My Generation...

Oh my god, I've become my parents.

Ten years ago I was in my 20's, life was good, and I was in the best shape of my life.  Now, I'm 33, my knees hurt after basketball, I'm more worried about politics than not.  Music sucks, and I dread doctor's visits.

I actually thought about that while I was in the shower tonight, how my first doctor's visit in my 30's so drastically differed from the ones I had before.  All of a sudden, I was turning my head and coughing.  Probes were placed where none had ever been placed before. I got the rubber-glove treatment.  I mean, seriously, I felt violated.  I'm sure men my age can relate, even if we don't say so.  To this day, the sound of a rubber glove snapping makes me cringe, and of course, since I work in healthcare, it means I'm very jittery at work.

As I'm driving to work tonight, I have the radio on, and I hear a very terrible collection of beeps, boops and bass, interpolated with the words "I'm sexy and I know it."  And I wish I could have seen my own face, because I imagine it looked something like my mother's did when I defended the lyrics of The Notorious B.I.G. to her.  She would look at me cockeyed and say "This is music?"  Now I listen to songs like "I'm Sexy And I Know It," and, well, I am most certainly not LMFAO.  I find myself asking questions I swore I would never ask when I was a teenager: Is this music?

So now, I along with the rest of my generation have become old people.  We rant about how the music sucks and how the kids today have no manners or dress sense.  We start stories with "Back in my day," and end with a rant on how spoiled today's youth is.  We all knew we would become parents one day (well, not me, but all of you), but who would have ever thought we'd become our parents?

Only a little evil? (short post)

On the Facebook page for the upcoming movie "Chronicle," they ask a few poignant questions, one of which being could you only do a little evil?    Some people justify little evils as necessary parts of the greater good.  Not me.  Evil is like love and terror.  Impossible to quantify.  You're either in love or you're not.  You are either doing evil or you're not.  There's no in-between in terms of the act.  There may be some wiggle room in intent, but once you commit an evil act, no one's trying to read your mind or your intentions.

Another interesting question is, does an evil act make you evil?  I say no.  People are much more complex than their actions.  Very rarely (unless you're Dick Cheney) do people go out with the intention to harm.  I think we define evil as something that directly contradicts what we are trying to do with our lives.  But by no means is anyone evil in their own mind, I don't think.

I guess that makes me a little naive.

Resolutions? Those never work!

Happy New Year, ladies and gents!

2012 has come, and it seems the end of the world is upon us, the way it seems to be upon us every few years since '99.  I'm scared.  *yawn*

According to the Mayan calendar, the human race doesn't make it to the end of the year.  Or to Christmas, for that matter (the last day on the calendar is December 23.  Anyone of these geniuses think that maybe they ran out of space?).  I guess that means you must be a hopeless optimist to make resolutions.  After all, if the world ends in a shade over 11 months, what's the point in vowing to change yourself, to extend your life, or be healthier?

I couldn't answer that for you.  I'm a hopeless optimist.  I have a list of resolutions.  My "Self-Improvement Plan," that's what I call it.  And here I am, sharing it with the ether.  Happy New Year to you.

            -Read one book per week.

            -Reduce caffeine consumption by 75%.

            -Investigate living in Seattle.

            -Blog once to twice per week.

            -Finish the edits on Punch-Drunk Bastards before March1.

            -Finish plotting Open by July 1.

            -Have PDB ready for launch by July 1.

            -Have all my personal bills down to zero before I get my tax check.

            -Go home in February. 

            -Pay off my car at tax time.

            -200 days in the gym.

            -Make a new meal twice a month.

            -Write something every day.

            -Have a draft of Open finished by September 1.

            -Prepare Underground Rhapsody for NaNoWriMo.

            -Bank $8000 - $10,000 by the end of the year.

And that's all this time folks.  See you next week.