In a couple of weeks I will turn 42 and I bring it up not so that the readers of this blog will note it and send me birthday wishes that day but because of an interesting conversation that I had with a friend earlier today. The essence of our conversation was that I don’t feel 42. It only seems like it was six months ago that I figured what I wanted to do when I grow up and, quite frankly, I feel like I’ve just started getting down to the work that will eventually be part of the legacy that I hope to leave behind.
There is also the fact that who I am today, how I feel, how I live, how I act seems so far removed from what I would have described as the likely 42 year old me back when I was in my early 20’s. I’m not saying this while yearning to go back and change things, I’m actually quite excited about where I am in life and feel like every step along the journey led me to where I am (…wow, and I didn’t even take a philosophy class back in university!). Obviously, hindsight being what it is, there are certainly a number of things I could have done better, there are certainly a number of decisions that I would make differently but that is the fun with making decisions when you are 20, 25 or 30; you don’t always know what those decisions will mean when you are 42…but I digress.
At my age, John Kennedy was a Senator and only two years removed from being the leader of the free world. At my age, Joe Clark had already become the Prime minister of Canada and had already lost that very position. Not that I lack confidence in myself but, really now, can any of you see me as the leader of the free world…didn’t think so
This leads me to my question…am I the only one in my age group that really does not feel like he thought he would in his early 40’s. I still sit on the floor and lean back on the couch to watch TV, I still enjoy reading Sports Illustrated more than I like reading MacLean’s Magazine. I’m still a night owl and do most of my paper work and, yes, I write most of my blogs late in the evening. I still call people older than me Mr. and Mrs. (…except for my buddies of course). Ultimately, what I’m trying to say is that I’ve changed a lot less in the past twenty years than I thought I would. I think that’s a good thing but I wonder what others in my age group think!
Random thoughts:
· Last week as I was flipping channels I saw an item on “Conspiracy Theories”. Anyhow I did a search on “conspiracy theories” online and thought I’d get the usual “second gunman on the grassy knoll” and the fact that there are aliens being preserved in a bunker deep in Area 51. To my surprise it would also seem that man never actually walked on the moon, that the World Trade Centre was actually blown up with explosives by the American Government and that the Pentagon was actually hit by a ballistic missile and not a jetliner!! Wow...some people have WAY too much time on their hands.
· So Kim Kardashian who seems to be famous for being famous gets paid close to 20 million for a reality show season that ends with her wedding being filmed as the finale. A little over a month later she files for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences” because her new husband wants her to move to Minnesota where he plays professional basketball and she wants to stay in California where all of the good parties and paparazzi photographers are…it might be hard to keep being famous during the cold Minnesota winter. My gut tells me it was all staged and that the next season of the reality show will be all about her dealing with the impact of a failed marriage…gotta love Hollywood.
· Saw a report on TV the other night on “Birth Tourism”. Yup, it seems there is a market in China for couples coming to America where the woman gives birth to a child that automatically becomes an American citizen. This makes it easier for the child to go to school in the States and also makes it easier for the whole family to get Green Cards. It’s amazing the crap that goes on that we in the general public would not even think of!
· So I wonder how long it will take for an “Occupy Timmins” protest. I think they should set-up outside of Chez-Nous Restaurant so that if it gets too cold in their tents they can go in at 4 a.m. to warm up and have a poutine while they are there.
· Here’s a good one, if someone from Canada, which happens to be a Commonwealth country, applies for a British passport, they need to send the application to the British Embassy in Washington D.C. to get processed. Looks like the Queen really was pissed off when we repatriated our Constitution back in the early 80’s!
