A Pirate Looks at 41

I'm 41 years old tomorrow.

There. I said it.

I'm of two minds about this. Part of me doesn't care. Part of me cares greatly.

Eh, it's only a number. It beats the alternative. Yeah, yeah. Whatever.

In my head I'm about 25 years old, listening to all the hippest music and seeing the world as one who is down with the kids, because, well, I am one of the kids. Well, probably not because I don't think they say "down with the kids" anymore. Whatever.

I realized the other day that the liquor store that has always carded me doesn't anymore. It must be that middle-aged look I'm sporting these days. My mom claims I'm not middle-aged but she is. Um, only if you're planning to live well into your 120s.... (And maybe she is. Have you met my mother?)

Forty had me a little stressed out but mentally 41 is worse. I'm in the thick of it now, I'm on the other side of it. I've got aches and pains I never dreamed of, my hearing isn't what it used to be, and I'm dealing with a new and exciting medical issue, the likes of which I've never had to deal with before.

But yeah, I suppose it does beat the alternative. And hey, Nigel (who is three weeks older than me) and I are still hip to trying new things (though we're not iPod people yet) and I listen to Ethel more than Fred lately. You wanna talk Gorillaz, Arctic Monkeys, Gnarls Barkley, or White Stripes? Bring it on.

And now I have a certain amount of professional cred (that's credibility to you old folks) that I didn't have before. Part of that is due to the position I hold at work, and part is a function of age and maturity. "The grey beards" of our industry don't lump my contemporaries and me in with "the kids" anymore. There's a new generation of kids. And recently, I was offered a very senior position in a young publishing company. I declined, but it made me feel like I've arrived. I have a professional reputation and the references/connections to back it up. I didn't have that at 30, and honestly, I wouldn't trade it for all the weeknight parties in the world.

I guess it's a matter of what you do with it and it's all about attitude. I feel young, therefore I am. Right? I do not plan on going gentle into that good night but I wish one of you kids would bring me a piece of cake already.