i appreciate the lyrics to waaaaay more songs. for instance, all the stuff about love, sex and heartbreak and struggles in relationships just makes much more sense. or on a totally different song topic, i can appreciate the lyrics of lennon´s "watching the wheels".

i used to find advertising intolerable. now i find it obnoxious and pernicious, but tolerable, which is probably for the better because i´m not going to be able to avoid it anyway.

i used to find the music in stores intolerable: phil collins, sade, "bring me a higher love". now i like a lot of this stuff, which is probably for the better because i´m not going to be able to avoid it anyway.

i pay attention to and appreciate a lot of things that i think i missed a bit as a wee geek -- food, architecture, furniture, current events, judas priest.

i definitely am less of a blabbermouth and maintain far more privacy than i used to.

i think i have more realistic notions of what it´s like being a human being, instead of trying to impose some theoretical notions on how life actually works.

moobs

I like not thinking about how I'm gonna end up homeless. I used to mentally prepare myself for that day, back when I was ridiculously over-idealistic about how the world should work.

Having a steady job that pays the bills and lets me tinker around with amps and instruments is the best part, hands down. That, and this thing that I might not explain right...

It's like, there's a balance between rational self-confidence (seeing and understanding your merits) and irrational self-confidence (more like ego, overconfidence kinda thing.) I feel like I've moved in a good direction over time on that spectrum. It's good. I assume it's a normal part of surviving one's 20's.

And just all-around knowing myself and my intricacies better, and being cool with myself, that's great.

Life's only gotten better in pretty much every respect, actually.

Every one, except the physical, the whole thing with my lack of healthy living catching up to me really quickly, pretty much on schedule as I had expected. And the curveball thing I wasn't expecting was the genetic bullshits I've got going on with my back and hands, but life's got curveballs, so y'know, whatever.

Other than that stuff, pretty much everything has been better and better over time. That's the opposite of what I expected up through when I was in my early/mid 20's.

-The fact that my hair is graying in that sexy salt-and-pepper Reed Richards way

-The fact that i currently find women aged approximately 25-45 physically attractive. That's the largest age range of women i could date without it being creepy i'll ever have in my life, i think.

i hope for life to suck less as i age.

Have you been to the local bar? I kid...

Not going to juvy. Juvy is pure summer camp. Everyone tries to act all tuff and shit. Have you ever seen "salute your shorts"? It's like that but add a bunch of probation officers and maximize the Donkey Lips around the joint and all of them fighting each other. Even the juvy prisons are more insane then adult prisons.

Adult jail, more laid back and the cops/guards don't treat you like total shit like they do in juvy.


I haven't been to jail in a while. But every year I do something extremely fucking stupid that lands me in there for a couple days. weeks. months.

Owning pretty much all the material possessions I can think of really wanting to have.

Except a really comfy chair.

Yeah, the greying hair. It's awesome. Being ever farther away from high school and all that attendant bullshit is just fine with me as well.

I've made a lot of good friends. Most of these people I don't get to see very often, but when I do see them, just standing there across from them is entertaining as hell. As you age, there's a lot more of that.