the "I'm Getting Old and I Can't Find My Teeth"

[connoisseur series500]

Am I to be on live chat this evening? And who was I to chat with...forgot!

Oh yeah, I gotta take out the trash and take my car to the shop to extinguish one of my panel indicators.

[connoisseur series500]

What's a panel indicator?

[connoisseur series500]

I think Chuck is older than all of us.

He's 37 or something like that.

[connoisseur series500]

I think Lowe and Weizy are bosom pals who vote Libertarian.

[papsrus]

Forgot all about this thread until now ... which is ... ah, ... shit

[BillF]

What can I say about being 68? Well, I suppose it means I was around to see Jack Teagarden, Johnny Hodges, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Rushing, Ben Webster, Bobby Timmons, Paul Desmond, Roland Kirk ...

[patricia]

I suddenly realized I am a grownup.

I walked over to my neighbour's house to tell their teenage son to turn down his boom-box which he had blasting on the driveway while he washed his car ..................................and he did, immediately, without a word.

Edited March 29, 2008 by patricia

[connoisseur series500]

I forgot what I was just doing. Where am I?

[Christiern]

I suddenly realized I am a grownup.

I walked over to my neighbour's house to tell their teenage son to turn down his boom-box which he had blasting on the driveway while he washed his car ..................................and he did, immediately, without a word.

...and that's when you forgot that this is 2008.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I suddenly realized I am a grownup.

I walked over to my neighbour's house to tell their teenage son to turn down his boom-box which he had blasting on the driveway while he washed his car ..................................and he did, immediately, without a word.

What on earth is the world coming to? Teenagers doing what adults tell them? We had a bit more backbone in my day, I can tell you

MG

[Jazzmoose]

No kidding! I would have told you to piss off, Patricia. Unless you knew my mom, of course...

[AllenLowe]

"I had no idea you were so old! "

come to Portland (Maine) where the arts scene is run by 25 year olds and where I haven't had a gig in about 8 years - and where I've just been stood up for rehearsal by a 22 year old bass player whom I just fired - as I told him in a long and annoyed phone message, I've scheduled rehearsals and recordings in the past with world-class and BUSY musicians from Julius Hemphill to Roswell Rudd to Matt Shipp who never ever stood me up or failed to return a call -

my wife thinks that young people today suffer from a surplus of self-esteem, a new version of the me generation in which years of psychobabble have created a sense of personal privilege beyond the usual need to just like one's self - sort of a Dr. Phil generation of self-centered weenies -

now where did I leave that package of Depends?

[WorldB3]

my wife thinks that young people today suffer from a surplus of self-esteem, a new version of the me generation in which years of psychobabble have created a sense of personal privilege beyond the usual need to just like one's self - sort of a Dr. Phil generation of self-centered weenies -

now where did I leave that package of Depends?

Bravo! great post and so true. In Marin Country and San Francisco where I work these people are unbearable. I guess when you have never had to earn anything and have never gone without anything your whole life... I guess the privileged class doesn't need to worry but I wonder how these people will even handle any type of set back or failure.

[connoisseur series500]

my wife thinks that young people today suffer from a surplus of self-esteem, a new version of the me generation in which years of psychobabble have created a sense of personal privilege beyond the usual need to just like one's self - sort of a Dr. Phil generation of self-centered weenies -

This is what a teacher at the University was telling me about my young classmates. Intersting.

Now where am I again?

[AllenLowe]

anybody hear of Sonny Williams?

[AllenLowe]

but seriously it may be related to a generation that has grown up so removed from deprivation memories of WWII and the depression, who knows - but my wife, who is 60, works in an office with a fair amount of under-35s and remarks at how high maintenance they are, requiring so much positive re-enforcement, to the point of exhaustion -

my experience in Portland, trying to work with much younger musicians, bears this out to some extent, though I do find a few who are reliable - but I don't know if it's age or this city; all I know is that I need a bass player now, which, after feeling things were on-track musically, is discouraging -

[connoisseur series500]

Good luck to you.

What was I doing again?

[AllenLowe]

found a bass player - he's only 8 years old, but his mom allows him to stay up late -

[WD45]

thir-tee

[A Lark Ascending]

I work in a faculty of just over 20 Humanities teachers, 2/3rds of whom are under 35. The under-35s are committed, professional, exceptionally hard working, immensely creative, humble and a delight to work with (as are the over 35s!).

But oldies will insist on believing that young people cannot possibly be as good as they were when they were young.

'Twas ever so.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

my wife thinks that young people today suffer from a surplus of self-esteem, a new version of the me generation in which years of psychobabble have created a sense of personal privilege beyond the usual need to just like one's self - sort of a Dr. Phil generation of self-centered weenies -

I work in a faculty of just over 20 Humanities teachers, 2/3rds of whom are under 35. The under-35s are committed, professional, exceptionally hard working, immensely creative, humble and a delight to work with (as are the over 35s!).

But oldies will insist on believing that young people cannot possibly be as good as they were when they were young.

'Twas ever so.

I think you're both right. And, of course, both wrong. Some people go one way, some the other. Sometimes this may be a geographical thing. Other times a social class phenomenon. And sometimes it's just individuals.

Where I live, which is extreme chavs-ville, young people certainly don't suffer from an excess feeling of personal privilege. A normal career path here is to register as disabled (bad back, psych problems) to claim sick benefits (better money than dole and you don't have to look for a job) and go on the hobble (an informal job for undeclared money) while playing in a rock band in the evening. There are several thousand rock bands in the South Wales Valleys and this is widely seen as the "way out"; so it is for a few bands like Catatonia; Manic Street Preachers; Super Furry Animals; or Stereophonics. But these are rare examples.

MG

[Shawn]

I'm 37 and my mind still thinks it's a young man but my body is beginning to put up a strong argument to the contrary.

[Christiern]

You have to argue back, Shawn.

[AllenLowe]

there are always exceptions - but I have a lot of anecdotal evidence - ironically from liberal/left types who complain about working with the young 'ens - I trust my wife's judgement as well as my own, I am far from one who pines for the good old days - the latest comment from one of my wife's co-workers, who is in her 50s, was to the effect that the gold-star daycare system had really created a sense of constant entitlement, an addiction to the kind of psychobabble that, like an episode of Sesame Street in Hell, just keeps saying "I AM SPECIAL I AM SPECIAL I AM SPECIAL." The really funny thing is that this is one in which we probably need to concede some things to the more conservative Americans among us (read: Republicans) who warned us of a spolied generation - well, now we have it - Berigan, you out there?

and I have been playing music since I was in my twenties with other musicians who were also in their twenties - I never saw such a lack of communication and professionalism -

now I am sure there are many exceptions, including readers of this site - congratulations, I say.

but also, don't forget - they warned us that if we took LSD we would breed a generation of mutants -

Edited March 31, 2008 by AllenLowe

[Niko]

maybe we can all agree concerning bass players