Chapter LX

From Heavy Metal

We're still 18 years away from 2031 when, if I'm still around, I'll be 58 but still look the way I do now depending on what sort of genetic and/or cybernetic modifications I'll be able to afford.  But that doesn't stop me from feeling like an ancient relic now.

But believe it or not, I'm in a better space than I was this time last year. Just.


Let's just say that I've now lived long enough to get to the point where I can completely relate to what the late, great fellow-Clevelander Harvey Pekar says...

Don't fret.  Our man isn't that hopeless.  Granted, I've never been one of those people who fully appreciated the whole "adversity makes you tougher" idea.  But I'll tell you this--adversity has sure made me shrewder.  It's made me smarter.  It's made me hungry for the things I want in life.  And it's damn sure taken my patience away from the things that would stand in my way.

So, I take the ups and downs.  Because as Robert Lamm sings...

We've all had our highs
The lows we can't command
Sleeping through insomnia
It is more than you can stand

Boy, is that right.

I have a day off tomorrow.  But not the day after.  In the meantime, I'll not be taking comments from the peanut gallery just now.  In fact, I'm likely fast asleep.  I love time-shifting this stuff.

See what I mean?  Shrewder!