February 15, 2013

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  The Daily News

  
  

  1   Once again I began a DN and once again the computer shut my stuff down. 

  
  

  2   The man must be onto me.

  
  

  3    Dude.

  
  

  4    My theme this morning was about scoring cheap chocolate. 

  
  

  5    You'd think I was handing out flyers filled with threats and anarchy. 

  
  

  6    Honestly.

  
  

  7    I had written three words about scoring cheap chocolate today when everything on the computer shut down. 

  
  

  8    They're on to me.

  
  

  9     Dude.

  
  

  10   Clearly.

  
  

  11   What, is the government suddenly hoping to control chocolate clearance?

  
  

  12   JAY-zuss.

  
  

  13    Ah, vell. 

  
  

  14    So it goes.

  
  

  15    Moving on, Part the First: Yesterday I had to re-write this nonsense at six a.m.

  
  

  16    My own fault, I suppose, for not saving as I wrote, a ridiculous habit that I completely own. 

  
  

  17    I don't like saving things as I write.

  
  

  18    I'm too old.

  
  

  19    If I take the time to push "save," I forget what the heck had just been writing. 

  
  

  20    This stuff, by the way, starts somewhere in your twenties, and then it simmers mildly.

  
  

  21    It doesn't go away, any more than the kinks that start annoying one's muscles and attitudes don't go away. 

  
  

  22   Moving On, Part Two: I don't mind any of that. I somehow embrace the fantasy that life makes one older and wiser. 

  
  

  23   The older part goes without saying.

  
  

  24   The wiser part I accept because everyone else believes it. 

  
  

  25   The great playwright George Bernard Shaw talked about that when he became a wise old coot in his eighties. 

  26    He gave a speech at some college graduation that people automatically think he was wise simply because he had white hair and he had been published. 

  27    Hmmm.

  
  

  28    You are what you pretend to be.

  
  

  29    So be very careful about what you pretend to be.

  
  

  30    I paraphrase the great Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. on that one.

  
  

  31    Moving on, Part the Thoid: It's interesting.

  
  

  31    There comes a time in life where you suddenly realize that you ARE wiser because of age. 

  
  

  32   You look around at the world, and everyone around you seems younger. And stupider.

  
  

  33   You watch them do the same stupid things you used to do when you were younger, and you smile and sigh.

  
  

  34   You sit and watch as tears go by.

  
  

  35   You are also thankful in many ways that you are not that age.

  
  

  36    You also sort of envy that age, but you would never want to go back to all the anxiety and idiocy.

  
  

  37    Is that what they mean when they say you mellow with age?

  
  

  38    I don't know. I certainly have, in terms of not being a social idiot. 

  
  

  39    I also realize that staying calm and staid works in almost every situation, something it took me a lifetime to realize. 

  
  

  40    Here's a perfect example: on my way to work each day, I watch people zooming from red light to red light. I used to do that. Can't be late for work, right? But I now think to myself, "Where you goin'? See you at the light." Inevitably, the guy who screeches his tires to get ahead of me gains about three seconds, and winds up at the same stoplight that I do. Dude really? Where you goin'? See you at the light. I always think that whenever I see a guy weaving in and out of traffic, or tailgating behind frightened drivers.

  
  

  41    I even see teachers in their thirties almost having strokes when they are late for work. 

  
  

  42    My philosophy? 

  
  

  43    They can't start without me. 

  
  

  44    Becoming wise with age is not something one plans. That greatness is thrust upon one. 

  
  

  45    The greatness continues with anguish at putting on shoes in the morning, at putting a plug in a wall, and at wondering why one walked into a room.

  
  

  46    Ultimately, getting older does indeed mean getting wiser, I imagine. Here are some things that will happen to you as you age:

  
  

  47    You sigh, quite a lot.

  
  

  48    You hate shoes.

  
  

  49    You love dogs.

  
  

  50    You love that you are no longer young and stupid.

  
  

  51    You  appreciate silence, and a quiet afternoon.

  
  

  52     Here's a bit of advice: enjoy being young. There's a lot to be said for it.

  
  

  53     A lot of it is painful, but a lot of it continues teaching you about life.

  54    And don't forget to save as you go.
  

  
  

  55    Right now I'm enjoying the lessons. 

  
  

  56    Meanwhile...

  
  

  57    Live life.

  
  

  58    Love life.

  
  

  59    Get a good deal on chocolate today. 

  
  

  60     Have a GREAT day, and a GREAT weekend. See you again.
  

  
  

  61    Peace.

  
  

  ~H~

  
  

  

  
  

  www.xanga.com/bharrington

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  • 9:56 am
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