18-25

[Late]

How were (are) these years for you? Do you look back on them fondly? Do you not look back at them? What were you doing?

I was deeply entrenched in the food service, and trying to get the hell out of college (only to then go back at 26). I lived in a basement the size of jewel case. Occasionally a kleptomaniac French woman came over (usually with stolen red wine) and that was allright.

or ?

[Noj]

A non-swimmer in deep water. Worked nights as a janitor while going to school.

[JohnS]

Exciting, I remember it well. Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Coltrane Mingus, Impulse, ESP, what a time. The only problem was I was underpaid and I couldn't afford all those discs.

[catesta]

I had some of the best and worst times during those years.

It seemed like I was always in a shit load of trouble, so if I could choose or not choose to re-live

those experiences, I would pick the latter. (except the availability of young chicks part)

[catesta]

I almost forgot.

The answer is....

[Jim Alfredson]

Considering I just left that age bracket (I turned 26 last month) I have to say, overall, a

18 sucked. Left high school ( ) went to college ( and ) and broke up with the girl I really thought I was going to marry ( ).

20 sucked big time. My mom died quite suddenly after a very short battle with cancer. ( )

21 was cool. Met Joe Gloss and formed a great musical bond with him. ( ) Finally started getting over that girlfriend from year 18 ( ) and started dating and having fun again with college girls ( )

22 was cool. Moved out of my dad's house and to Ann Arbor ( ) and met some very cool people.

23 was more of the same except one bad thing. My dad, after years of neglecting his health, had open heart surgery. ( ) But he's fine and I was still in Ann Arbor, playing music, buying CDs like mad, buying cool stereo equipment, collecting Hammond organs!!!! ( )

24 was super cool. Met Randy Marsh and formed ORGANISSIMO!!!!

25 was AWESOME. Met my wife and we released our debut CD!! Woot! ( )

And so far, 26 is more than I could ask for.

[Templejazz]

I haven't figured it out yet. At 25, I'm still learning how to live in the present. Something I often have trouble with.

Edited June 12, 2003 by Templejazz

[slsmcgrew]

I had lots of and during those years. Graduated from high school . Thought I was in love, got married and had two kids by the time I was 22. Worked for the family business and did day care on the side. Caught the husband cheating the year I was 25 , (just so nobody gasps in horror, this was not the wonderful man, Mr. Kartoffel-haddi blues, that I am married to now and have been for over 14 years).

Looking back on those years I now realize how many foundations of my life’s lessons were learned during those years. Those lessons helped make me a better mother, a better wife and I think a better person.

[sidewinder]

18-25 eh:- learnt to scuba dive saw Miles, Bill Evans, Woody Shaw, McCoy T, Woody Herman, Art Blakey and quite a few others finished college started work in Engineering took out a home loan .......

Edited June 12, 2003 by sidewinder

[BeBop]

I'm too senile to remember. Which, I suppose, suggests

Unless senility/ignorance really is bliss. In which case...

[connoisseur series500]

Like every period in life, it would rate both a and a . Those were my college years, so for the most part it was fun. I went to college for six years including grad. school then I took off for Asia at the age of 24. Came back 11 years later. 24 and 25 were definitely

I'm 43 years old now and as I look back on life, I feel I've experienced a stage of almost complete bliss around three different times of my life. This feeling of bliss never lasted longer than say, a two-year period. I feel I went through these "happy 2-year periods" around three times in my life.

Here goes;

age 8-10 growing up in Abaco, Bahamas. One word: FUCKING AWESOME!! (well that's two words)

age 20-22 finishing up college and starting grad school. Great time.

age 25-27 spent in Thailand having a blast.

It's all been basically downhill from there.

But at least I listen to some great shit now!

[vibes]

Lots of ups and downs for me too, and since I'm 26, this is all pretty recent:

18-20: first couple years of college, and then took a little time off to work.

20-22: spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Hong Kong. A memorable experience, to say the least...But I can't quite give it the thumbs up.

23: went back to college and started working full-time as well. Last two years of college were full-time school with full time work. I did meet my wife then, which was cool.

24: finished bachelor's degree, got married, got a job at Best Buy corporate and moved to Minnesota.

25: pretty uneventful year. Working, learning how to be married, etc. Discovered BNBB, and then Mosaic records, and my finances have been shot ever since.

Edited June 13, 2003 by vibes

[chris olivarez]

My first reaction was to sourly reply "I Survived" (living in the shadow of Vietnam did that for me-whether you went or not every male of that era had to live with that.)Also massive substance abuse was a ticket for trouble which I avoided only through sheer dumb luck.

It wasn't all bad though I saw Miles,Weather Report,B.B King,Dr.John in full New Orleans regalia bringing in a new year was an unforgettable sight and sound also a dynamite r n r tripleheader with the Johnny Otis show,Chuck Berry and Little Richard and these were just a few of the great shows.During this time I entered my chosen profession and fell in love for the first time(did'nt work out.)

The results were obviously mixed but it was a pretty interesting ride.

[J Larsen]

Geez, I spent a good portion of these years learning math and physics. I did take a couple years off to fuck around, but it was exceptionally unproductive fucking around; i.e. go to work, leave work as early as possible, call around to see who wants to go out for drinks and catch some djs. Repeat 730 times, then return to school. I did have some fun doing that, but I really didn't do much to "grow as a person" in my years away from school.

Being 18 was sort of cool because I had an incredibly hot girlfriend back then. Unfortunately, she turned into a speed freak when I was 19 (which is part of what inspired me to take some time off school).

Edited June 13, 2003 by J Larsen

[vibes]

Mnytime, were you at the Mayo Clinic?

I'm in Minneapolis....

[vibes]

I'm impressed. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

[J Larsen]

Pala Alto-Stanford Medical Center-Fellowship in Pediatric Thoracic Surgery

I collaborate with a couple guys at Stanford, but it's a very recently formed partnership.

[J Larsen]

Mny, this is a longshot, but do you know a guy named Pat Divine? He's finishing a PhD MD at Stanford.

[J Larsen]

I figured as much, but he's been there quite a while himself. At least eight years, and maybe more like ten. I guess those degrees can take a while to finish! In my field, most people get their PhD in five or six years if they're going to get it at all.

[Jim Alfredson]

My mom was at Mayo for a little while. They couldn't help her, but they were very nice.

[J Larsen]

Mny - Pat is a childhood friend of mine and is doing a PhD in medicine at Stanford. I'm in the mid-to-later stages of a PhD in physics. But I have to admit I've been in the mid-to-later stages for a while. I had a couple false starts and a major left turn in my research. I still have two or three years to go before I'm considered a "slow" PhD, thanks to my fast start.

[Jim Alfredson]

She was in the one in Minnesota. It would've been November of 1997. I do not know any of the names of her Doctors. My older sister and grandmother were there with her.

[Jim Alfredson]

That's a good idea. Especially since so many hospitals have nursing shortages. You never know who's been working an 18 hour shift and looking after 10 people, you know?

[connoisseur series500]

Go get em, Mnytime!

Not to pick on hospital people necessarily, but the whole process of staying in a hospital leaves one feeling humiliated and abused.

Sometimes I wonder if I should just go off in a corner and shrivel away when I'm sick. Hell, I've got enough life insurance on me to ameliorate whatever the loss might be to others. Better that than have the doctors practice their jungle medicines on me.

My wife was prescribed an antibiotic this week for an infection and she became violently ill as a result. I phoned up the doctor's office to switch meds, and now she's fine. The doctor is probably prescribing some drug that the pharmaceutical sales people are encouraging her to prescribe. The Doc's drawer is probably full of free pens and free dinner coupons as a result.

Can anyone justify for me the existence of pharmaceutical sales people? Seems to me that they can describe their new products at seminars and such. No need to visit doctor's offices. Seems a conflict of interest to me, if the doc benefits financially from prescribing these meds.

One thing's for sure, more of this dirty shit will come out as the baby boomers continue to age and require medical treatment.

[brownie]

18 and 19 were great years. There was fun, friends, girls, jazz, movies at the Paris

Cinematheque. Future looked good.

Then the Army grabbed me at 20 and life went downhill, way to the bottom.

This was at the time the French Army was trying to keep Algeria part of

the French territory. I was not buying this. Two years and a half I have tried to forget.

Then back tome. Future looked bleak. No jobs (or whatever odd job was available).

Got a real job (as a journalist) when I reached 24. It's been uphill since.