On Growing Older, or: Straight Up "Am I Caught in a Hit and Run" of Aging?

Next Friday, when you are paying (literally) homage to Uncle Sam, I will have completed another trip around the sun (the same is true for my twin brother – the handsome smart one). That’s right comrades, I am getting older. It’s true of me (and you as well, gentle reader) and all living things. But I think I might be getting older in other ways too.

First, a story about my Uncle Arthur…

When I was a kid, my Uncle Arthur used to tote me around in this Pontiac GTO. He was (and is) so cool. He drove with ONE FINGER, he had a huge afro, the was the drummer in a band called Storm and he had a superfly girlfriend. He listed to great music like Creedence and the Allman Brothers. It was a lot to aspire toward.

Flash forward to when I was in college. I was riding around in KC (where hate has triumphed over love) with my balding Uncle in his (then) late model Ford Taurus station wagon listening to Paula Abdul or Sheena Easton or something. I vowed to never let it happen to me.

Now, about me getting older…

So now I am on the verge of another birthday (it’s a prime number* in the 30’s and last year was not a landmark birthday. Or, stated differently, my current age is a number whose square root that is a whole integer).

Anyway, conversation with a dear friend who’s doing great work in the blogshpere makes me wonder if I’m not getting a bit long in the tooth.

Three quick examples.

(1) The violence and misogyny in Sin City interfered with my ability to enjoy the film’s art and colored my overall reaction to it. All the whippersnappers and young hooligans in my office thought it was the national sensation, the likes of which we have not seen since the days of the Lindy!

(2) Chappelle's Show (particularly in it scatology) is too racy for me at times.

(3) Half the time I cannot name the person on the cover of People magazine (I therefore have no idea why the person is on the cover of people magazine).

Three quick defenses:

(1) I really liked Kill Bill Vol. 1.

(2) I still likes me some Chronic (no, not that chronic, this Chronic).

(3) I am an enthusiastic supporter of public radio.

But, the sad truth is that some strange combination of parenthood, age, saturation and destiny have had the effect of making me respond to things differently than I would have even a few years ago. I have, I fear, entered on a slippery slope. As my forehead grows larger (and larger still) I find myself shopping for cardigans and humming the words “straight up now tell me do you really want to love me forever (oh, oh, oh).” Worry not, dear reader, even a lost liberal like myself would consider waging war over the ability of other to see Sin City and to watch the Chappelle's show.

It’s just that…well…I guess I feel…I can kinda sorta already imagine the day when they will be…well kinda…not my cup of tea.

It all gives me something to think about as a drive the Subaru to a Buick dealership in my search for a decent (but affordable) sedan.

Anyway, think of me next Friday!



*A prime number is positive integer having exactly one positive divisor other than one 1.