it ain't gonna last
"Things were really rolling. Everyone was saying we were headed for the top. For a while we were the coolest band in America. We thought, 'We're going to be rich in a couple of years', and then two years later the crowds are thinning out and you suddenly realize that that was your heyday."
-Paul Westerberg
Do you think your heyday's passed already? Would you recognize it as it flew by you?
I'm not talking about a peak moment, such as catching a tennis ball you threw out of a car window, or finding out that the one person you really like likes you back, or riding your bike downhill with blood gushing from a fresh wound.
No, although without a doubt those things are awesome. They are the reason that we keep living: because something awesome could happen at any moment. Their complete randomness fills each crappy day with a shred of possibility and makes life a tiny bit more tolerable. But what I am talking about here is the period when your whole life -- personal, professional, physical, etc. -- just comes together as beautifully as it ever will. A time of extended spectacularity, or, in an otherwise shitty life, a time of relative unshittiness.
Unfortunately, I think it's almost impossible to recognize. Success bloats our self-opinion. It makes us assume larger success lies just ahead. It's how Ed McMahon and Latrell Sprewell can end up broke. Two hookers? Let's make it three. There's more money on the way. I'm fucking great and getting greater.
Nobody ever stops to think, damn I've got it good, and it might never get this good again.*
I promise to be on the lookout if you will too. Although I suspect I'm too late already.
With that in mind, I present this partial list.
People Who I Suspect Didn't Realize Their Awesomeness Had A Shelf Life Until It Was Too Late:
1. Joe Charboneau
2. Mike Reno
3. Judd Nelson
4. That hot girl or dude in high school
5. You
6. Charles Manson
7. James Frey
8. Anne Heche
9. Ken Wahl
10. Barbaro
Five GP's for each additional good one you come up with
* For ten GP's, tell me what movie contains the line I am paraphrasing here.
-Paul Westerberg
Do you think your heyday's passed already? Would you recognize it as it flew by you?
I'm not talking about a peak moment, such as catching a tennis ball you threw out of a car window, or finding out that the one person you really like likes you back, or riding your bike downhill with blood gushing from a fresh wound.
No, although without a doubt those things are awesome. They are the reason that we keep living: because something awesome could happen at any moment. Their complete randomness fills each crappy day with a shred of possibility and makes life a tiny bit more tolerable. But what I am talking about here is the period when your whole life -- personal, professional, physical, etc. -- just comes together as beautifully as it ever will. A time of extended spectacularity, or, in an otherwise shitty life, a time of relative unshittiness.
Unfortunately, I think it's almost impossible to recognize. Success bloats our self-opinion. It makes us assume larger success lies just ahead. It's how Ed McMahon and Latrell Sprewell can end up broke. Two hookers? Let's make it three. There's more money on the way. I'm fucking great and getting greater.
Nobody ever stops to think, damn I've got it good, and it might never get this good again.*
I promise to be on the lookout if you will too. Although I suspect I'm too late already.With that in mind, I present this partial list.
People Who I Suspect Didn't Realize Their Awesomeness Had A Shelf Life Until It Was Too Late:
1. Joe Charboneau
2. Mike Reno
3. Judd Nelson
4. That hot girl or dude in high school
5. You
6. Charles Manson
7. James Frey
8. Anne Heche
9. Ken Wahl
10. Barbaro
Five GP's for each additional good one you come up with
* For ten GP's, tell me what movie contains the line I am paraphrasing here.
Labels: heyday, judd nelson, paul westerberg, scooters
posted by hans q. bungle at 00:53
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