It's Not The Years, It's The Mileage

As I approach my birthday I feel my age... physically. While I can't do all the things I did in my youth, I don't like certain things that make me feel old.

I go to bed at 9:30 PM on a Friday night instead of going out with friends. I wake up at 4:30 AM instead of coming home.

I could go to the diner at 1 AM, get a cheeseburger and fries and go to bed. Now french fries at dinner can keep me up till 1 AM because they upset my stomach.

I remember falling asleep at a concert sitting on a speaker, now I'm woken up at 2 AM by a car stereo's bass 2 houses over.

When buying sneakers as a kid it was did they look cool. As an adult do they offer arch support?

Movies Not For Children

Cable television in the 80’s provided a vast movie library which made me the first imdb app 
long before the internet. Luckily I was able to watch ones that weren’t meant for children 
because if it was rated PG my parents didn’t mind.There were some R-rated ones I could 
watch if they didn’t have female nudity, but the violence was ok.

Here are a few examples and why as a kid I enjoyed them despite them not being science 
fiction, fantasy or action movies. I was born in 1971, the dates next to the movie are their 
theater release followed by my age. According to wikipedia, it takes on average 4 months 
for a film to come to Cable TV.

The Four Seasons (May 22nd, 1981 Rated PG, age 11) It was the beginning when they 
were at the cabin making the big meal that hooked me in. I enjoyed that these couples got
together and did this every season. As first I didn’t understand why the younger woman was 
on the boat because I would flip back and forth when Alan and Lou were gathering wood. 
Much later in life I watched its in entirety and enjoyed it at a new level.

9 to 5 (December 19th, 1980, age 9) Rated PG - The humor was understandable, I loved
the fantasy sequence induced by marijuana. I thought it was funny when the women have 
Hart tied up in the bedroom with the hang glider gear and garage door opener. 
One of my favorite tropes is at the end when they explained where the characters went.

Iceman (April 13th, 1984, age 13) Rated PG - This is one my father, brother and I watched 
together although I can’t remember if we saw it in the theater first. It had a element of 
science fiction since Charlie survived the freezing process to be revived 40,000 years later. 
Even at a young age I understood when Charile was asking Shepard where his kids were
before the other doctor explained it. Of course the best part of the movie
is the musical number.

The Big Red One (July 18th, 1980, age 8) Rated R- Because Luke Skywalker was in it! I 
also liked the scene when they had to dig foxholes and the tanks drove over them. The part 
when the they infiltrated the mental hospital, then fought the nazis while the patients had
no idea what was going on. Despite me not being it’s target audience, this was probably the 
first adult movie I watched from beginning to end.

On Golden Pond (February 12th, 1981, age 9) Rated PG - Part of the reason was Doug 
McKeon’s character was a little older than me, and I liked that he got to drive a boat, and go 
fishing. The other part was Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, I liked that this old couple 
acted young.

Max Dugan Returns (March 25th, 1983, age 11) Rated PG  - Matthew Broderick was cool in 
WarGames. I liked the house they lived in, before and after Max remodels it. Recently 
rewatched it on Netflix and it still holds up.

Amadeus (September 19th, 1984 age 13) Rated R - I couldn’t tell you why I liked this movie. 
Maybe it was scene when Salieri sneaks into the dessert room, all those cakes and cookies 
looked great to me. I thought Tom Hulce’s laugh was funny. The music was amazing, 
I still listen to the soundtrack to this day.

Roxanne (June 19th, 1987 age 15) Rated PG - One of my favorite romantic comedies with
a great actor, Steve Martin. I have never seen an original Cyrano de Bergerac but 
considering how much I love and how many times I’ve seen Roxanne maybe I will.

A Fresh (re)Start

Recently I went through my Field Notes, Google Drive, iPod Touch Notepad, and Moleskine to pare down upcoming posts and see which ones are still relevant. As I was doing this I came up with the metaphor 'pool of procrastination'. All these ideas were adding water to puddle deep thoughts and making it harder to swim. I also decided to only use my Field Notes for future ideas.

Another course of action is to work on the next blog each day to have it ready to post on the first of each month. While I'll write down ideas, I'll only work on the next blog in my queue.

Six Word Story

His audience waited with bated breath.

and

His fingers typed with joy again.

Six Word Story

The darkness fed, its host unaware.

Six Word Story

Extreme temperature changes were a warning.

Six Word Story

Sleep, my greatest renewal of self.

Six Word Story

"I promise."

"Again?"

"I will change."

Six Word Story

A new day, a new path.

Six Word Story

Snow, on a spring day.

In The Cucina With Seamas

If you've never made quinoa with vegetable broth instead of water, I highly recommend it. I used Trader Joe's low-sodium version with their white quinoa, and coconut oil instead of butter.