Aged or refined?

[garrettwc]

Daniel's who likes Classical? thread got me to thinking about this.

I'm finding myself more and more interested in things I never used to be. Museums for example, now seem like a fine way to spend a few hours. I do like classical and jazz more than I used to.

Books are more interesting than cable TV.

I prefer that my food is brought to me on dishes and not in a cardboard box or bag. Aged whisky, a nice wine, or microbrew/import ale to relax with.

Comfort is more important than horsepower when choosing a vehicle.

And probably a dozen more little things like that.

So am I getting old or has my taste just become more refined?

What about you? What refinements have you developed?

[K Frame]

I like AR-15s a lot more than I used to.

[Guest]

My Mentors and Elders always spoke of Dimensions.

I naturally asked for examples to explain this to me.

Basically I was told:

-Some things a person is born with deep inside, at certain times in life these come out. These are not age specific, not always a matter of maturity, just it is time to come out.

-Answers come from within - when we quit looking everywhere else, sit down, shut up and  the answer comes.

-Life triggers these things deep inside, we learn to sit down shut up and let the answers from within come out.


My Mentors and Elders were right. Trust my gut instincts. I seem to have been going thru a number of these dimensions. I find I appreciate simpe more and more as I age.  

Good cup of coffee, Live Theatre, Dogs, Simple Classic tools, Durable Simple Clothes in Traditional styles...
Always been this way. Just now I am really hard-headed and find I either want to avoid folks that do not think as I do , or I find myself walking away from more and more folks.

Tonight, I wanted a simple supper. Opened a can of Navy Beans, Some Tobasco Sauce added, snagged a fork and ate them out of the can. Tossed can, rinsed off Fork - done.  No muss, no fuss, no cooking - simple.

Having coffee now, and chocolate chip cookies.

Aged or Refined?  

I am 50 now and find I like simple.

[J.J.]

Try an opera you will be suprised.

I say refined becasue I am going through changes like that myself.. I think its mostly the new wifes influences but, I don't want to think of getting "older" at 24...

[Guest]

I was 24 once upon a time...that would be 1979.

I was still drinking back then, quit in 1984.

Live Theatre, Dinner Theatres, Single Malt Scotch, or Straight Kentucky Bourbon, "maybe" a splash of water, or ice cube,  My BBG Gun wore Ivory stocks, same gun [ bone stock Gov't 1911 for CCW, Kahkis, Blue Oxford button down long sleeve shirt, Blue Blaser, striped tied, cordovan penny loafers cordovan belt.

Steaks were Rib-Eye or Porterhouse - med rare, Ice tea, no sugar. Blue Cheese or Olive oil for salad dressing.

I was driving a Malibu for personal car and for 'business' - varied from P/U trucks to MB to Caddys to Jags. Depended on "business" and "perceptions" I needed for 'appearances".

Well I don't drink anymore as I mentioned, my last was in '84.  Don't do that 'business' anymore, still find I do keep a low profile, and use "perceptions' for some matters. Only other thing I can see that changed is the Ivory stocks are gone, as is that BBQ gun [ stolen] and I got older according to numerical age and I cannot do some physical stuff I once could...like eye are not "Chuck Yeager" no more.

26 years  since I was 24 and I really have not changed that much in matters that really count to me.

Humm...

Guess that makes me the Mentor and Elder now huh?

[Justin]

Generally speaking, I've always enjoyed things usually reserved for older people, and even as a child found myself to be more comfortable in the company of adults than other kids.

In college, I wasn't into binge drinking so much as sitting and enjoying good company and fine spirits.
I've found myself usually attracted to women older than myself.
And my gun collection has, of late, been running to the classics.

[Antibubba]

When I was a child I never realized just how tasty prunes really are!

[J.J.]

I am with Justin except the gun collection part.. Mine is lacking in all aspects.. but I was/am the same way.

[garrettwc]

sm, very good insight. I like the whole dimensions concept.

I like simple too. It's just that the quality of simple I am looking for now, is much higher than it used to be.

[Art Eatman]

50 is old enough to justify having an opinion, but it's still purt' danged young.

I still think life begins at 180, but depth perception and reflexes aren't quite up to it.

Booze tastes as good as it ever did.  I just get sleepier earlier.

I've always like SOME classical music.  I've always like SOME country/western--and SOME Rock and Roll and SOME Folk...Genre is less important that the quality and tonal appeal.

I've always figured that if I lived rather simply as my daily style, finer things were more appreciated.  If steak and lobster become commonplace, how do you move up?

Art

[StopTheGrays]

Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra music. When I was young I avoided their music cause I thought it was lame but over the years I started listening to it and began to enjoy it .

That and cigars, lots and lots of cigars.

[The Rabbi]

Dark chocolate.  When I was a kid I never liked dark chocolate, only milk chocolate.  Now over 40 I find I would rather have one square of a really good dark chocolate (like Varda from Israel) than a bar of milk chocolate.

[Azrael256]

Wow, this is one of those threads that makes me shiver because I notice that I'm more like sm than I expected.

For me, it's Glennfiddich, medium rare ribeye, 1911 IWB, khakis, and blue cheese.  The only difference is that I like starched white shirts and cap-toe oxford shoes.  *shudder*  I like the malibu, and I really liked its predecessor, the Celebrity Eurosport.  Almost got one, but the bank didn't care for the idea.

Hazelnut coffee, strong, and the zoo in my house are pretty much my whole life.

[Guest]

50 is old enough to justify having an opinion, but it's still purt' danged young.

.

ROFLMAO !!

I recall - oh do I, I was about yeah high.

One of the Mentors and Elders , tall, lanky, brown skinned from the sun, was holding onto me so I would not fall  into the truck  headfirst [again] while I was being skooled on Spark Plug replacment. Straight Sixes allowed a lot of room to change plugs, also a lot of room for a kid to slip off a small ladder and get "Whomper-Jawed" and not get get back up.

Just grab "holt" of the tennis shoes and pull....

The 50 year old fella , laughing his butt off, was kinfolk, Son-In-Law. Was spouting off about a Front wheel drive Tornado he had driven. How the word was someday all cars would be front wheel drive and Be a Better Design.

I got the plugs in, boots on, wires tucked away. SIL was told he had a right to his opinion - even if he was wrong. Then the topic went just how 'whompered- jawed' I could get under the hood of a Riveria or Tornado...

---

Just raised to keep it simple , fads come and go, the classics are called classics for a reason.

Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop...The Rat Pack was cool and still are.

Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Wm Holden, Humphrey Bogart, Charlie Chaplin...etc....same deal.

Hell when you got it - you just flat got it.

Always liked Ann Margaret, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollibridada, Kathryn Ross, and there will never be another Katharine Hepburn.

Just too many folks with classic persona's, in so many genre's to list.

---

Life is Ironic, just downright funny. I changed plus in my truck not long ago. 4.3L a V6. Okay being bigger, I ain't gonna fall into it. Then again so much crap under the hood I couldn't anyway. I was smart, oh yeah, I had an extra spark plug socket and wrench in back pocket so when I dropped it, I could just continue on without having to retrieve it.

It was easier when I was littler, to get under a vehicle to retrieve stuff as I noticed later. Then agan some stuff don't change - a spark plug socket will end up just  fingertips reach away to get. Guess that is why my Mentors kept a busted broom handle handy  when working on stuff.

[280plus]

How the word was someday all cars would be front wheel drive and Be a Better Design.

I always thought a front wheel drive top fuel dragster would be uhhh, interesting.

 OK, I'll admit it, I'm not quite the hell raiser I used to be. Other than that...I admit to nothing else.

[garrettwc]

One of the Mentors and Elders , tall, lanky, brown skinned from the sun, was holding onto me so I would not fall  into the truck  headfirst [again] while I was being skooled on Spark Plug replacment. Straight Sixes allowed a lot of room to change plugs,

You see, you went about it all backwards. Don't you know you're supposed to climb in and then just stand on the ground.

someday all cars would be front wheel drive and Be a Better Design

Maybe more efficient, but better I'm not sure. The feeling when that rear end pitched when you stomped the gas on a big V8 was something special.

Always liked Ann Margaret, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollibridada, Kathryn Ross, and there will never be another Katharine Hepburn.

That group has to include Lauren Bacall. Otherwise Bogie's just a guy in a fedora

[Guest]

Once upon a time, in another life[tm]

I had a selection of vehicles I used for business purposes. At that time alarm systems normally had the alarm key mounted on the drivers' side front fender ( dated myself didn't I?). These 'advertised' so ours had the alarm key elsewhere, inside the front fender, or rear bumper. My favorite was dark blue Chevy. Looked like an old fogie's car,or an unmarked police car - kinda depended if one was a old fogie, or a bit tipsy behind the wheel when I'd be coming up from behind, or passing you. It "looked' stock, with them Plain Jane hubcaps...it was not.

We had some Buicks, Olds, and even Pickup Trucks, I favored this one Chevy the best...these others ran well and handled really good, just this Chevy...well it may of had a wee bit more special attention. *ahem*.

Even if I had to fly in, instead of drive to, I requested a rear wheel drive..

I had a really really bad expereince with a Rental Car once, I had to fly in and my RWD was not avail. I got an Upgrade -"Luxury Front Wheel Drive".  Things went really south in a hurry, good thing we had great insurance , and always had the better insurance thru Rental Co.- because FWD do NOT like curbs and medians at higher speeds, even if they only have <300 miles on them...

So years later when I heard of LEOs not really happy with FWD , how they would not "hold up" for defensive driving, evasive driving".

I could have told them that...


Laurn Bacall...oh yeah, I agree, just too many to mention like I said. Not that my 'forgetter' ever kicks in...

[grampster]

I have come to appreciate pants with elastic in the sides. Baggy shirts and sweaters are preferred, nay, required.

If I am going to drink alcohol, it needs to be the best of whatever breed I am indulging, served in a proper glass.

It has to be .45 acp not 9 mm.

Pontoons are preferable to speed boats.

Good books compete well against TV wasteland.  I have never watched a reality show.  A reality show?

Merrills are better than wing tips.

Virtually everything that I thought was important when I was in my teens, twenties, thirties, and forties turned out to be of little consequence when compared to a very still late afternoon sunset over the lake in October.

[CatsDieNow]

In college, I wasn't into binge drinking so much as sitting and enjoying good company and fine spirits.

True, but that time you got so drunk that you thought you could play Bubble Bobble while sitting inverted on the couch was pretty darn funny.  

Just picture feet waving in the air in time to a poor whistling rendition of the theme song and the little dinosaur spitting bubbles harmlessly into the wall while the monsters roamed the screen in complete safety.

[Brad Johnson]

For me...

The "quantity vs. quality" question now has a different answer (your choice of topic ).

Lincoln Logs RULE! The real ones that came in the carboard can with the blued-steel bottom, not those crappy plastic imitations in the "kid-safe" packaging. Lego is new-fangled ( and darned fun! but I get the strangest looks from my nephew...)

Who needs radial tires? My Polyglas GT's work just fi... *POW* flop.. flop.. flop.. flop.. flop.. flop..

Not too long ago I was bebopping around the kitchen to the music playing on the TV in the living room. Having a pretty good time, too. It never occured to me what was playing until I looked around the corner just in time to see Lawrence Welk turn and take a bow. NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo......!!!!!!

I watched a chick flick. And enjoyed it.

More often I catch myself driving under the speed limit so I can take time and look around at the scenery.

Brad

[Guest]

When I was young, I tried very hard to be an adult and now I often forget I'm not pretending anymore.

[Guest]

I'm serious about that. I find myself surprised by the fact that I'm an adult and yet I've almost reached that level of maturity.

I'm bothered by the number of people who just live. We're given so little time here, and there's so much to do, and we have so much potential to make things better, that to sit down and waste it seems sinful. I want to do everything I can in the time I have and if I die tomorrow, I want it to be knowing I did what I could.

[Guest]

Yep, there is a difference in "Living" and "Existing".

Mentors and Elders - well Art says it best I didn't grow up - just got bigger Mentors and Elders were like that.

They "Lived" - sometimes being the numerical age they were, sometimes not, still they lived. Be it doing adult stuff, playing checkers with a kid, or teaching a brat like me all the stuff I bugged them for.

When these guys passed on, they had lived a full life and then some. Left a lot of stuff behind...stuff that don't burn.

Dimensions

Sometimes one has to be plumb selfish. Not a bad thing. If one does not take care of themselves, they cannot be there for others when needed the most. One cannot pass forward what they do not have. One had to learn balance, limitations and making a difference.

One cannot change people , places or things. Only a person can change themselves - attraction works better than promotion. Some matters a person cannot do alone, no matter how hard they try, it takes like minded folks pitching in. Acceptance is the key. Accepting the fact no matter what, a person, place or thing is never going to change. Accepting where one is in life, about to die, someone had died...

Sometimes trying too hard - I am guilty. Getting the matters in bite sizes I can handle, take on, yeah well I know better - so did my M&Es...still...

Now if others do this, this thing called Progress occurs.

Barbara, take one thing, accept it, embrace it , cherish it. For instance raising a Corpsman.

No matter what ever happens in your life - that is only one thing that will not burn.  I know you have other such matters you have done as well.  

Kick back, have a sip of wine, kick off your shoes. Nobody ever said it was wrong to take five for yourself, smile at a good thing done, and use it to get your batteries re-charged.

[Monkeyleg]

Sorry, but I'm pretty much as crude as ever, with the possible exception of the years 1969 to 1971. Almost nobody could have been as crude as I was then. There's a giant red checkmark in Saint Peter's book next to my name.

Beer, wine, cocktails...if beer were meant to be for connoisseurs, they would have called it Wine. I still drink mine from cans, and it's red white and blue.

When we purchased our state of the art stereo system twenty years ago, I listened to lots of classical music on the absolute premium remastered vinyl LP's. Then I realized that I wasn't listening to the music, I was listening to the sound system.

And I returned to rock n' roll.

By the time I was seventeen or so, I'd read pretty much every piece of literature that's been defined as a "classic." I continued to read voraciously for years after that, until I realized that the authors weren't telling me anything I didn't already know.

As for food, it the restaurant allows kids, it's not "cuisine," it's a production line. On the flip-side, if I spend $100 on dinner and I'm still hungry, that's called a rip-off. I'm sorry, but a "medallion" of beef (the size of a silver dollar), a slice of potato, and two carefully-arranged asparagus spears should not cost $100.

So, I guess I'm not "refined." But I am aged, and more ready and better-versed to take on local, state, or federal government than I was when I was young and smart.

Or maybe I'm just going back and becoming again the rebellious type that I was sometimes proud of.

[Brad Johnson]

Growing old is inevitable.  Growing up is optional.

Brad