I’ve got a million things to do, but I’ve got to blog right now. There’s so much to note:
Wedding
For many months now, Susan has intermittently turned to me and said “it’s only __ months until the wedding!” Then I’d turn to her and say “relax” and think to myself “dude, it’s not even close.” Then people told me that July would sneak up on me. Then, to counteract that, I got a job with the boss from hell, making each day seem like an eternity.
Last week, I looked at the calendar and realized it was June. Then I freaked out. This whole time, I’ve really envisioned the wedding being at the “end of June.” It pretty much is. So when I saw my calendar turned to June, I freaked out. But I still think that working for the boss from hell made the time pass pretty slowly.
So now I feel like there are a million things to take care of in the next month or so. I’m a little nervous now.
Being Out of Date
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about being “out of date.” It all started a few weeks ago, when a former employee at my job came back to have lunch with some co-workers. At work, there’s a clique comprised of most of the younger people, and since this former employee ran with that crowd, we all went to lunch. The problem was, some of the other older employees, who don’t run with the cool kids, didn’t get invited to lunch. One of them said offhand that “he wasn’t invited” in way that obviously indicated that he was unhappy about that. I felt bad for about .2 seconds, but then I realized, he can’t run with the cool kids. He’s not cool, nor is he a kid. He’s an older guy who talks about boring stuff that’s out of context for the cool kids. It sounds cold, but the fact is, he’s out of date.
Then I went to the mall and realized that cargo pants and shorts are on their way out. I remember having a pair of cargo pants when I was in elementary school. I loved them because I love pockets. Then they went out of date for ten years. Then they came back, I rejoiced, and I bought a lot of cargo pants and shorts. But I realize that they’re on their way out again. They’ll be phased ut in about 3-5 years and then it will be another 10 years (if that), until they come back. By then, I”ll be almost 40 years old and most likely will be too old for them. By then, I’ll be out of date. By liking them right now, I’m starting to go out of date.
I was talking to some co-workers about the new Indiana Jones film. They’re old enough to love the originals, and they hated the new one. They kept talking about how cheesy the dialog was, how thin the plot was, how bad the character development was, and how the movie was too reliant on special effects. But then we talked about how kids would like it because kids love special effects and don’t care about the plot or character development. Then one co-worker said that, the problem is, George Lucas hadn’t matured in 15 years and Indiana Jones 4 and the new Star Wars films were evidence of that. People don’t just take special effects at face value any more, and cheesy dialogue is a cliche now, whereas it used to be more acceptable. So George Lucas is out of date now.
I was going over some possible wedding music, and in doing so, I went onto Youtube. I saw some old Beatles footage and saw possibly the greatest living example of someone who’s gone out of date - Paul McCartney. I’ve seen him in concert a few times (my dad’s a huge fan), and the things he talks about, his mannerisms, and the music he writes now is just plain cheesy. I cannot stop thinking he is THE quintessential “old guy who still wants to be cool but isn’t.” What got me about the Youtube clips was that McCartney cracks the same jokes now that he cracked in the 60s. Back then, people actually laughed. Life can be pretty cruel. You’re hilarious and witty one minute, and forty years later, you’re lame (and out of date).
Finally, the Lakers and Celtics…when I was a kid, I remember spending hours pretending I was playing on the Lakers against the Celtics in the NBA Finals. I’d pretend that I’d be in the subject of one of those NBA Finals pregame intros narrated by Brent Musberger. Then I’d play the role of every player - Magic, Byron Scott, James Worthy, Kareem, Michael Cooper, and heck, even AC Green once in a while. I’d even try to shoot with the same form and release that they had. For me, Lakers vs. Celtics WAS basketball. But that was in the mid to late 80s. Any kid under the age of 25 isn’t going to think Lakers v. Celtics is any better than Spurs v. Cavaliers. That’s nuts. But then again, I’m out of date…or are they out of date? I’ll tell you what isn’t out of date - those Brent Musberger intros! Thank you Youtube!