Thank you all for the birthday wishes.  Believe me, I've never received so many e-cards, paper cards, xanga comments, txt messages, emails, AIMs, phone calls, wave-hellos, all wishing me a Happy Birthday, before in my life.  Makes me feel special.  Thanks again.  So, in honor of my 32nd birthday, and inspired by SweetSillyAznGirL's post about age, I thought I'd throw in another recycled entry of mine.  It's about getting older... but not.  Enjoy.

[originally posted June 24, 2003]

The bitch about getting older, you know, you don't fling yourself into love and friendships the way you did before you got hurt. That's a damn shame. ~ Glory Daze

Age ain't nothing but a number. 

Until you're reminded all around you of the fact that, yes, you too are getting old.  Let me explain.  I am 29 years old (for the *ahem* third time), but I'm young-at-heart.  I like to hang out, party, drink with my 20-something year old co-workers.  Age is the last thing on my mind.

But in a matter of weeks... Reality struck in full force.  Three weeks ago: Marilyn, one of my "younger" college friends, turned 30.  Welcome to the club, Marilyn.  Two weeks ago: Little Joshua was born.  Last week: Little John Paul turned one. 

Among all my college friends, we now have five babies, plus two more expected this fall.  Seven weddings, with two more this coming weekend.  Add a couple of engagements and there you have it.

I guess I missed that bandwagon.  Heck, I ain't worried.  There'll be another one coming.

But this reality check has caused me to sit back and reflect on my own life.  Have I lived it to the fullest?  Have I reached my goals?  Is there more to strive for?  Am I ready to settle down and start a family? 

Fuck it.  Why worry about shit like that?  Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda. I'm not done with my life.  I have things to do.  Places to go.  People to see.  I am my own bandwagon, and I'm going full steam.  Anyone wanna jump on, come aboard.  But I ain't waiting around too long.  Apathy doesn't exist in my dictionary.

'Til next time,
G-Dogg

Not much time to write today.  Will be busy moving boxes out to storage so I can finally have room underneath my desk to stretch my legs.  And room around me to spin playfully in my psuedo-fancy desk chair.  So instead of racking my brain for a new topic, I decided to recycle a prior entry.  This one is one of my favorites.  Enjoy.

[originally posted July 16, 2003]

Things never turn out exactly the way you planned.  Growing up happens in a heartbeat.  One day you're in diapers, the next you're gone, but the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.  I remember a place, a house like alot of houses, a yard like a lot of yards, on a street like alot of other streets.  And the thing is, after all these years I still look back in wonder. ~ "The Wonder Years"

My sentiments exactly, as I sit outside tonight in my backyard, listening to the crickets, the birds, the windchimes.  A cig in one hand, a cold one in the other.  And my mind goes a hundred miles an hour.  What am I doing this weekend?  Did I pay all my bills?  How could I lower my golf score?  Will she ever call back?

But whatever runs through my head, I look around my backyard, and then I remember.  I remember those days growing up, when the only worries in my head were...

...absolutely nothing. 

The free spirit of the young kid who lived here 20+ years returns to me, and I exhale.  I sit here looking in awe at the moth fluttering around the glowing screen of my laptop.  I look up and gaze at the plane in the dark sky, appearing to be on a crash course to that star up ahead... only to fly right through it undaunted.  Yeah, I remember.

Sure, I could sit here and read a book, a good story.  But the best stories are the ones I relive in my head.  And no author can write such an epic.

'Til next time,
G-Dogg