ezekiel's chariot - 張敦楷 ([info]pjammer) wrote,
@ 2005-09-06 11:35:00
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Current mood: happy
Current music:Erasure - Reunion
Entry tags:life

Birthday Project - 32
Birthdays come and go, each becoming less significant with the passage of time.

Taking a cue from my friend Ian Ybarra, I am going to ask you all for a present. Don't reach for your wallet ... it won't cost a thing.

To quote Ian and substituting my own age:

I only ask that you give me the gift of answering one of these two questions:

1. If you're over 32 (no need to specify your exact age ;-), what was the best thing you did when you were 32 or what one thing do you wish you had done (or done differently) when you were 32?

2. If you are 32 or younger, what's one thing you hope you'll do or do better when you're 32?

I had this idea a couple weeks ago when I was thinking about how most people naturally stop and reflect on the past year/years and the coming year on two days: New Year's Day and their birthday. I thought this might be a neat way to enrich my reflections, especially since I don't get to ask all my friends and family to share their advice and experience as much as I'd like. If it works well, I might make it an annual activity.

If you're curious to know how this little project of mine turns out, let me know and I'll send you a selection of the answers I receive (sources will be kept anonymous, unless they want to be named).

Take a look at some of the responses to Ian's entry ... there a gems of wisdom and touching moments of whimsey amongst his friends. I hope I can inspire some similiarly thoughtful responses here!

If you wish to keep your response private, post as an anonymous comment (it will be screened by default) or email it to me at the usual address.

As for me, I am off to enjoy an impossibly beautiful sunny day with good company and cold beverages.

(Post a new comment)


[info]loweeel
2005-09-06 07:13 pm UTC (link)
and what if you don't fit into either category?

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[info]coldflac
2005-09-06 07:22 pm UTC (link)
32 or younger:

I hope I'll stand up for myself and make bigger fusses when I'm 23.

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[info]a_motley_fool
2005-09-06 07:30 pm UTC (link)
Eh? And if you're over 23 but younger than 32 don't respond? Do you mean if we're under 32 what do we hope to do better when we hit that magic age?

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[info]pjammer
2005-09-06 07:37 pm UTC (link)
ok, obviously I do not know how to cut-paste-replace properly. Question has been edited correctly. :)

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[info]evelynne
2005-09-06 07:38 pm UTC (link)
You're confusing everyone because you forgot to change all of Ian's 23s to your 32s. :)

At 33, my memory is already shot so I am reading back through my journal that year to see what I was up to. So far it looks like my big accomplishment was getting my house organized (a place for everything and everything in its place). Not very exciting, but I am a natural clutterbutg, so it has saved me a lot of time and aggravation (no hunting through piles of crap for an important receipt).

If anything more meaningful turns up, I'll letcha know. :) Happy birthday!

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[info]new_iconoclast
2005-09-06 07:45 pm UTC (link)
When I was 32, lo those many years ago, I spent two days helping lay sandbags and clean up debris in the streets in areas hit by Red River flooding in Minnesota. It may be that I did many other cool things that year and that flood help is just on my mind because of Katrina. However, even at the time, I felt myself lucky that I was able to pitch in and help, and awed by the gratitude - and the resilience - of my fellow Minnesotans.

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[info]loweeel
2005-09-06 07:49 pm UTC (link)
I hope I'll be a father 7.4 years from now.

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[info]slowlyblooming
2005-09-06 07:53 pm UTC (link)
32 or younger:

I hope I'll understand the world, people, thoughts & emotions & feelings better.

And most of all, I hope I'll be a happier, more tolerant person who can enjoy life more as opposed to complaining more.

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[info]cluebyfour
2005-09-06 08:05 pm UTC (link)
I answered here, as part of my traditional birthday greetings service for my flist.

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[info]bandicoot
2005-09-06 08:10 pm UTC (link)
When I was 32 I bought my first house. What I regret most is not knowing how to salvage an important relationship that disintegrated shortly thereafter.

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[info]ernunnos
2005-09-06 08:14 pm UTC (link)
I'm 32 right now. Turning 33 in a couple of months.

Best thing I've done so far this year is exercise. Started out just doing it to rebuild my broken arm, and it quickly turned into more than that. It's amazing how much better I feel.

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ex_lilwitch415
2005-09-06 08:33 pm UTC (link)
I am 24. By 32 I hope I'll have started and finished up graduate school, found a city and country to call my own, written a book, and learned to cook proper food.

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Under 32
[info]a_motley_fool
2005-09-06 08:35 pm UTC (link)
I'm a simple person so no lofty goals of "being myself," or learning not to care.

I like to sing and I have a fairly good voice, so before I'm 32 I hope to sing better. I'm 27 and there is no better time for my voice.

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[info]frockazulu
2005-09-06 08:39 pm UTC (link)
I hope by the time I'm 32 I'll have started some sort of retirement/investing plan.

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[info]foobiwan
2005-09-06 09:24 pm UTC (link)
when i'm thirty two, i want an eighteen year old girlfriend.

waitasecond, i know someone like that...

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[info]b_1
2005-09-06 10:59 pm UTC (link)
I second that notion. =)

Except I want her close by and not 3000 miles away. That way, I'll feel better about myself when I accompany her to "R" rated movies.

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[info]chrishaas
2005-09-06 09:28 pm UTC (link)
I turned 32 on July 25th, and the best thing I have done is celebrate Julian Haas' first birthday.

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[info]ebound
2005-09-06 09:28 pm UTC (link)
I hope that by the time I'm 32, I will have completed law school and opened a patent law firm with my friend who is one year younger and has exactly the same aspirations as I.

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Under 32
seh
2005-09-06 09:36 pm UTC (link)
It's cliche in the extreme, but by the age of 32, I hope to have made, or be making, a true impact in the world for the better of all in it. (Whether small or otherwise.)

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Re: Under 32
seh
2005-09-06 09:36 pm UTC (link)
It would also be really grand if my degree actually contributed to this.

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[info]radiantsun
2005-09-06 09:36 pm UTC (link)
I want to be in better shape than I am now in more than just the physical.

I will have hopefully finished my degree and have my own practice.

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[info]badwolf
2005-09-06 10:42 pm UTC (link)
Over 32... Man, wait til you get MY age, Pjammer!!!!

hehe.

anyway, looking back on 32... My son was born when I was still 32. My wife and I went through a lot due to pregnancy complication when I was 32, but we emerged stronger at the other end. We had our last times together as a pre-baby family when I was 32.

All special stuff. When the baby came, it was so emotional for me...I'm 32 and this baby's life and development are in my hands, but what love to hold your own child, look into his eyes, and see him develop every day.

With all the pregnancy complications and delivery complications, that was very emotional too, but interestingly, I never once groaned and thought, "oh god, why me"... Instead I was thankful and grateful for the incredible health care available to us, and indeed the extra care we received and I just wanted to be there for my wife and baby and during that time, all I could think about was how much I loved my wife and baby.

Our last times together before the baby came. It wasn't better or worse, just different and also to be cherished. It all is, the times as a newly wed couple as well as the times are a couple who are now parents.

Ahh... am I getting more sappy as I get older? I don't know, but durn it, I can still shoot demos for failure to stop drills with an UZI subgun and present a sidearm from a holster faster than most ;-)

Happy 32nd Birthday!!!

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[info]uke
2005-09-06 10:43 pm UTC (link)
I started a company for the first time when I was 32. It was fun, and hard.

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Cheesy, But True
[info]consume
2005-09-06 11:39 pm UTC (link)
2. If you are 32 or younger, what's one thing you hope you'll do or do better when you're 32?

    Not dream about the future nor lament about the past, but simply to be.

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[info]mindme
2005-09-06 11:48 pm UTC (link)
Is he related to the Joe Ybrarra, one of the legendary developers from Electronic Arts?

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[info]mighty_sam
2005-09-07 03:48 am UTC (link)
(Here via [info]evelynne

When I was 32 I started my LJ. I also got involved with a girl who was 18 (bad idea, but to some, a great accomplishment for a guy of 32). A few months later I started corresponding with one of the people on my firends list ([info]kimatha), once thing led to another, and she moved cross-country to live with me. We married a year later, when I was 33.

Happy birthday. Make 32 a good one.

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[info]no_brakes23
2005-09-07 04:59 am UTC (link)
I am 31. I wanna make more money next year.

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[info]chuzhuzhe
2005-09-07 03:11 pm UTC (link)
By the time I'm 32, I hope to have competed in and won at least one latin-ballroom competition, and to have had a tempestuous love affair.

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[info]fearghaill
2005-09-07 03:55 pm UTC (link)
This is a tough one for me, mainly because at 24 things are really starting to fall in place. All of my major goals are suddenly achievable before I'm 30. By 32 life should be as stable and happy as I could want.

So what do I want to do when I'm 32? I want to teach, and to create. I want to make my mark on the future, passing what I've learned on to my students, and creating something of lasting influence.

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[info]marknau
2005-09-07 04:10 pm UTC (link)
At 32, I bought our house, took the wife on a 2-week trip to Ireland, and welcomed my younger daughter into the world.

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[info]chanda
2005-09-07 08:07 pm UTC (link)
I am 28. In the next four years, I hope to be farther along the path I set out on when I was a child - I want to have read many more books, spoken with and understood more people, especially people who are different from me, and lived through more days with an open-eyed awareness of and joy in the world around me. While traipsing along this path, I hope to keep laughing, to maintain my still-juvenile joy in simple things, and to help my fellow beings whenever possible.

Also, I'd like a pony. :)

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Happy belated 32nd birthday, my friend. *grin*
[info]tidus
2005-09-08 01:42 am UTC (link)
I'd like to start by apologizing for not calling you yesterday, which was actually on my list of things to do.  I was distracted by the company of a beautiful female art student who recently moved to San Francisco.  I fully and openly admit to my shame... but on the bright side, I know that you'll understand.  ;)  Moving on, I hope you had a good Tuesday... and that you got laid, shitfaced, or an equally irresponsible combination of the two.

You were probably working and did none of these, however... for which I shall chastise you on the phone later.  :P

So, to answer your question... when I become 32, I hope to write and communicate as well as you did when I first met you.  I'm 26 now, so I could possibly catch up.  It's a large part of what I've always admired about you, and I'm hoping to improve enough to publish a book in the future.  I'll need your level of talent to do that, and I'm most certainly not there yet.  I hope that my answer makes for a satisfactory birthday gift.  XD

So... I'll call you (really, I swear!) to figure out how we can have lunch or dinner or something.  Saturday won't work, but I have more free time than I did when we last spoke on the phone... so unless you're exceptionally busy, we can make it work this time.  Take care, my friend.  I miss your company, as does anyone who has ever met you.  May there be as many hot 18 year old girlfriends in your future as you desire.  ;)

- Chris

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happy belated birthday
(Anonymous)
2005-09-12 07:29 am UTC (link)
i hope that when i am 32, i will be comfortable with who i am and not care so much of what others think.

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When I was 32
(Anonymous)
2005-09-12 06:57 pm UTC (link)
I was a part of Air Force aircrews flying unarmed reconnaissance missions in Viet Nam, Korea and other unnamed parts of the world.

Wouldn't change a thing.

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Happy Birthday!
[info]the_dreamer_
2005-09-13 03:32 am UTC (link)
32 or younger

I hope that the business that I am starting will be stable and I will have moved to Hawaii to take care of and help my Great Aunt find her rose colored glasses again.

I hope I keep dreaming and reaching for the stars.
I never want to loose the way I see the world.

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the the best thing
med_biz_wiz
2005-09-13 12:38 pm UTC (link)
The best thing I did at 32 was file for a divorce. I won't go into the details, but let me just say that making yourself miserable and stupid as part of a failed marriage is really dumb. Once that was over with, I had the pleasure of rebuilding the relationship with my kids AND getting into a gig I like AND making decent money. Sort of like winning the trifecta, except that it's a daily win.

I think 32 is a good time to put the past behind and pick a future. You're old enough to have experience and even some wisdom, young enough to do something with all that stuff learned along the way. It's a good place to be, 32.

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Re: the the best thing
[info]pjammer
2005-09-13 01:28 pm UTC (link)
Holy smokes, Scott ... what the deuce have you been up to?! Haven't heard from you in AGES ... great to see you on LJ! :)

I'll shoot an email to you with my current cell # ... would love to hear all that's been going on with you since 2001!

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How 1 person ruined my stay on the Island of Women
[info]aeaba
2005-09-17 07:54 am UTC (link)
I left the country to take a job with a long time friend in a company in financial cricis. I learned a great deal about myself, my freind, a new business, and my relative skill and instinct level in a no parachute situation.

The things I learned about myself were confirming and gratifying. The things I learned about the naked bold face of business and my friend were demoralizing and sad. I learned my limits of tolerance, persistance and blind hope (chasing the carrot in business terms).

The following year I returned home to deal with family matters and re-think a new phase of my life. It was an intense level of growth but I most certanly could have done without the unpaid/unjustified (in many terms) stress, agrivation, side-dealings, and dead ended final offer.

But... the correct assumption is that without such an extreem level of 'testing' there is no true growth. There was a gain but not completly worth it. There is always a better way to handle highly difficult tasks and take the best outcomes... even from setbacks both personal and work.

Who knows? Give it 10 years and re-evaluate.

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[info]tdj
2005-09-26 08:37 pm UTC (link)
Younger. So, I'm hoping for the tenure equivalent.

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