Skip to main content

Turning 40

I just turned 40. I am old now.



I've always said that age is just a number, but as I approached my birthday earlier this month, I began to feel it. 

  • My left foot (always tricky) started aching more. 
  • I got a weird ganglion cyst (benign) that I didn't even know was possible.
  • I remember my parents' 40th birthday parties. They were old. So, logically I must be old too.  
  • I got really into genealogy over the Christmas break*.


They used to call being 40 "over the hill". This implies that your life is halfway over and it's just coasting from here (remains to be seen). In my nostalgic mood, here are a few things that I have learned through the wisdom of old age:


  • Politeness pays. It's one of the things that people outside of the South admire about us.
  • Family is really important, although you won't always be friends (Chesterton has some wonderful thoughts on this. Read Heretics, Chapter 14). I have found that my relationship with various family members have waxed and waned over the years (my youngest brother is currently my best friend), but they're always central to my identity.
Taken sometime in the mid 1990s, I think


  • Your best friends now probably won't be your best friends in the future. Out of the 5 groomsmen at my wedding, I only talk to two on a regular basis (my brothers). 1 is still really close, but lives in another state. The other two I have not spoken to in 15 years.


  • Eye contact is important. I find it too intensely personal to hold for too long, but most people find it necessary to form connection.
  • When you don't feel like going to Mass, that's the time that you most need to go. I usually find that the readings are directly related to whatever is bothering me at the time.
  • You will forget most of the declarative knowledge that you learn in high school. Skills will stick with you much longer. I can still type 80 words a minute thanks to my 9th grade keyboarding class (not coincidentally, that's the opt out speed for SLS typing lessons).
  • You are not the same person from year to year, or even moment to moment. We are all people in transition. I used to be an INFP, I'm now an INTJ.
  • I've said this elsewhere, but remember that no one is the villain in their own story. Everyone has good and sufficient reasons (for them) for the choices that they make. You don't have to agree with them (in fact some people can be outright dangerous). However, they aren't the bad guy in their own narrative.


*Like really into it. I never used to care too much, but now I'm doing oral history interviews, transcribing recipes from old family collections, and tracking down birth certificates. Right now, I'm stuck on my 3rd great grandmother from my mother's side. Family legend says that she was a great granddaughter of Patrick Henry, but I'm having trouble confirming it one way or the other.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Issues with Harry Potter: Part 4 - The Education System

Okay, maybe it's because I'm not British, but the education system in the Wizarding world makes very little sense to me (a teacher). Granted, the American system doesn't make sense to much of the rest of the world. Here in the US, we don't have college entrance exams, so I won't criticize things like OWLs or NEWTs. However, I am going to have to criticize the entire theory of education. Primary Schooling A Hogwarts letter arrives on a student's 11th birthday (sort of). What are the options for students before they are 11? Rowling says that they may either go to public schools or they are home schooled. It sure seems like most magical parents choose the latter option (most wizards know nothing of the Muggle world, which should not be the case if they attended public school for 6 years). Here we run into our first problem. What exactly are these children being taught? In the US (and from what I can tell, the UK), parents are not required to fol...
Post a Comment
Read more

Analyzing Goertz Memes

 I often find myself on the Savio meme pages. Let's take a look at a few: 1. Handbooks I do read it quite a bit. We do some massive updating each summer. 2. Airpods I'm an Android user myself. I do think of the Airpod memes everything students walk past me wearing their earbuds (against the handbook, by the way). 3. Caaaw! Dr. Garcia started the noise. I don't do it as well. 4. Let it Go Well, yes. I was the one with the microphone and tiara. 5. Blue Shirt/Gold Tie Thank you. I think I look pretty good as well. 6. Saturated Because one time I said that the grass was saturated with rainwater. 7. Lunch There's a lot of lunch memes about me. Yes, I walk up and join conversations. I'm a socially awkward person, but it's allowed when you are an administrator. 8. Doors If you go through the wrong doors, I will find you and I will stop you. 9. History I don't know. Also, apparently my name no longer has a Z. Alright! First post in years.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is a Sandwich?

It's been awhile since I've done a "hot take". H Block Study Hall helped to come up with a topic. A common question that is asked (by students trying to distract their teachers) is "Is a hotdog a sandwich?" There are multiple ways to answer this question. First we have to consider why (as one student asked) we feel the need to classify anything at all. Why can't we just let a hot dog be a hot dog, a sandwich be a sandwich, and a pizza be a pizza? This ability to place objects into categories has been studied quite a bit. Here's a quick summary . (TLDR: Categorization allows us to use the amazing power of our brains to form inferences about our world. As a downside, it can cause us to draw incorrect conclusions, which is especially damaging when applied to people). Anyway, placing things into groups is an incredibly human thing to do. Doing so is a basic expression of our humanity! (By this definition, Carl Linnaeus is one of the most human of humans)...
Post a Comment
Read more