More random thoughts, this time with a topic.

The day before Halloween is my birthday. This year, the 30th of October will mark the start of my 44th year on this planet. No, this isn't a "mid-life crisis" freakout post, my freakout year was 30, when I realized I wasn't going to be 20-anything anymore.  No, this is just a little reflection as the clock keeps on tickin'.

I don't know how many teenagers/twentysomethings read this, but I'll throw this out there just in case. Getting older is nothing to be afraid of. When I was younger, getting old scared the hell out of me. I hated the thought. Wanted no part of it, thankyouverymuch. Obviously, I wasn't so against it as to not continue aging, but I wasn't looking forward to it at all. Turns out, its not so bad. However, there are a few things to keep in mind as you travel onward through life's journey.

Take out a sheet of paper and write down everything that annoys the piss out of you about old people. I'm not talking about the stuff that can't be helped, I'm talking about habits, moods, opinions, attitudes. Write an actual letter to yourself about how you hope to act, about your current political thoughts and feelings and WHY they are important to you. Tell yourself what kind of old person you want to be. Fold it up, put it someplace safe. Keep it. Read it once in a while. Remind yourself of who you want to be. Sounds dumb, but it's real easy to become conservative, resentful of change and yes, scared of young people as you get further down the road. I lost mine in one of my moves. Do a better job of keeping track of yours than I did.

Technology will start leaving you behind at some point. Deal with it. You will pause when one day you catch yourself saying something like "When I was your age, we had to actually TYPE our messages on our cellphones." .. to which the kid you are talking to will undoubtedly ask, "What's a cellphone?" - At that moment, congrats, you are behind the curve.

Fashion will start leaving you behind at some point. Somewhere along the line you will find a "look" that works for you and that's pretty much where you will get off the fashion train. People who wear shorts, black socks and sandals were never on the fashion train in the first place so don't worry about turning into a disaster.

All your favorite music will be on a "classic" station someday. Your kids will criticize your favorite songs. You'll browse the CDs at some super-mega store, or be looking at downloads on some music service and realize that you have no idea who most of these singers/bands are.

Now, none of that sounds particularly wonderful, right? Here's the good stuff you get to look forward to.

At 35, you're officially old enough to run for President of the US. After that? Age-wise, there's nothing you can't do, except collect social security.

When Steve Martin was a comedian, he said it best. "When you get older, you get prejudiced. Not against race, but against THINGS.  You can just close the door. Someone comes up to you and says 'Hey! Let's go try this NEW THING!' *slam* Sorry, we're closed." I did some stupid shit in the name of fun new things back in the day, now I'm a little more selective. Less abrasions and brushes with death this way.

Probably the best webcomic ever, xkcd got it right with this one: http://xkcd.com/166/ - This guy probably had NO IDEA how right he was. Way more fun than it should be. Do it for the LULZ. Oh that was right? That's ok... it immediately un-cools a saying when old people start using it. 

Wanna really make the young-un's twitch? (not too young, mind you.) Start talking about sex. Make a big deal over it. If they try to cover their ears and drown you out, talk louder. Don't go into gross detail about it, just enough to be cringe-worthy. Let their imaginations run with it. Creeps 'em out every time.

You get more comfortable in your own skin. Oh sure, you want to look good, but the point is that you don't care who sees you in what state of dress anymore. Whatever. Don't like me running around the house in my boxers? Go away. My house, my rules. I used to be pretty uptight about being shirtless in public, etc. Now I just go with it. Life's too short to worry about what others think. Ok, I still put on pants when I answer the door. What a hypocrite.

If you get carded somewhere, it's a compliment. Ok, it's probably just store policy, but you're still more than happy to pull out that ID.

You get to see and play with all the cool, new shit. Sure I loved my high school years, but then a home computer was a Commodore Vic-20. The Atari 2600 was THE gaming system to have. Internet? Yeah, sorta. More likely if you were in college. I took a Basic programming class in high school using a green-screen dumb terminal attached to the school's slow-ass mainframe. Handheld games sucked. Cell phones were suitcase-sized and mounted in your car. The handset had a cord. You had to be rich to have one. (I didn't) Stuff in general is soooo much cooler today. Twenty years from now, you'll say something similar.

No matter how old you are or how old you feel, someone older will happily call you an asshole and say something like "I wish I were still your age!" Surprisingly, that helps.

And finally...

Your clothes will come back in style. So will those looks that you were glad to see go away. You'll wonder what the hell those kids are thinking, but it will provide a great source for humor. Run with it.

So yeah... 44 coming in about a week. I'll raise my glass and make a toast to all my friends and family that couldn't make the trip with me, then just keep on keepin' on. Hopefully, there's still a long way to go. Like Jimmy Buffett said "I'm growing older, but not up."