Thinking Of Old Dudes

No, not in that way, of course. (Except you, Adam West. I always think of you that way.)

No, I've just been feeling my age lately--perhaps a side effect of this depression that I can't seem to shake. I have been feeling old and unattractive and not very interesting at all. In fact, I went back and read some of my early blog posts and I was a little shocked at how much more clever those posts are than the posts I write these days.

Seriously. Why are you still reading this?

So that made me think of people who are older than me, who are still super active. For example, about 9 years ago, T and I went to see The Police Reunion Tour. At that time, all of those guys were older than I am now. Well, they're still older than me, but you get it, right? Anyway, that show was physically demanding. They were up there under the hot lights, doing physical stuff for like 3 hours (honestly, I don't think I could stand onstage for 3 hours, let alone jump around or play an instrument). Sting, of course, was perfect. Stewart's drums were perfect. And Andy Summers, good God! He was what? Mid sixties on that tour? Played like a freakin' tyrannosaur. I mean, like genius! Ima tell you right now, my hands do not work half that well. He was pretty damn awesome.

And they're not the only ones. Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon (older than me) still performs. And, if you've ever seen his live show, you know this guy moves all over the stage. And what's more, his voice is still great. He still has that same incredible range.

And actors. So many actors are more physically active than you would imagine. And that's with long days of filming, the physical strain of the work, and the mental strain of doing the job. I know I would not be able to do it. I sometimes watch a movie a second time because I don't remember it. It might seem a little familiar... I will tell you for free that I would not be able to learn lines for a whole movie.

But yeah, these are entertainers. To be fair, in my prime, I was not as good looking, talented, or energetic at they are. So, I can't really compare myself to any of them.

But I do wonder about them. Like, when these guys do all kinds of crazy stuff as part of their jobs--jump up on top of a moving stage platform and play guitar, chase another actor through a traffic-filled street, gyrate in a sexual fashion as part of the stage persona, make out with an actress as part of a scene--how weird is that for them? Do they feel like their young selves? Or do they feel like senior citizens?

Like, sometimes I see something like that and I think "He's 20 years older than me! How is he doing that?" or I think "Man, he's going to need to take some ibuprofen and a long hot shower after that." And sometimes I wonder what their family thinks. Sure, the family has grown up in the business and there's a certain amount of jaded acceptance there. But, surely there's also a little bit of "Oh my God, Grandpa."