What a difference five years makes....

ROB AT AGE 1: Spent a lot of time in the playpen, and destroying my parents furniture piece by piece. Did in the TV by opening a coffee urn my mom placed on it… did in a lounge chair by spilling my Dad’s model paint on it. The house was sufficiently childproofed by the time my brother arrived a year later.

ROB AT AGE 6: I wanted to be an astronaut, and had a crush on the cute brunette girl up the street. My time was mostly divided between playing in the back yard with the neighborhood kids and watching TV with my Dad.

ROB AT AGE 11: Discovered I was good with my hands, and had a fascination with flying. Started to become a bit of an introvert when I discovered comic books. Daydreamed entirely too much in class, and was classified as “gifted”. Thank goodness these were the days before ridalyn. Still watched a lot of TV.

ROB AT AGE 16: Wanted to be a cartoonist and a writer. Went to Brooklyn Tech because standardized tests said I should. First “published” cartoon in the school’s foreign language department magazine. Involved hot dogs attacking a castle. (the francs attacking allsace-lorraine I think) Dreamed of seeing more of the planet. Found friends that were just as strange as I was. Figured that the people I knew then would be in my life forever.

ROB AT AGE 21: Decided college was for chumps, worked at Aid Auto. Moved out into my first apartment shortly after getting my first car. Lost touch with a bunch of high school friends, made new ones. Still not a published writer, but a pro at getting rejection slips. Joined my first ‘fan’ organization.

ROB AT AGE 26: Second year at UNO. College no longer for chumps, and I’m Big Man On Campus. (Well, I’m a big man anywhere, really.)The legend of the Big Kahunah is born. Met Charity, but refused to date her because she lived with her boyfriend. Made a bunch more friends, lost touch with most of my NYC friends. Still not a published cartoonist, but manage to sneak a cartoon into the school newspaper that almost gets me fired from my job in the residence hall.

ROB AT AGE 31: Engaged to Charity, working in tourism. Still want to be a writer, and a cartoonist. Lost touch with some of my friends from college when I moved into my Algiers Point digs with Charity, made more friends working at Steamboat. Make statements about how stupid the average customer is on my website that almost get me fired from Steamboat. (the no talking about the job on the blog rule is born)

ROB AT AGE 36: Divorced from Charity, and have a crush on the cute brunette girl in the corner pub up the street. Slowly destroying my own furniture a piece at a time (spilled model paint on one… cosmic irony totally in full effect) Finally seem to have patched my life back together after hurricane Katrina. My free time is divided between playing video games with a friend and watching TV. Can feel some of my friendships growing more distant as time and circumstance takes folks in different directions. Strangely okay with that.

I started this post as a filler... seems everyone is posting to their blog today, and I didn't want to feel left out. It got strangely deep though, which I don't regret. Strange how cyclical it all seems, isn't it?