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Age is just a state of mind

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(Photo by Marianne Lecarrour)

“At the age of 20, we don’t care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at 40, we discover that it wasn’t thinking of us at all.”
~Anonymous

Well, here I am. It is cool, crisp Friday morning in November and I am 40 years old. I’m not sure the reality of that has sunk in. I’m not entirely sure what the reality of being 40 really even means, other than that I’m not dead yet. If all goes according to plan I am only a third of the way through my life. ( 😉 ) Then again I’m probably right at the start of middle age.

Other than occasional aches and pains that I don’t recall having I’m not sure that I feel any older than I did when I was 20. I like myself more now than I did then. It isn’t that I didn’t like myself at 20 but the ‘me’ that I have become is a ‘me’ that I am much more comfortable with. And yet 40 still feels like the awkwardness of adolescence in some cases because I still feel that I have a lot of growing up to do.

In honor of this momentous day in my life I decided I would avoid getting all maudlin and instead would answer a couple of memes that I was tagged with. The first one I was tagged with fairly recently and (proof that I am indeed getting older) I cannot for the life of me remember who tagged me. If it was you, please own up to it in the comments and accept my thanks. The second is from Annie who tagged me with the Six Random Things meme a long time ago.

In what may or may not be a coherent way these things will tie into the looking back/looking forward mood that the approach of age 40 has had me in.

The Seven Things Meme

7 Things I Did Before:

1. Assumed John Hughes was a god!

2. Crushed Big Time on Olivia Newton-John.

(Go here to watch in high quality)

(a syndrome that was exacerbated by the fact that I played Roger, one of the Greasers, in Grease as a senior in our high school musical and watched the film version over and over again. Hopelessly devoted indeed…)

(Go here to watch in high quality)

3. Crushed even harder, at a much younger age, on Valerie Bertinelli. I remember that she was my favorite Teen Beat/Tiger Beat pinup. I loved One Day at a Time.

4. Worked as a dish washer, then fry cook, then cook at Golden Corral. I watched an Anthony Bourdain No Reservations episode the other day when he went back to cook at the restaurant he used to work at and watching it, although arguably different than my experiences, gave me nightmarish flashbacks.

5. Spent many a night sitting in front of my stereo with a breaking heart listening to Air Supply.

Many nights!!! 🙂

6. Spent the better part of one summer watching Mannequin over and over again. I may just have to Netflix this soon!

7. Sang OMD’s If You Leave in one of the last choir concerts during senior year.


____

7 Things I Do Now:

1. (After watching Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful with my daughter two weeks ago) Know that John Hughes was a god!

2. See commercials on Television featuring Valerie Bertinelli and realize that even at the dawning of puberty I had really good taste!!! 😉

3. Openly admit that I love The Ting Tings

(Go here to watch in high quality)

4. Discover new music that my daughter and I can share.

(Go here to watch in high quality)

5. Watch videos like the one above, marvel at the dancing talent, and realize that ‘Yes Virginia’ you are indeed 40 and your body will never be that flexible ever again…if it ever was! ha!!!

6. Read comics, play computer games, geek out over films, saturate my days with a wide variety of music and generally do all the same things I did then only now I bring a more seasoned, mature sensibility that allows me to get so much more out of these things than mere entertainment.

7. Share my life with you wonderful people and have the privilege of sharing in your lives as well.
____

7 Things I Want To Do:

1. Learn to Swing dance.

2. Institute what could turn out to be a very painful book buying policy for myself beginning January 1st.

3. Make friends with more trees.


(Photo by Johnivara)

4. Refocus on my health. (Physical coming up Monday and then back to the good work I was doing last year at this time).

5. Write a satisfying short story.

6. Watch the original Star Wars trilogy back-to-back-to-back very soon (it has been tooo long).

7. Finish up our ‘great purge’ in the basement before the end of winter.
____

7 Favorite Foods:

1. Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream.


(Image found here)

2. Highway Special pizza at Pizza 51.

3. The ‘no longer to be found because the company went under’ Bells and Stars cookies and Trees cookies from Archway.

4. Oklahoma Joe’s barbecue ribs.

5. Bread. Many, many varieties. I am particularly fond of the various breads served at Panera Bread but I am just a bread lover in general.

6. Turkey Legs cooked on the grill. Mouth watering…..

7. My wife’s crock pot chicken!

7 Things I Say Most Often:

1. Howdy! (If I know who is calling me on my cell I often answer this way. Must have been too much Hee-Haw as a child).

2. So. This word is my ‘like’ or my ‘ummm’. When I’m cognizant of it I don’t say it as much. This is one that drives me nuts.

3. Definitely. Another word that I use far too much as a filler word or a typical response word in conversations that I am having with people.

4. F*@^in H-e-double hockey sticks. Yes kiddies, I am afraid that I mutter this under my breath or in my head far too much, almost always out of annoyance, and it is a habit I need to eliminate.

5. Charlie-Bear! I’ve taken to calling my dog Charlie, ‘charlie-bear’ as some sort of term of endearment. I know for a fact this comes from a line in Labyrinth, a movie I’ve seen too many times to count’, where the little old woman is piling Sarah with toys and mentions her ‘Charlie Bear’ a few times.

6. That’s ridiculous! This is my token response to anything I hear at work from my staff that both they and I are flabbergasted about.

7. In my head, the line from the song, “Its the end of the world as we know it”.
____________________

6 Random Things About Me.

1. I absolutely and without a doubt need a Personal Moon.


(Image from Midori Snyder’s site)

Thank you Midori Snyder for the link to these wonderful artists and this wonderful idea. Click here to find out what I am talking about.

2. Perhaps the movie I am most looking forward to in the near future, outside of Bond this Saturday, is Danny Boyle’s latest, Slumdog Millionaire.

3. I discovered a definition for the joyous melancholy I feel during this time of year and I’ll share it with you soon in an upcoming book review.

4. No One Lives Forever is one of the most fun computer games I’ve ever played. And this holds true after multiple replays!

5. I’m not a cake lover. But I do love frosting. What I usually do (and did tonight) is slice the barest minimum of cake off so that I can get the frosting and will then eat that with ice cream. Rich, decadent, and delicious!

6. Despite what my inner child may tell me I am indeed 40 years old. I’ve seen interesting changes in my mentality and outlook on life, work, etc. over the past couple of years and what I am seeing encourages me. I’m excited to think that I can use what I’ve learned to enhance areas of my life that need to see growth while at the same time maintaining my child-like love of life, adventure, and play.

Thanks Annie and ? for the fun memes. Thanks for helping me to celebrate my birthday with them.

Best wishes to you all for a glorious weekend!

-Carl

“At 20 years of age the will reigns; at 30 the wit; at 40 the judgment.”
~Benjamin Franklin

“The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which mean never losing your enthusiasm.”
~Aldous Huxley

40 thoughts on “Age is just a state of mind”

  1. Great memes! And a very happy birthday. I’ve got the big 3-0 next year, and am planning some strange but fun ways to celebrate it! You are never too old to celebrate the inner child.

    p.s how about a john hughes marathon!?

  2. My, my I guess it’s true.. at one time or another everyone grows up! Happy Birthday Carl ! (my oldest will be 43 in January..he’s still not grown up though *sigh) The 40’s are the best years!! Enjoy them, you don’t get a second chance!

    Had to laugh.. that same non-grownup son, often would play the star wars trilogy back to back to back and I’d wind up watching with him!

    oh gawd, I’m a bread lover too! It does tend to become an enemy to your waist when you get older.. unfortunately. heh.

  4. Happy Birthday Carl!
    and don’t worry the 40’s aren’t so bad ^_^.
    I bought my first real NEW car when i turned 40, (the mini you admired in my garage photo) and now it’ll be paid-off in a month, yippee @_@

    Loved the personal moon & stars photos, thanks to you and Midori cause i never would have seen those otherwise, i do believe that’s the first time i’ve ever knowingly been on a russian server, i generally play on the asian servers.

    and along with you and Deslily, i’m also a bread fanatic, also a cheese fanatic, oh poo, my friends tell me i’m just a fanatic!

    anyhoo HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

  5. What a fun post! Happy Birthday and good luck with the upcoming 40’s! They aren’t too bad really.

  6. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARL!!! Geez, it’s your birthday, and you’re the one giving us the presents! I laughed soooooo hard reading this!!! I guess because The Breakfast Club will forever be one of my favorite movies, I know that Air Supply was the perfect music to cry to when “whoever” didn’t call like he said he would, and I always wanted TO BE Valerie Bertinelli!

    And Carl, I’ve got a few of these 40-something years under my belt now, and I can say with complete honestly that they’re fabulous! Enjoy the wonderful decade ahead!!!

    (You might have me to blame…that looks like part of the Kreativ Blogger Award meme.)

  7. Happy Birthday Carl!

    Wow, a birthday, thanksgiving and Christmas all in just over a month. What a great time of year for you.

    I used to have a huge crush on Charlie’s Angel Jaclyn Smith. Like you, now I’m older, I realize what good taste I had back then too!!!

    Have a great day!

  9. Welcome to the 40 Club! I turned 40 this year too and it’s kind of a weird feeling. In my mind I’m still in my 20s 🙂

    Ah well, everyone keeps saying 40 is the new 30 so I’m going with that. ha.

    Hope you have a fantastic birthday and hope you get some book loot!

  10. Happy Birthday,Carl-can’t believe you are 40-Dad and I can’t be that old-are we???

    Have a great day putting up your decorations-crank up the Christmas music!

    We love you and are sooo proud to have you as our son!

  11. Happy, happy birthday Carl! Bells and Stars cookies are no more? How sad 🙁

    I read a review from the Boston Globe today about Slumdog Millionaire; I’ll share the first few lines with you since they amused me:

    I’ll keep this simple: Cancel whatever you’re doing tonight and go see “Slumdog Millionaire” instead. Yes, you, the girl obsessed with “Twilight” and the guy still hung up on “The Dark Knight.” Take the grandparents, too, and the teenagers. Everyone can play.

    Have a great weekend!

  12. Happy Birthday Carl!!!!!!!!!! I hope you have a great one and do all of the things that you enjoy doing!

    I had no idea that Danny Boyle had a new movie coming out! That rocks…thanks for the info. And I’ve been a fan of BoA for a while now..Megan got me into her back in the day. She did the opening theme for the anime Lain which is one of my favorite anime theme songs….ok, I’m a dork :p

    Anyway, enjoy your day Carl!!

  14. Happy Birthday. I’m with you on that OMD song… couldn’t stop singing it. (Still secretly love it, too…)

  15. Happy Birthday Carl! Hope its a great year for you. And we should all make friends with more trees 🙂

  16. Happy Birthday, Carl! I can’t believe that November is almost over already! Normally I am in a Christmas mood at this point, especially with all the snow we have been getting, but I guess I am delayed this year. Anyway, here’s hoping you really are only in the first third of your life… Or did you say second… Whichever, I hope you are around for a long time!

  17. Happy Birthday Carl!! I know you are treating yourself well today. It is important to celebrate your birthday for at least a week and do something nice for yourself every day. Star Wars sounds good to me, along with eating some Chunky Monkey ice cream.

    You feel the same as you did when you were 20 – other than a few aches and pains… it is funny how people sort of get stuck at a certain age, mentally, and that is where they stay. My grandma was 18, and she was always shocked when she passed a mirror. I am 27 forever, except in my wrists, shoulders, right foot, back, and left ear! Oh well. I think Swing Dancing is out for me, but I hope you go for it!
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

  19. Happy Birthday Carl!! Hope it is wonderful….and since it’s your birthday, I’ll forgive you on the whole Air Supply obsession!!

  21. Happy Birthday, Carl! And thanks a lot, now I have OMD on a repeating track in my head… 😉 And you’ve started a huge John Hughes craving, think I’ll have to rewatch Some Kind of Wonderful, my favourite.

  22. oh happy birthday! I’m gonna be 30 soon and I think I can relate about the whole age is a state of mind thing although I’m scared shitless to be honest…
    oh I love the Ting Tings too:) the song is addictive.

  23. Hi, Happy Birthday! I’ll be turning 40 this coming April. I have enjoyed my 30s–I feel/felt more settled, etc. I know that the 40s will be incredibly different than my 20s and 30s. Like you, I feel like I haven’t “grown up” yet. My only wish, (which can never be granted) is this: I wish my father were alive to see me turn 40 so he could tease me and call me an “old broad.”

    That being said, if offered the opportunity to return to my 20s–no one could pay me enough to do that!

  24. Happy birthday to you Carl! I hope you had a wonderful one. I love how you want to carry your child-like wonder through to your old age (long away may it be!), and I appreciate all your resolutions, being older than you I know they are important, especially the health one! Most of all, I too have the line from REM: “It’s the end of the world as you know it, and I feel fine” ringing through my head all the time too!
    I love, absolutely love, that photo of the trees. Happy birthday, dear Carl, and know this: in your forties (and I am half-way through), suddenly what the world thinks doesn’t really matter at all, because it is true – we do discover that outside of high school, no one was thinking about us! there is unbelievable freedom in that understanding. Enjoy!!! all the best 🙂

  27. Please allow me to say a great, BIG, heartfelt ‘Thank You!!!’ to all of you. I enjoyed reading your comments throughout the weekend and am glad that I didn’t irrevocably damage anyone with my old music references. It was a fun weekend that I will be posting about soon and the gifts this year were just too fun. I’m really looking forward to the 40’s as well. I have a sense of wonder and anticipation about what the next year, let alone 10 years, might have in store. You are all very wonderful and I appreciate the great comments. Thanks! 🙂

  30. happy birthday carl!! i thought of you on your birthday.

    i love all the memes – there are so many answers i could comment on! so i’ll just give you the highlights:

    ditto on john hughes
    i love how you love your trees
    haha! i remember mannequin too
    i’d love you to have your own moon – i think it’d suit you 😀
    i can’t wait for this short story that you’re going to write

  31. Happy birthday, Carl! Just discovered your site. I love, love, love that Johnivara photo. And next year I would like to be part of the RIP IV challenge!
    -Erika Mailman

  34. Happy Birthday – sorry I’m late. Our birthdays are close, mine is on the 25th. I’m also a “Howdy” person. And I want to write a satisfying short story. Maybe there’s something to astrology after all.

    That’s a creative birthday blog post. Maybe I’ll try that next year. If I can remember. Now, that is a factor you notice when you get older. 40 is amazingly young when you’re 57. The other day I told my wife about a hot young chick I was attracted to. She was 50.

    Jim

  36. I am sooooooooo late! But I’m coming by to say I hope you had a great 40 and THANKS for the awesomeness that is this blog! I’m watching all your YouTube clips now. 🙂

    Also: MANNEQUIN! Hells yeah!

    xoxo!

  37. Pingback: Turkey Day Leftovers

  38. I have so enjoyed reading your post and Iknow that I will be coming to see what you have to say every day.

    By the way, happy birthday.

    Renee

  40. Kristina: Thanks, it is a really fun video.

    Renee: Wonderful, please feel free to share whenever you want to and thanks for reading.

    Elizabeth: Thanks so much, it was a really fun 40 and, so far, I’m not feeling my age!!!

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