Not long ago I saw a wonderful piece of wisdom online somewhere, and we all know the internet is the true source of all wisdom, don't we?
It was a quote something to the effect of "Never complain about growing old because so many people never have the chance." Deep, profound, or far out, as my generation once said. And I agree, except not today, Sorry, today is my day to piss and moan and bitch to high heaven because this isn't just any birthday, Nope, this one really bites because I've turned another decade. Trust me, the last one was a walk in the park compared to this one. It's not pretty and there's nothing good about it as far as I can tell, except that I'm still actually here.
Today I am 60. Sixty. 6-fucking-0. Two years away from Social Security eligibility. A whole bunch of years away from middle-age.
I had a conversation with the Drum Mama a week or so ago about whether to actually mention how old I was in my birthday post. This is important to both of us because as I have mentioned before, she is three months younger than I am, so her time is soon gonna come. In the end we both agreed, fuck it. If you don't own it now, you never will.
So here's what I think about turning sixty. Are they any great things about it? Hell no.
But being alive for this long means I have seen and experienced some wild and crazy stuff. Not all good and not all bad. I'm still having a blast and doing things I never thought would be possible. I also see friends and family leave the table at an alarming rate. And this is why we drink.
Technology has been astounding. Music has definitely gone downhill.
The music. Yes. I was seventeen when I saw my first live show. So for the musical portion of this post let's go back to that first show. February 5, 1972 at The Capitol Theatre in Passaic NJ. Brewer and Shipley of "One Toke Over The Line" fame, opened up for The Byrds. Cost of the ticket: $5.50. Experience: Priceless.
I'll thank Mr. Dylan for the song and remember that "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."
Here's to a new decade.
"Crimson flames tied through my ears
Throwin' high and mighty traps
Countless fire and flaming road
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now"
Happy Birthday Kat! Even though we may be getting older, at least we got to see live music when it was STILL music. Even better? We get to WRITE about it now! I'm so glad we were able to connect. Here's to many more wonderful years of words and music for you! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Jim, and yes, it seems like we got the best of both worlds. I wish us both many more years of music and hopefully sharing some of those times together. Thanks for being along on the ride.
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