When you are small, you are invincible. Cuts heal, scars disappear and tears turn to laughs very quickly. I think this is best illustrated by my friend's two year old son, Adam. While running around on the playground he bit the dust, hard. You can see it: his legs are only twelve inches long and that's including all the space taken up by feet and knees. So it's not really running, it's more like bouncing on chubby stubbs with flailing arms. Adam was running full speed, eyes taking in every ray, cheeks pulled back in a manic smile, drool flying everywhere. It was a little like a smiling, fleshy jackhammer without an operator. Stumble and THWAP! Pancake Adam.
After taking a moment to visually check-in with his mom, he decided not to cry and then used a combination of hands, feet and head to right himself and continue his touring-the-playground via seizure. I didn't see his face but I'm assuming he was smiling even wider now that he had kissed the pavement. If I was running proportionally as fast as Adam and then hit the ground, I would take a day off to go to the doctor and sip Advil cocktails until I couldn't see straight.
As I put children up on a pedestal, let's get something clear: I love getting older.
I love driving; I love drinking (not at the same time). If I want to see my sisters, I buy a ticket and go. Gray hair? Awesome. Gray is Gregory Peck, Steve McQueen, George Clooney and my dad. I'm fine with Gray. Hell, I can't wait for the gray on the right side of my head to convert the brown on the left. I have an iPhone, a drumset, a sweet watch, three earrings, a tattoo, and every episode of Battlestar Galactica on my macbook. If I want pizza for lunch like I do today, I'm going right the fuck outside to buy the best pizza in a four block radius. Suck it, Adam. And PS, have fun waiting twenty years to get laid.
Next Post: Invincible, pt 2: the dark of grey. You can safely assume at least three more posts before I get to "Her and Me and the End." That story keeps shedding it's skin and growing longer.
4/21/09 - Edit: changed title to indicate there are only two parts to this essay.
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