April 4, 2011

Last Line

My wife shared an article recently in her Google Reader that highlighted great last lines of literature. In it was the last line from The Great Gatsby, and I forgot how wonderful it was until I reread it:

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

January 28, 2011

The Bubble

I made a stop at the grocery store today and as I left I saw one of those toys in the bubble vending machines. I got one as a laugh but it reminded me how when you're a kid that bubble holds so much. You anticipate how great the toy will be, how it's going to complete you in some unnamed way that you don't quite understand yet. Then, you open it.

Sometimes you're merely disappointed. You didn't get the one you wanted, the quality kind of sucks, the toy breaks. Your mom never lets you get two in one trip.

Other times, though you have this ennui that you can't quite explain. Sure the toy sucks, but what is still in the machine will rock your world. If you could only keep getting into those bubbles, it's all there for you to get at. It only costs a quarter.

A lot of people seem to live their lives like this. They pour their hopes into their own bubble, expecting it to pay out in some grand way.

The point? We all get caught up in dumb crap all the time. Be it work, petty politics in our little sphere, things outside our control. The best thing we can teach our kids is to look in the little bubble, realize it sucks, and pay attention to the cool, important stuff. Use the grocery trip to ask your mom to make those pancakes you really, really like. It's a better use of energy.

August 20, 2010

On Birthdays

So tomorrow I turn 38. I remember when I was a kid the excitement that marked the approach of my birthday. What would the day bring? What would I get? A whirlwind of emotions followed by the giant let down the next day that school started in a little under two weeks. As I got older, for a while I thought birthdays were something to be feared. While they are a sign of getting older, I'm finding that they're not that big of a deal anymore. They're essentially another day. There isn't anything really big that I want anymore, no ponies or themed parties to get me all riled up. I greatly prefer a quiet day spending time with people I love and doing things I enjoy. Plus I'd rather pour that big event energy into making sure my son gets his heart's desire for his birthday.

This year we'll celebrate by having a mystery date night (which in itself is exciting) and dinner at a local pizzeria with my parents tomorrow night. Throw in a little baseball on TV tomorrow afternoon and what could be better? It got me to realize that as I get older, the big thrill has lost some of its shine. The thrill comes more in those everyday moments that my son provides or the quiet times with my wife doing things we enjoy. I think I'll get more of a thrill this weekend from our quiet plans than I would a party, a big expensive steak, etc.

It all got me to thinking about life in general. I told a friend that today is the 20th anniversary of us moving into the same freshman floor in college. Essentially a bunch of semi-crazed, fully stupid 18 year olds running around like morons. While we're as snarky as ever, his response kind of said it all quite nicely:

That's just an unreasonably long period of time. But I'm sort of happier being older, in a strange way

I couldn't agree more. So happy birthday to the rest of you born on August 21 (I'm looking at you Kenny Rogers). I hope you all get what you want for the day. I'm happy to say that I have already.