we were so young


When we are old
At 50, a person I used to work with plays with rockets. Not firecrackers: one third scale working replicas of ICBMs. He was on Four Corners last night.

In his 40s, a person I work with now goes deep cave diving. He works in cooperation with NASA and National Geographic. Once he came to work with a cane, as nitrogen bubbles had blown the cartilage out of his knee.

Another person I work with, late 30s, is a world champion swimmer in his age category.

(I know very few women over 30.)

When I am old
I’ve been listening to the Marshall Mathers LP and I’ve been thinking of the reaction that some people have to him — purely aesthetically (forget about politics, etc).

At 30, 40, 50, I hope I can still appreciate freshly found beauty.

Census
I wish I had someone to share my census form with tonight.

Under religion I specified Other: Atheist. I didn’t in 1996 and regretted it for the last five years. No religion bollocks.