I turn 49 years old today. It’s an odd number. I’m reminded of the malaise I felt at both 29 and, to a lesser extent, 39 … that nagging feeling I need to go out and make the most of the last year of this particular group of ten. By the same token, I’m not sure what that entails. I mean, prior to turning 40, maybe the cliché is to go out and buy a fast car or get a tattoo or something. What’s the equivalent when you’re standing on the precipice of your fifties? Should I go out and buy a bunch of golf clubs or something? How are men in their fifties I supposed to act?
By this point, I should probably update or simply dismantle it, but on the About page of this blog –- composed in the balmy days of 2005 –- I make the fleeting declaration that I had every intention of wearing “silly band t-shirts” well into my forties. Well, mission accomplished. But now that I’m perilously close to a half-century old, I still have an unwieldy collection of same (click here if you honestly give a damn about them). Is it unseemly to continue this practice? Should I care? I probably should, but I don’t. That said, I did notice a particular shirt that I already own hanging in the window of Metropolis on Third Avenue this morning. If you’re unfamiliar, the shop in questions sells “vintage” duds at prices I, personally, consider exorbitant. Ten years ago, the notion of parting with one of my cherished rock shirts for cash would have been unheard of. Now? Well, depends how much they’d offer.
Speaking of ten years ago, since it is my birthday, I thought I’d re-address the questions I answered a decade ago on this post. Why not, right?
10 YEARS AGO today...
October 13, 2006
How old were you? 39
Where did you go to school? I was well, well out of school by that point.
Where did you work? I would have been ten months into my tenure as Managing Editor at MTV News Online.
Where did you live? East 9th Street in Manhattan
Where did you hang out? By that point, we had an infant and a toddler to take care of, so you were probably likely to find me at playgrounds and baby supply outlets.
How was your hair style? A graying version of what I charitably described as a “retarded pompadour.”
Who were your best friends? My best friends, by and large, don’t really change, although I sadly see less of them.
Did you wear glasses? No
Who was your regular-person crush? The wife.
How many tattoos did you have? Zero.
How many piercings did you have? Zero.
What car did you drive? Didn’t, although I had finally attained a license.
What was your worst fear? Unemployment, not being able to provide for my family.
Had you been arrested? No.
Had your heart been broken? Much earlier, but all was bliss at the time
Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter? Very happily married.
********
October 13, 2016
How old are you? 49
Where do you work? At a place that is not MTV New Online. That was already three jobs ago.
Where do you live? Same apartment on East 9th Street, but we have outgrown it and will probably move before the end of next year.
Where do you hang out? No longer at playgrounds and baby supply places. My kids and I routinely explore all corners of the city. Most of my favorite record stores are gone, and I’m rarely let off my leash to visit the bars of my youth.
Do you wear glasses? I now have to wear readers, yes.
What is your hairstyle? Pretty much the same as ten years ago, although I’m now pretty much all silver.
Who are your best friends? Again, they remain the same people, but I do not get to see them as often as I’d like.
Still talk to any of your old friends? There are friends I’ve fallen out of touch with, but thankfully none that I can think of that I’m actively “not talking to.” There are some former colleagues I'm disinclined to chat with, but I'd like to think if I ran into them, we'd be adults about it.
How many piercings do you have? None.
How many tattoos? None.
What kind of car do you have? Still don’t.
What is your biggest fear? Unemployment for me or something happening to my family.
Have you been arrested since, if so, how many times times total? Never, although I did scrape my mom’s car against a cop car (by accident) and got a speeding ticket in Upstate New York (where I was *NOT* speeding).
Has your heart been broken? My heart has indeed been broken over the last ten years, but not over anything to do with failed romance. My heart has been broken by instances of death and illness in my family and periodic job loss for me.
Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter? Still very happily married.
Recent Comments