I am decaying (long and whiny)

[fatal xception]

Time passes slowly, but seems to gather speed.

I am turning 33 soon. I thought I could stave off this moment, but it comes unyieldingly, with the regularity of a calendar. Unfortunately, I feel older, but not so much the wiser.

I look back over the years, but I am not sure what I have witnessed. I marvel at the people who can say they walked to school out of necessity. That in a span of 3 decades, one could have seen the first radio broadcast, the Wall Street crash and the beginning of the Manhattan project. Unfortunately, I do see a sad indictment of the modern age. In 1940 a survey listed the top seven discipline problems in public schools: talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, getting out of turn in line, wearing improper clothes, not putting paper in wastebaskets. A 1980’s (although I am sure still relevant) lists these top seven: drug abuse, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, assault (Arson, gang warfare and venereal disease were also-rans). I realize that is 4 decades, but it proves my point.

Rather than the ability to reflect on the nostalgia of the 50’s, pierce the hazy and blurred times of the 60’s and 70’s, I see the Swatch watches, leg warmers and the Duran Duran of the 80’s. Although I am glad to admit I missed butterfly collars and bellbottoms, I do admire some of the 70’s beliefs and goals. If anything, the flower children approached life with an (mind altered?) activism to improve and impact their surroundings; a marked improvement over the nihilistic tendencies today. I subscribe to be an optimistic pessimist.

I also find myself in unfamiliar waters. I feel the sinewy grasp of conservatism entwine my soul. I used to use conservative diatribe as a sounding board to evaluate my own beliefs. But once where there was conflict, I now find agreement. As I sit and listen to AM radio (sports thankfully), I think to myself, I am my father and I feel…older.

I know times have changed when I select sleep over greeting the new year, when I rejoice that I stay at home rather than visit bars and when I enjoy home improvements over more youthful (less nobel) pursuits.

I am still waiting to feel the fecundity of my 30’s. Although I do not find being a third of a century felicitous, there is a bright point. The other night my son asked if he could pee directly into the shower drain to which I OK’d. The torch has been passed.

Fatal

[RADAR1797]

Alas, it is easier to be an adult when your peers are growing up too. The baby boomers enjoyed a huge population advantage, hence did not feel obliged to give reason to their thoughts...theirs peers bolstered their irrational thoughts, hence we had (have) hippies.

Rest peaceful in rational thoughts and remember, we go through periods of adolescence, but they fade and we appreciate logic again.

-RADAR

[OuTpaTienT]

What do ya mean you don't know what you witnessed? In case you missed it, you witnessed:

- Man set foot on the moon (if not the very first time then you certainly were around for some of the other flights)

- The fall of the Berlin wall and the beginning of the end of our Cold War enemy (Communism) and the beginning of a new friendly relationship with Russia.

- The invention and proliferation of the personal computer and the Internet, probably the most powerful tools ever obtained by the masses.

- You got to witness the rise and fall of the dot com boom. Others are only gonna get to read about it in history books.

- smallpox eradicated…although ironically we now fear it coming back as a weapon.

Plus you've lived through some of the greatest music since the classical period. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and even KISS were all phenomenon that will never be matched.

T'was a good time to be alive. Be thankful.

[Brainchild]

I do admire some of the 70’s beliefs and goals. If anything, the flower children approached life with an (mind altered?) activism to improve and impact their surroundings; a marked improvement over the nihilistic tendencies today.

I think if we could find people that had the same goal,and mindset, unmedicated, and as dedicated to leaving a better world behind them, rather than destroying the one they live in, we might absolutley see change for the better.We might even see adults emerge from the immature people, and see a better world come out of the rubble we call society.

FX, 33 is a breeze,did it 4 years ago, but there are times you have to sit,and take a long look around,and wonder, why was I even here.I do anyway.

[Knothead]

**tugging on FATALXCEPTION's sleeve**

"Sir? Oh, sir?"

Wish I were 33.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.