Friday, 05 October 2007

• Currently Watching Natasha Bedingfield - 'Live in New York City' By Natasha Bedingfield see related

  THE AGE OF LOVE

  What the hell is going on with Brett Favre?  I’m not referring to the fact that he is having a phenomenal football season in which he has led the Green Bay Packers to a 4-0 start, despite supposedly being in the “twilight” of his career.  Nor am I referring to the fact that he is shattering every significant NFL quarterback record and cementing his place as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game.  I’m referring to the fact that he has managed to look like a 50-year old geezer at 37 years old.  It seems like it was just a few years ago that he looked like a regular 30-something-year old man, but I must have missed the day that he showed up to training camp with a wrinkled face and a full head of gray hair.  This thoroughly befuddles me, though I now suspect that playing in 1,000 (this is approximate) consecutive football games speeds up the aging process.  However, Brett's hypersonic aging ability is nothing compared to what that dork MCA from the Beastie Boys has accomplished.  When the Beasties dropped Licensed to Ill in 1986, he was 22 years old, but he managed to look like he was 30 and sound like he was 35.  When they released their last studio album, To the 5 Boroughs, in 2004, he was 40 years old, but he looked like he was 57 and he sounded like he was 71.  Today, ol' "Nathaniel Hornblower" is 43 and he certainly is not getting any younger.  I fear he may be the only 43-year old person in modern history to die of old age.  Why are these guys aging so fast?  I don't understand white people.
  
  I’ve been told that Asian people don’t age as fast as whitey.  I don’t know if there is any truth to that.  It might just be a social misconception or Asian propaganda.  It might even be an optical illusion.  How the hell should I know?  But, I suppose it seems to be true.  Personally (as a 30-year old Asian American), I don’t see myself to be “30 years old” in any capacity.  I have the political outlook of a college hippie (“liberal”).  I talk like a fucking teenage asshole.  I have the musical taste of a 14-year old (Avril Lavigne) and the sense of humor of an 8-year old (I enjoy primetime programming on the CW).  I eat like a toddler (my dinner last night was hot dogs with a glass of whole milk).  Furthermore, I don’t even look 30 years old (I honestly don’t think I look a day over 29). 

  Of course, all of this is relative to what a 30-year old person is supposed to look like and how that person is supposed to behave, and a lot of people expect that 30-year old behavior includes getting married.  I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel outside pressure about marriage.  I’ve been to more weddings in the past two years than I’ve ever been in my life.  My parents occasionally ask when I’m going to get married and produce children.  One by one my single friends are deciding that it’s time to walk down the plank (aisle), and when I get together with the few single friends I have left, it seems that we spend a good amount of time pondering when we’re going to fall from the ranks of the singles.  Most of the time these conversations are nothing more than playful banter, but lately I can’t help but feel that they’ve taken somewhat of a serious turn.   During a recent dinner I had with two of my closest friends, I had a feeling that both of them were genuinely longing for the day that they will get married.  This simultaneously saddened and troubled me.

  I can certainly understand the desire to be in a relationship.  It’s fun and exciting, and there’s an unrivaled sense of security and worth that comes along with companionship.  As someone who has been in love, I certainly know that being in love is the most fantastic feeling anyone can ever experience.  I sincerely hope that everyone, especially my friends, falls in love at least once in their lives.  However, what troubles me is that people tend to equate “falling in love” with “getting married”, and being 30 years old, it seems that “getting married” is becoming more and more of an issue.  This makes no sense to me because the older I get, the less I understand the necessity to get legally married.  All the joys of a relationship can still be enjoyed without getting married.  You can fall in love without getting married.  You can commit yourself to someone without getting married.  You can live with your boyfriend or girlfriend without getting married.  You can raise children with your partner without getting married.  You can have a great life for all eternity with someone you love without getting married.  While I can understand the desire to get married for religious or cultural reasons, I cannot understand any benefit for getting legally married.  A marriage recognized by the state is nothing more than a contract that says that I am obligated to share half of everything I own with someone.  It doesn’t make financial sense to me to get married, because if I get married and it ends in divorce, she will likely clean out my bank accounts and cash in on her divorce insurance (engagement ring).  The more I think about it, the more I convince myself that the only reason people get married is because they are insecure about their relationships and would feel more secure if it was insured with a legally binding contract.  This is hardly what love is about.  I’m beginning to realize that marriage is detrimental to true love.  The gay and Lesbian community should consider itself lucky that their marriages aren't legally recognized.  While I would support any proposal that would legalize their marriages in the same spirit that I support euthanasia, I still think that the gay and Lesbian community should stop pursuing this legislation because all marriages should be illegal.  They don't know how good they have it already!
  

  I love being 30.

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