Time to reflect on those who have achieved far more in less time. I'll never forget turning 26 and being so depressed because I hadn't published anything yet and John Keats had written La Belle Dame Sans Merci and died by that age. Here's a list of people who are roughly the same age as me:
Flea
Michael Jordan
Tatum O'Neal
Coolio
Russell Crowe
Johnny Depp
Brad Pitt
Conan O'Brien
Calista Flockhart
Marisa Tomei
Jon Stewart
Whitney Houston
Bjork
Here is a list of people who are/were roughly the same height as me:
Brooke Shields (met her on an airplane once -- she was really cheerful)
Russell Crowe (doesn't he seem taller?)
Mel Gibson (I know he seems taller)
Nicole Kidman (doesn't she seem shorter?)
Jean-Claude Van Damme (now he seems shorter)
Princess Diana (she's a lot thinner these days, too)
Woman with the same bra size as me:
Gina Gershon (says Jack, "I knew there was a reason I liked you.")
Poet with the same birthday as me:
Philip Levine, b. 1928
My sister-in-law Lisa sent me The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka on DVD. I adore Gene Wilder. Jack's mom sent me a cake that looks like it will just about put me in a coma. And Jackson gave me the greatest gift of all -- he slept from 8:00 p.m. last night until 7:00 a.m. this morning and I got nine full hours of sleep.
* * * *
it's all right
small cheap rooms where you walk
down the hall to the
bathroom can seem romantic to
a young writer.
even the rejection slips are
amusing because you are sure that
you are
one of the best.
but while sitting there
looking across the room
at the portable typer
waiting for you on the table
you are really
in a sense
insane
as you wait for
one more night to arrive to sit and
type Immortal Words -- but now you
just sit and think about it
on your first afternoon in a strange city.
looking over at the door you
almost
expect a beautiful woman to walk in.
being young
helps get you through
many senseless and terrible
days.
being old
does
too.
Charles Bukowski