Classic Rant #500 (May 9, 2011): Today Is the Day

Today is my 500th official post on this blog.

I think I actually have a couple more than 500, but as far as official posts, this is a milestone for me.

When I first started this blog, I decided that if everyone else could do something like this, why couldn't I?

I have been a writer for decades, but always writing about things other people--namely my employers--wanted me to write about.

But here, I can write about just about anything I want to write about.

Having this freedom keeps the energy flowing. When you are constantly writing about things that others want you to write about, you can get stale and boring, especially if it is the same thing over and over, which is my circumstance.

Well, that is not true here.

I have written about President Obama, the New York Yankees, hating to wear a tie, and numerous other topics that interest me.

Today, May 9, is, coincidentally, also a major milestone in my life, as it was the day I was bar mitzvahed. Today is the 41st anniversary of that day.

I have written extensively about it before here, so I won't go that deep into it again, but looking back, am I the same person that I was at 13 as I am at 54?

I think that I am, pretty much. I still believe in the same things, although from an adult viewpoint.

The things that I believed were wrong then I still believe are wrong, and the things that I believed were right then are still OK with me.

But again, I am an adult now, rather than a kid, so my perspective has changed on some things.

You can't be a kid your whole life, so your viewpoints on some things have to change.

For instance, I doubt I worried about the price of gas back then, but today, my perspective is a different one.

Back then, the snow didn't bother me; now, I hate the snow with a passion.

In 1970, I couldn't have imagined that I would have married, and took the plunge twice.

Nor could I have imagined that I would have two kids, a boy and a girl.

I am sure I thought that when I got older, I would get married and have kids, but certainly, your dreams at 13 are not your dreams at 54.

Have I fulfilled all the dreams I had way back when?

Probably not, but who has?

But it has been a good, decent life. There are still things I would like to do, and maybe I will do them.

And one of those things is write a No. 501 rant and rave, which I will do tomorrow.

See you then.