Adventures of an Author: Another year older...

Rule #44 – Avoid acting your age

I am torn between this Rule 44 and Rule 56, which is “It is what it is”. Rule 44 seems more appropriate for my musings at this time. Yet, why do I hear Tennessee Ernie Ford singing "Sixteen Tons" in my head right around now?

Well, Happy New Year, Self - and to everyone else, too. Today is a day when everyone looks back at the year that was and generally says “Damn! Where did that year go? Who hit the fast forward button on Mr. Peabody’s time machine?”

Follow me, Sherman...

Most people use a variety of other words to describe the swift passage of time. I won’t use those words here. I will look at the past year and see how things have changed for me personally. The year of 2013 is, after all, the unplanned first year of a new me.

Let’s see… what HAS changed…

I am now a season ticket holder with the Baltimore Orioles. It is one of the best moves I made for my own sanity.

I am – for this year anyway – a subscription holder at the Baltimore Hippodrome Theater. They bring Broadway tour productions to our town. And I finally saw “Jersey Boys”.

I have my own investment portfolio… not that it means anything in this economy. But I plan on living through the next economic bubble when gains grow exponentially, not the losses.

I am collecting my teacher pension.

I vacationed in some great places and did the things I wanted to do while on vacation. Yes, those things included spending cash. But really, have you ever seen a Brinks truck follow a hearse to the cemetery? No, neither have I. So I am having some fun.

I saw two great concerts this past year. In July, Paul McCartney played at Nationals Stadium. I was there and have the tee shirt to prove it. Ahhhhh…. My first love!!!! I remember sitting in front of the TV, watching Ed Sullivan introduce the Beatles… oh, crap… was it really FIFTY years ago? All of a sudden I feel “old”.

Two nights ago I saw Jeff Dunham live in Baltimore. He had his buddies with him – Achmed, Walter, Jose, Peanut – and he brought in Little Jeff and a new character, Coffee Guy. I related to Coffee Guy, because I also drink too much caffeine. But to say I enjoyed a live comic show… well, is the Pope a cool Catholic? Of course!

Last night I spent New Year’s Eve at church. Now don’t freak… I haven’t gone Holy Roller or anything. My parish hosted a New Year’s Party for adults. I decided to go. Dinner, dancing, champagne at midnight… it was all there. I sat at the singles table and all nine of us agreed we weren’t “singles”; we were Lone Foxes. If you check YouTube, there’s probably some great video of the goofy dance moves we all made. But I did have fun. I danced like I haven’t danced in years. And I came home and iced my knee… feeling a bit more “old”.

Looks like I did a lot of things in 2013 that I normally wouldn’t have done for one reason or another. I tried a lot of things I wouldn’t have considered before now. Like auditioning for a female Barbershop Chorus… and I made it. I sing baritone in the chorus. I’ll work on feeling comfortable in a quartet set-up for the future.

The biggest thing that has changed is my attitude toward myself. Yes, I still want to lose weight (like, who doesn’t?). But I’ve stopped even considering myself as “old”. I remember that Hub used to say, “Now we are getting older...” I always wanted to smack him after that phrase came out of his mouth. Chronologically, he was right; we all are getting older. But we don’t have to get “old”. I am not going to focus on what I don’t have or what I'm missing. It’s time to focus on what I CAN do. It’s time to respect the experiences I’ve had… time to feel wise enough to know better, but brave enough to do things and act foolishly anyway.

Guess I have changed in a year. But I am so NOT old. I am full-bodied… well-seasoned… vintage. Yes, that’s it… I’m vintage.