So having once posted it, I reread Second Gear for the umpteenth time, and I wonder, could I write this today? (As noted below, I am absurdly proud of it :) Or is it really true that I was capable of things at 30 that I am no longer capable of today, at 46?
Clicking through my little One Year Ago link, I came across four posts from November 21, 2004. They're good. We had a pithy review of The Incredibles (it is incredible to think a year has passed since that movie came out), an excellent rant against plaintext email, the obligatory New Yorker cartoon, and a thoughtful analysis of a Paul Graham essay on computer languages and development culture. Not bad at all. Could I write these today? Or is it really true that I was capable of things at 45 that I am no longer capable of today, at 46?
In a year - hopefully not after a three-month absence from posting - I may consider today's posts. Will I think they're good? Will I think, "is it really true that I was capable of things at 46, that I am no longer capable of today, at 47?" Nah. It might be true, but I don't want to believe it, so I won't. And honestly I actually don't think so. Sure, there were things I did at 30 that were good, and sure, there were things I did at 45 that were good. And maybe I wouldn't do those things today, because I'm not in the same place I was then. But by the same token there are things I can do today that I couldn't do at any other time. I've learned more and I've evolved, and I'm in a different place. Because I keep moving. And...
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