…

There’s a mansion on the hill
Psychedelic music fills the air
Peace and love live there still
In that mansion on the hill

--Neil Young, Mansion on the Hill (I think he was writing a response to a Hank Williams tune of the same name)

Keee-riest, that cat makes me nervous!

[Jack of Hearts]

Sancho, you madman. You're absolutely right. So much time waiting for life to start, but it's been rolling right along the whole time.







J

[JuniperWoolf]

I betcha out in the real world, maybe on some mountaintop in South America, a bunch of guys in loin cloths are standing around, roasting up a guinea pig on a stick, and talking about how good they’ve got it and how out in the real world you just can’t find a big-ole, fat-bastard pig like this one to roast up on a stick.

I quoted this to my friends a few days ago and they thought it was great, so thank you for letting me steal a laugh.

[PoeticPassions]

Well I saw an old man walking in my place
He looked at me, it could have been my face
His words were kind, but his eyes were wild
He said, I got a load to love, but I want one more child

Well, I’m 51, but I have the mind of an adolescent, and I still do some pretty juvenile bullsheet – like trying to get around the anti-vulgarism rule on the Lit-Net, for instance.

As for the “real world,” I’m still looking for it. When I lived with my folks, I couldn’t wait to get out of the house, out on my own, and out into the real world. Then I was in college and I couldn’t wait to graduate and get out into the real world. Then I joined the Air Force and although I enjoyed squadron life and zooming around the skies, hollering ROGER and WILCO and everything like that,* we all kept talking about how things would be different when we got real jobs out in the real world. Then I got a real job (several actually), and oddly enough, the people at my present company are still fond of saying how things are different out in the real world. I betcha out in the real world, maybe on some mountaintop in South America, a bunch of guys in loin cloths are standing around, roasting up a guinea pig on a stick, and talking about how good they’ve got it and how out in the real world you just can’t find a big-ole, fat-bastard pig like this one to roast up on a stick.

*I ripped that off from Andy Griffith in the movie: No Time for Sergeants


Yes, well, so anyway…

There’s a mansion on the hill
Psychedelic music fills the air
Peace and love live there still
In that mansion on the hill

--Neil Young, Mansion on the Hill (I think he was writing a response to a Hank Williams tune of the same name)

Keee-riest, that cat makes me nervous!

Wonderful. This made me smile, and I needed it today.

[Sancho]

Thanks, everybody. That was a fun bit to write. The only problem now is, I’ve had that Neil Young tune banging around inside of my skull for the past few days, and it won’t go away.

I’ve found the only cure for an ear worm is to find a replacement for it, but, as with most things in life – the cure can be worse than the disease. Here’re a few contenders who’ve exhibited hang-time in El Sancho’s noggin:

I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche – Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Send a bolt of lightning, very - very frightening
Wee, GALILEO, galileo, GALILEO, galileo
Galileo Figaro

--Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
Ach! That’s worse.

Hmmm, how about:

My grandma and your grandma were sittin’ by the fiy-yah
My grandma told your grandma, I’m gonna set your flag on fiy-yah
Talkin’ about, hey now – hey now, IKO – IKO, anday
Jock-a-mo fee-no ah na-nay, Jock-a-mo fee na-nay

Uh-uh, I can’t handle the Dixie Cups right now

Here’s one:

Do-do dadada do-do-do-do da do-do dadada do-do-do-do da do
In a gadda da vida, baby

--Iron Butterfly
No way, man!

Okay, okay:

Purple haze all in my brain
Lately things just don't seem the same
Actin' funny, but I don't know why
'Scuse me while I kiss dis guy

--Jimi (There may some controversy about the accuracy of the last line of that verse)

I’m starting to get desperate:

It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small-small world
(and repeat, fifty million times)

--a ride at Disneyland

Arg! Think I’ll just stick with Neil for now.
Hep me! Hep me! Sweet-little-baby-lordy-Jesus, HELP ME!

[Jack of Hearts]

Somebody help him. It's clear this man needs help.








J

[MarkBastable]

It's 'thunderbolt and lightning'. As if it matters, given the nature of the rest of the lyric.

I remember me and Barry and the two Daves got out of school during lunchtime to buy the single the day it was released. We went back to Dave B's to play it, and we were dumbstruck. We played it six or seven times, and were dumbstrucker.

That night, after seeing the video on Top of the Pops, we called each other on the phone (which is quite a big deal - boys don't do that) and we'd've had conversations about the promo, but we couldn't because we were dumbstruckest.

[Jack of Hearts]

... we'd've...

What is it you've done there, Dr. Frankenstein!

She's a killer queen,
Gunpowder, gellatine,
dynamite with a laser beam...




J

[MarkBastable]

What is it you've done there, Dr. Frankenstein!

She's a killer queen,
Gunpowder, gellatine,
dynamite with a laser beam...




J



http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/we'd've


They say it's common but non-standard. I'd've said they're half-right.

[billl]

I'dn't've bothered to check, but I guess I'm just incurious.

[prendrelemick]

Dumbstruckest?


Only kidding.

I remember when that record came out (see my blog) In the days before digital sound or lyrics posted on the internet you had to guess at the actual words, and that song was full of long ones we had never heard of;-

She keeps a Mohair chardon, (a small camelid of some kind?)
In a pretty cabinet.

She's a Killer Queen,
Somebody check her teeth (????)
Dynamite with a laser beam.

Whatever, my mate Nick, who was nearly a year older than me and more worldly wise, assured me - in a voice filled with admiration -that whatever they meant, they was real words they was using!

[MarkBastable]

Dumbstruckest?


Only kidding.

I remember when that record came out (see my blog) In the days before digital sound or lyrics posted on the internet you had to guess at the actual words, and that song was full of long ones we had never heard of;-

She keeps a Mohair chardon, (a small camelid of some kind?)
In a pretty cabinet.

She's a Killer Queen,
Somebody check her teeth (????)
Dynamite with a laser beam.

Whatever, my mate Nick, who was nearly a year older than me and more worldly wise, assured me - in a voice filled with admiration -that whatever they meant, they was real words they was using!


Nah, Nick was cheating. Killer Queen was on Sheer Heart Attack, their third album, and the lyrics were printed on the inner sleeve.

If there's anything else from the Seventies you need someone to be pedantic about, I'm in the Yellow Pages.

[prendrelemick]

Nah, Nick was cheating. Killer Queen was on Sheer Heart Attack, their third album, and the lyrics were printed on the inner sleeve.

If there's anything else from the Seventies you need someone to be pedantic about, I'm in the Yellow Pages.


Not on the single though. Or the cassette . I couldn't say about the 8 track.

As you see I do my own pedanting.

[Sancho]

It's 'thunderbolt and lightning'. As if it matters, given the nature of the rest of the lyric.

I remember me and Barry and the two Daves got out of school during lunchtime to buy the single the day it was released. We went back to Dave B's to play it, and we were dumbstruck. We played it six or seven times, and were dumbstrucker.

That night, after seeing the video on Top of the Pops, we called each other on the phone (which is quite a big deal - boys don't do that) and we'd've had conversations about the promo, but we couldn't because we were dumbstruckest.

The first time I heard that tune, it hit me like thunderbolt and lightning. It would come up on the radio at roughly the same time every day – right after school, but before hitting the basketball court - and a bunch of us boys would stand around with stunned looks on our faces and listen to it. We never got tired of it.

The first time my Mom heard it, she said it sounded like opera to her. The first time dad heard it, he said, “Turn that crap off.”

Casey Kasem’s Top 40 radio show was popular in the US then. He’d play the songs and fill in a little background info on the bands. He told a great little story about Freddie Mercury’s first guitar. According to Casey, Freddie and his dad had built his first guitar largely out of parts they’d found dumpster diving. I remember thinking, man, Freddie has a cool dad. And then I went out and built my first guitar.

Ahhh, you gonna take me home tonight
Ahhh, down beside that red firelight
Ahhh, you gonna let it all hang out
Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin' world go round

Sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to turn this into an old-dude-rockin'-out thread.

[prendrelemick]

As a pedantic person, I would like to correct you. It was Brian May who had the homemade guitar - his Red one. He still has it, I would say it as near priceless as any guitar can be.


Big fat Fanny was such a naughty nanny!

[Sancho]

Thanks, Mick, and rock-on mah brothah. I’m sure it wouldn’t seem pedantic to Brian Mays or Freddie Mercury. At any rate, I’m happy there was at least a thread of truth in that story the way I remembered it, and I’m quite certain that Casey Kasem had it right in his broadcast.

By the way, I still have the guitar I built that was inspired by that story, and, by all accounts, mine is completely worthless.

[MarkBastable]

As a pedantic person, I would like to correct you. It was Brian May who had the homemade guitar - his Red one. He still has it, I would say it as near priceless as any guitar can be.



And I think the wood came from a fireplace.

Anyway, May formed a company a couple of years back, and there's a range (http://www.brianmayguitars.co.uk/bm-special.html) of such guitars now.

[Jack of Hearts]

Get on your bikes and ride!

Lads, it's important that we savour the flavour of this conversatioun, even if it 'tis a bit off colour. Now beg your pardoun, it's time to Hoover for mee mum.



Realise.





J

[Sancho]

Whoops again. I meant Brian May not Mays. We've got Willie Mays over here. Clearly I am not a pedant.

I made mine with a cigar box and a 2 X 4.

I think that cat's looking at me again.

[Jack of Hearts]

mick's blog entry on queen (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?b=10370)

Good blog!

This thread is a lovely degenerate.






J

[MarkBastable]

I came across this looking for a Queen clip. Here's a guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItZyaOlrb7E&feature=related)who will quite obviously never get old. I approve of him strongly.

[qimissung]

Every age is the best age. That's my line. Except I've reached the age where my body doesn't feel like it used to. Of course I wish I looked like I did a few years back, but mostly I wish I felt like I did a few years back, which is to say that I never thought about how I felt at all.

Here's my ear worm, yes, from the past:


I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty, don't ya know,
And I'm still willin'
Out on the road late last night,
Seen my pretty Alice in every head light
Alice, Dallas Alice

Little Feet

[Paulclem]

Hey - the Blokes have moved here.

I was contemplating buying the berst of Motorhead the other day in Sainsburys. (I like that - Motorhead in Sainsburys - it's like having Ghengis Khan and his hordes shopping in Waitrose, before charging off to attack the nearest city state.)

It was three quid!! I didn't but I think I will the next time I'm in, though I will be in danger of damaging the monitor. (I usually listen to music on the computer).

[DocHeart]

'I have started to say'


By Philip Larkin



I have started to say
'A quarter of a century'
Or 'thirty years back'
About my own life.

It makes me breathless.
It's like falling and recovering
In huge gesturing loops
Through an empty sky.

All that's left to happen
Is some deaths (my own included).
Their order, and their manner,
Remain to be learnt.


Collected Poems, 1988

[Paulclem]

'I have started to say'


By Philip Larkin



I have started to say
'A quarter of a century'
Or 'thirty years back'
About my own life.

It makes me breathless.
It's like falling and recovering
In huge gesturing loops
Through an empty sky.

All that's left to happen
Is some deaths (my own included).
Their order, and their manner,
Remain to be learnt.


Collected Poems, 1988

Larkin is great

[MarkBastable]

I was appalled when I discovered that there were people starting to work for me who weren't even born when I first started work.

Now those people, some of whom still work for me, are appalled to discover that there are people working for them who weren't even born when they first started working for me.

[Jack of Hearts]

Somebody turn up the heat. It's getting a little old in here.







J

[DocHeart]

Somebody turn up the heat. It's getting a little old in here.


J

Well, you started it, pal. "I'm 23 and I'm feeling old. Boo-hoo-hoo." :) You should have expected all the REALLY old foggies to crawl out of the woodwork.

Best of health to all (regardless of age).

DH

[Jack of Hearts]

lol

In retrospect, maybe it isn't much to do with age. Just angst about time passing, and no going back.

Also, its good to harvest the experience of people who have lived a little longee. Plus some old guys have given the best wisdom this reader has ever received. See if you can match the quotes:

"Rational agents are to be treated as ends in themselves, not means."

"Cogito ergo sum."

"Wax on, wax off!"








J

[prendrelemick]

Somebody turn up the heat. It's getting a little old in here.







J


It's the heat that attracts us!

[Jack of Hearts]

Haha. That's funny right there.







J

[DocHeart]

In retrospect, maybe it isn't much to do with age. Just angst about time passing, and no going back.

It seems to always have been thus. But we really ought to experience "nowness". Ever seen "Zeitgeist"? Watch the first 10 minutes. Some old guy provides exceptional clarity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guXirzknYYE



"Wax on, wax off!"



Oh, I am... :)


Regards,
DH

[Jack of Hearts]

Alright, that's it. Everybody out of the thread.

Doc, go spend your free time writing something.

Sancho, go pick up your meds

Paul, do your homework for your L5 Math class.

mick, go blog.

And Mark, somewhere there's some school children that still believe in Santa. Go set 'em straight.






J

[DocHeart]

Alright, that's it. Everybody out of the thread.

Doc, go spend your free time writing something.


J



[Walks off in a sulk...]

(But seriously, watch Zeitgeist!!! :) )

[Paulclem]

What if we do an anti-capitalistic type sit in, and refuse to go? In fact we could get Parker to set up a temporary club here. Comfy chairs coutesy of Jack. DVD on - a bit of rugby - we're set.

[prendrelemick]

I'm going, I'm going - I just need to use the facilities first. It's an old age thing.

[kensington]

Alright, that's it. Everybody out of the thread.

Doc, go spend your free time writing something.

Sancho, go pick up your meds

Paul, do your homework for your L5 Math class.

mick, go blog.








J


Hey, it's a fun party you're busting up! :party:

[Jack of Hearts]

Heheheh.


Paul, that'd be the sorriest sit-in anyone ever saw. DVD, bit o'rugby, and 'facilities' apparently.








J

[Paulclem]

Heheheh.


Paul, that'd be the sorriest sit-in anyone ever saw. DVD, bit o'rugby, and 'facilities' apparently.

J

Ok.. point taken. I'll go. But we'll have to get radical sometime when they start to plunder our pensions.

[MarkBastable]

When you get to our age, a 'sit-in' is one of those inflatable rings.

[prendrelemick]

Yes, old age Piles on the indignities.

Ok, I'm going..

[Sancho]

Here's my ear worm, yes, from the past:


I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty, don't ya know,
And I'm still willin'
Out on the road late last night,
Seen my pretty Alice in every head light
Alice, Dallas Alice

Little Feet

Heh heh, go-man-go!

FEAT!

Here’s my favorite:

***Starts with Bill Payne spankin’ the eighty-eights***
…

I'm sittin' here thinkin' 'bout my red haired dream
If I could only see her tonight-hi-hite

Oh Atlanta, Oh Hotlanta
I said Yeah Yeah Yeah Atlanta, got to get back to you-hoo-hoo

You can drop me off on Peachtree
I got to feel that Georgia sun
And the women there in Atlanta
They make you awfully glad you come

(well, some of 'em do, anyway)

[kensington]

When you get to our age, a 'sit-in' is one of those inflatable rings.


I've heard that we pay for a lot of our sins right here on earth. Do you think so?

[prendrelemick]

Yes, but we enjoy them too.

[Sancho]

Yes, old age Piles on the indignities.

Ok, I'm going..

Delayed reaction:

Bah-hahahahahaha! Ha!

Funny. Funnier if it wasn't so scratchy.

[Jack of Hearts]

Yes, old age Piles on the indignities.

Ok, I'm going..

Just got this one. That's gross and probably inevitable.






J

[Sancho]

When his son asked him if he wanted to die in a fiery airplane crash, The Great Santini replied, “Well, it beats dying of piles.”

From Pat Conroy’s, The Great Santini