February 07, 2006
Time is running out
from - Buck
My birthday was Sunday. 48 years old. That even sounds old when I say it but trust me; it seems to have overtaken me suddenly. I look in the mirror and I don’t even recognize the old guy that is looking back. I don’t want to sound like anybody’s daddy or granddaddy but by God if you are in your twenty’s or thirty’s you might as well just go with the flow. You are not going to believe how quickly you are going to reach middle age.
My youngest daughter and her fiancé took me and the wife out to a place called Japanese Steak and Sushi. It was my first ever trip to a restaurant where the chef cooks the meal while you watch. I don’t get out much. But our chef was an absolute master. He provided me with more entertainment than I have ever gotten at a movie theatre. Damn he was good. I have always heard of dining experiences but this was the first time I have ever had one.
My oldest daughter and her fiancé bought me two books.
The Memory of Running was the one that I decided to read first and I have not been disappointed. I am only about 100 pages in but it is a beautifully written story. I may blog a review when I finish it.
The Life of Pi is a book that I had considered buying myself on more than one occasion but I just have never acted on the urge. I have never mentioned the book to anybody before and when I opened the sack and saw that book in it I got one of they mystical, magical, metaphysical feelings. And I don’t care if you are an atheist Smijer, I know you have had those kinds of feelings before. Hell, you can probably give me a scientific explanation for them.
My wife bought me Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter. For most of my life I ridiculed Jimmy Carter. I am ashamed of myself now. Jimmy Carter is truly a man of peace. It only stands to reason that men of peace will be marginalized in this world. That has always been and I guess it will always be. I admire him now because he has remained true to what he is all of the way down the line and even in the face of relentless mockery. The people who say that he never met a dictator he did not like are the same bastards who never saw a war they didn’t like.
I can’t wait until I am 68 or 98 or 108. It is not that I fear or dread dying because I do not. It is just that I am so fascinated to watch the world and the things that go on in the world.
It has been an honor to have a bit part in this Divine Comedy. It has been an honor to watch those around me act out their parts. It sounds hokey but life is a gift and it is a new gift that I enjoy opening every morning.
I am going to have to quit bitching about it so much.
Posted by Buck at February 7, 2006 01:01 PM
Happy birthday, Buck! It sounds like a good celebration.
My wife and I have both noticed, as we enter our forties, that how we picture ourselves in our minds is not an exact match for outward appearance. In my dreams, for example, I still have black hair (instead of mostly white) and occasionally I am quite impressively muscled. Then I wake up. . .
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Posted by RSA on February 7, 2006 03:07 PM Link to comment |
Hey, that ain't old! Enjoy it while you can. I'm 57 and I'm pretty sure that I was only 48 a few weeks ago. They do come fast, don't they?
Happy Birthday!
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Posted by Deliverance on February 7, 2006 03:26 PM Link to comment |
RSA I just have to keep continually reminding my wife that my physical beauty is always just a light switch and a wild imagination away.
Deliverance ain't it funny how much quicker the years seem to be going though? I remember when a year or five years seemed like forever but now there just seems to be not that much difference in the two of them.
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Posted by Buck on February 7, 2006 03:41 PM Link to comment |
Happy birthday, "old" friend! It looks like you got some good reading material... all the better if it gives you the willies...
I'm not sure if I've ever experienced exactly what you ask me about - I've certainly had experiences that come close. My first thought, when you asked about the explanation, was "obviously - you are an Aquarius". ha ha.
Actually, I don't know -- There is speculation that it has something to do with N,N-DMT, naturally occurring in the body. You reckon that gland tops out around 48 years old?
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Posted by smijer on February 7, 2006 04:09 PM Link to comment |
Do you have any idea where an old man might buy N,N-DMT in bulk quantities? ;-)
My body has never produced enough of anything naturally.
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Posted by Buck on February 7, 2006 08:13 PM Link to comment |
err... you can grow some, I guess... Far be it from me to get arrested for collecting a (hormone?) that I already produce anyway... It's a controlled substance just about everywhere, except where our own bodies produce it.
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Posted by smijer on February 7, 2006 08:34 PM Link to comment |
happy birthdy, sir! i recently had my 54th n i am here to say, yer eggzackly rite. it happens so fast that ye miss it ifn ye blink. on tuther hand, fer me at lease, thangs is bettern ever. the fifties is the bes decade yet fer me.
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Posted by buddy don on February 8, 2006 06:08 AM Link to comment |
Thanks Buddy Don. You have a way of making a man look forward to tomorrow. I know you have a helluva time with your headaches and all but you have a way of putting everything into its proper perspective.
As you would say, "heres hopin fer the best"
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Posted by Buck on February 8, 2006 08:26 AM Link to comment |
Happy birthday from someone only 9 years your junior. Look at it this way, the older we get the more we usually make. :)
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Posted by RW on February 8, 2006 08:43 PM Link to comment |
