How your own attitudes have changed over the years

[MsMary]

Could definitely be apricot.

[Zarathustra]

I think that's just a really bad pic. I've got his DVD for the Royal Albert concert and also "Pulse" on DVD and trust me, he doesn't really look that bad.

Pulse is from the '94 tour! You can't use 14 yr-old DVDs as evidence of how well he's aging.

But I do agree, I didn't think he looked that bad.

[High Lord Tolkien]

Restaurants.

I've been very fortunate to have on occasion been able to eat at some fine restaurants in my life.
In the past, even though cost was not an issue, I would usually choose the blandest most simple dish like...steak and potatoes when the people around me would be ordering what sounded like from the menu description horrid tasting meals.

Now as I get older I don't care.
If it's on the menu chances are at least more than a few people liked it.
Just because I have no idea what a certain spice is no longer determines my choice.
Oh sure, sometimes I get crap on my plate but sometimes the food is damn good.

[SoulBiter]

Funny you brought this up HLT. I was considering starting a similar thread myself.

In a little less than 5 months, I'll be turning 40. I don't feel old. I don't think I look old. But boy have I changed.

It occurred to me that I've mellowed quite a bit, and that I lead a gentler life now than I used to.

I've quit drinking and smoking, become a vegetarian, exercise regularly, go to church regularly, become quite the outdoorsy type, give a crap about the environment (traded in the pick'emup for a freakin' Subaru wagon), and have changed my politics again (was a Democrat, then a Republican, now a Libertarian).

An exciting Saturday night for me is hanging out with Cailette, and I'm usually in bed by 9:30 on weeknights.

And I honestly couldn't be happier about it.

Wow..you arent the only one. I entered my 40's as a non-smoker. I dont drink more than a drink now and again and I used to be a party animal. I also gave up pot along the way and I realize that I smoked way too much pot when I was younger. I exercise regularly although I was always very active but now I make a point to be active. I find myself drawn more and more toward eating things that are better for you. But I havent given up meat. I just dont eat as much of it as I used to and Im more likely to eat fish or chicken and Turkey than beef. I eat veggie burgers now and I would never have done that 20 years ago. I only drink one cup of coffee a day now. Thats it.. I used to drink 10 to 30 depending on when I started and stopped my day.
Im usually in bed by 10AM and asleep by 10:30(ish). Im now much more religious and spiritual than I ever was in the past. I always believed but now I believe on a much deeper level than I did then. I was a far right Republican... no no.. farther right than that. Then for the longest I thought I was a libertarian but I think that doesnt fit either. I kind of find myself straddling the divergent philosphies of governing and not finding myself on any one side.

As I think back on how Ive changed, Ive decided that I wouldnt like the person I was when I was in my 20's and early 30's. Damn, Im glad Ive changed.

[Cagliostro]

It used to not bother me when kids walked on my lawn. Now it does. And it upsets my shotgun as well.


Damn kids.

[Waddley]

I want babies after all, they're actually kinda cool.

...but I'm pretty sure a lot of girls go through the hole "I never want children" to "OMG MUST HAVE LOTS OF BABIES RIGHT NOW!!!" thing. I'm not that special.

[High Lord Tolkien]

It used to not bother me when kids walked on my lawn. Now it does. And it upsets my shotgun as well.


Damn kids.

OMG!

I was just talking about this.
When I was kid I had free reign over everyone's yard in the neighborhood.
Now that I own my own home I'm pretty sure I'd be labeled as the "crazy "old" man who screams at kids to stay out of the yard" !

[thefirst]

I saw Robert Plant in concert not too many years ago, and I wasn't disappointed. I've seen Peter Frampton a little more recently, and aside from the receding hair line, he seems to have aged quite well, and he still plays every bit as good as he used to.

[Cail]

I saw Frampton last year and he did a great job.

Yeah, I'd probably beat the everloving snot out of my 30-year-old self.

[aTOMiC]

I'm 43 and am confused by what has and has not changed about me as I've gotten older. I relate with the "damn kids cutting across my yard" thing. I live in a fairly nice middle class neighborhood with lots of families. The next door neighbor's kid tends to attract a wide variety of other kids ranging from around 7 to 12 years old. I call them the "sand lot" because they play softball in the street with home plate disturbingly close to the end of my driveway. EVERY time I back out of the drive while they are playing I run over home plate and I try like heck to not run over a ball, a bat or a kid.
On the other hand I own about 3,500 comic books, collect action figures and toys and play guitar and sing in a band just as I did when I was in high school. Nothing seems more fun to me than seeing a block buster sci fi action movie at the theater. I've been a Republican since I was old enough to vote and the entire rest of my family (Parents and 8 brothers and sisters) are Democrats.
The more things change the more they stay the same I guess.

[DukkhaWaynhim]

Yeah, I take ribbing from my wife about still playing in several slow-burn RPG campaigns (D&D, Star Wars, Marvel Super Heroes). I'm turning 36 this year. I have three degrees now, am working my way into management of a rather small niche within the already-cozy pharmaceuticals industry, and considering developing a business on the side from scratch based on low glycemic index baked goods to take the country by force... All this leaves me wondering if I am a person so much a strange Mad-Lib experimental combo of traits, experiences, and oddities - like if you just added a lot money I could brandish the adjective 'eccentric' and get away with it?

dw

[aliantha]

You don't need a lot of money to call yourself eccentric. You just have to wait 'til you turn 50. Hey, it worked for me!

I'm not sure whether I've changed since I was in my 20s or just become more myself (if that makes any sense). I've always been pretty much of an introvert; now I make no apologies for it. Politically, I was liberal then, and I'm liberal now. I've always been a night person and I still am -- tho I'd rather stay up late at home than go out to a bar, which frankly hasn't changed either.

About the only thing that has really, truly changed for me is that in my 20s, I was dying to have a serious relationship. Could not *wait* to get married and have kids. Then I did, and had the kids, and got the divorce (which, I would argue, is the new adult rite of passage ), and now the kids are pretty much grown and I don't care if I *ever* have another date. Because I like my life now, just as it is.

Well, I wish the credit cards were paid off. And I wish I were living in Colorado. But otherwise, things are hunky-dory.

[Cagliostro]

Well, I wish the credit cards were paid off. And I wish I were living in Colorado. But otherwise, things are hunky-dory.

You just want to be close to me.
But believe me...you don't want to live in the Denver area. Can't vouch for any other place than the Denver area, but I'm hoping to get out of here someday. I am growing more and more dissatisfied with this place.