Waxing & Waning Interests

 

"I may have not been sure about what really did interest me but I was absolutely sure about what didn't." - Albert Camus

The topic of "interests" came up the other evening whilst we waited for darkness to fall and fireworks of commence. At first there some generalized debate about the concept of what exactly are interests. Hobbies, perhaps? Reading genres. Politics, sports, life, death, security, love, cats . . .

Overnight I pondered what interests I have these days and more interesting to me, what interests have fallen away over the years.

Sports come to mind. Professional sports in particular. I might check an NBA score, if the Warriors are playing. During the season I note the standings ever week or so, but watching a game before the finals, never again. And this year I even surfed a bit during the games. I do like to catch Pardon the Interruption on ESPN, but that's for the commentary and critique of the games, which bolsters my waning interest. 

Politics remains a high priority for a couple of reasons. First, the psychology of the nation around who, what, when, where and WFT! Second, those fascist bastards are attacking fundamental rights. But that discussion, we all follow on a daily basis. Politics as an American hobby has become a blood sport for more than just the engaged participants.

Poker Speaking of a hobby or three. I still play a far bit of poker online. Not so much live poker up here in Michigan. I do miss the live games at the rec. centers in The Villages down in Florida. The other parts of my poker obsession with the professional players and tournaments has been left behind.

Las Vegas -greed, greed, greed . . . never again.

Reading I still read some science-fiction but my leisure reading is a lot more diverse these days. Some best sellers and a fair number of classics I never got around to in my career filled younger days. For age related reasons, I read a fair amount of medical journal articles, both for my own maladies and those of friends and family.

Travel is really off my radar in my dotage. I last time I was on a plane I returned from Australia in 2007. After that I did a lot of driving around the country: California, Oregon, Nevada, Texas, Michigan and Florida plus all the pass-thru states to reach those destinations. These days the road feels like a chore without a pot of gold at the end of the highway.

Educational exploration remains a sustaining interest though now mediated via the internet. The last time I sat in the classroom was in the 20-teens when I took advantage of the elder programs at UCBerkeley. The policy then was free audits to seniors in any class that was not full.

So, in conclusion, I wrote this blog over six weeks ago and never hit the 'publish' button. I guess blogging is also a fading interest.

Is it me or . . .

 

Imagine, if you will, it is 1975. You are 70-something years old and up way past your bedtime. This new late night show comes on after the news - something about New York and Saturday night. You check your wall calendar and indeed, it is Saturday night. It appears to be some sort of comedy show with some young people, names like: Aykroyd, Belushi, Curtin, Morris, Newman and Radner. 

You are not amused by their jokes and skits. The show will never catch on. You go to bed.

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Last night, I caught the current rendition of SNL. Two skits and one guest singer in, I was not impressed by the comedy or the performer. But then, I realized I was now 70-something, perhaps I was no longer the audience for SNL and it was past my bedtime.

But just as I reached for the remote to end my evening viewing, Weekend Update came on. The standard SNL trope was still around and it was still really poignant and I laughed at nearly every bit of wit and satire.

So was it me or was it the current staff of SNL writers? Did I leave the audience or did they leave us?