This was so interesting Hannah, thank you. I too struggled to reconcile getting older with the idea of being young - such a human experience, where all we ever know is being young until suddenly - we aren't! In my thirties I totally understood all those body-swap movies, as it would genuinely have been less weird to me had a genie offered me the chance to do my teens again, than accepting I was actually aging after all.
So interesting to hear about the French government. Is the prime minister's role there sort of like the deputy prime minister's here? Not that I *quite* know what that is!!
The tragedy of life is that the teenage years of fun and romantic exploration morph into adulthood. I got the most out of 17 because it was over in one Hell of a hurry! Fun during the rest of life is just OK in comparison.
And you made me laugh considering the things you would still be young to do or be! I'll have a think about mine, at 46 - I guess I'd still be young to play lawn bowls??
I am glad that part was relatable! I wasn't sure if it was my own personal neurosis ou, bien, la condition humaine ! Thanks for helping me feel it's the latter. You would DEFINITELY still be young to play lawn bowls! I have a pre-emptive list of 'young for...' for every stage of my life. And indeed I also think everyone alive, even the very oldest, are REALLY young on the scale of even recent history! So basically, we will always be young somehow...!
Hmm I don't think the French pm is like the deputy pm in the UK because I feel like that's a bit of a minster-without-portfolio type position (also don't quite know what it is). It's much more active, a bit like the UK pm, except that the big boss is an elected president, rather than the King?
“protty: a derogatory term used by mostly irish people of catholic descent to bash those of protestant descent.” Who knew?
“I will try to atone for above jollity by being appropriately austere in every other waking hour.” That’s a deal with the Devil…I know because I’ve made many in my lifetime: e.g., In college, in the early 1970’s, as I walked across the campus towards the auditorium where 120 of my far more prepared classmates were sitting for whatever exam we were having that day, and I had not properly prepared, cramming the night away and making a deal to atone for my chasing girls while I should have been chasing the Krebs Cycle, I said the same desperate plea, “Dear God, if You get me through this test I vow to change my wild ways and become a proper student.” God laughed…
“But to soothe myself, I have developed a sliding scale of things and situations I am still ‘young for’” I love that imaginative concept!! I’m 70, but I didn’t think of my ages along the way…between the ears I was always in 7th grade…but the digital-age has changed the atmosphere, where the youthful-current-Kool is here and gone in less than a blink; so keeping up is keeping young. Plus I’m male and age is forgiven in males.
“Sketches and notes while watching Macron press conference” All fabulous!
“…engaging in. a ”fight against infertility”. That’s why immigrants should be welcomed with open arms…someday, soon, there will be a competition to attract immigrants.
Thirty-second book club…I just bought a used book on eBay about the ill-fated Donner Party called, “History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the Sierra by McGlashan, C. F. If you are unaware of the Donner Party: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party
This was so interesting Hannah, thank you. I too struggled to reconcile getting older with the idea of being young - such a human experience, where all we ever know is being young until suddenly - we aren't! In my thirties I totally understood all those body-swap movies, as it would genuinely have been less weird to me had a genie offered me the chance to do my teens again, than accepting I was actually aging after all.
So interesting to hear about the French government. Is the prime minister's role there sort of like the deputy prime minister's here? Not that I *quite* know what that is!!
Tor, I'm 70. Forget about age and remember the admonition for Fernando: It is always better to look good than to feel good!" https://youtu.be/J0RTD7250II?si=1AjUD774AjmGlyAe
The tragedy of life is that the teenage years of fun and romantic exploration morph into adulthood. I got the most out of 17 because it was over in one Hell of a hurry! Fun during the rest of life is just OK in comparison.
And you made me laugh considering the things you would still be young to do or be! I'll have a think about mine, at 46 - I guess I'd still be young to play lawn bowls??
I am glad that part was relatable! I wasn't sure if it was my own personal neurosis ou, bien, la condition humaine ! Thanks for helping me feel it's the latter. You would DEFINITELY still be young to play lawn bowls! I have a pre-emptive list of 'young for...' for every stage of my life. And indeed I also think everyone alive, even the very oldest, are REALLY young on the scale of even recent history! So basically, we will always be young somehow...!
Hmm I don't think the French pm is like the deputy pm in the UK because I feel like that's a bit of a minster-without-portfolio type position (also don't quite know what it is). It's much more active, a bit like the UK pm, except that the big boss is an elected president, rather than the King?
Merciii for reading!
“protty: a derogatory term used by mostly irish people of catholic descent to bash those of protestant descent.” Who knew?
“I will try to atone for above jollity by being appropriately austere in every other waking hour.” That’s a deal with the Devil…I know because I’ve made many in my lifetime: e.g., In college, in the early 1970’s, as I walked across the campus towards the auditorium where 120 of my far more prepared classmates were sitting for whatever exam we were having that day, and I had not properly prepared, cramming the night away and making a deal to atone for my chasing girls while I should have been chasing the Krebs Cycle, I said the same desperate plea, “Dear God, if You get me through this test I vow to change my wild ways and become a proper student.” God laughed…
“But to soothe myself, I have developed a sliding scale of things and situations I am still ‘young for’” I love that imaginative concept!! I’m 70, but I didn’t think of my ages along the way…between the ears I was always in 7th grade…but the digital-age has changed the atmosphere, where the youthful-current-Kool is here and gone in less than a blink; so keeping up is keeping young. Plus I’m male and age is forgiven in males.
“Sketches and notes while watching Macron press conference” All fabulous!
“…engaging in. a ”fight against infertility”. That’s why immigrants should be welcomed with open arms…someday, soon, there will be a competition to attract immigrants.
Thirty-second book club…I just bought a used book on eBay about the ill-fated Donner Party called, “History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the Sierra by McGlashan, C. F. If you are unaware of the Donner Party: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party