When Punks Rule The Earth …

52 today. Went to work and ran an exam for my senior design students. Did I enjoy it? No I did not.

This year has been a tough one for a lot of small reasons that, on their own, are not large or particularly concerning. This year has been, what I imagine, being over run by a swarm of bugs feels like. Many small, minorly painful stings that add up to something that is increasingly hard to ignore and generally makes me feel like moving away from the bug pit.

There is definitely something about being 50. Something changed. Some level of tolerance for things I used to ignore has changed. Some level of care about things that seemed to matter for decades has changed. What has actually changed I am not sure. I feel much the same as I did in my 30s … and to be honest I don’t really remember my 40s as anything special although I am certain interesting and important things happened.

It is odd being a Teacher in a public school at the moment. The classroom teaching is generally quite fun and it is always great when you meet young people who enjoy the same things as you and take it in weird and wonderful directions. Schools, however, suck the big hairy one and really need to disappear or, at least, lose the monopoly they have on teenagers. The bureaucracy and focus on administration over purpose is a weight that I don’t think we can afford anymore, if we ever could afford it. Maybe the focus was never really on educating young people and I missed the memo but whatever it is does not feel right.

Anyway. 52 today. Still distilling alcohol. Still playing games. Still doing creative things and learning as I go. Maybe a holiday is needed. Maybe a fresh direction or a change of pace. It will be interesting to see how I play the next few years.