{"id":9937,"date":"2014-09-01T11:14:07","date_gmt":"2014-09-01T18:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=9937"},"modified":"2014-09-01T11:14:07","modified_gmt":"2014-09-01T18:14:07","slug":"forever-71","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2014\/09\/01\/forever-71\/","title":{"rendered":"Forever 71"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hyatt-by-Pil-650\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Portrait of the Artist as a Middle-aged Man,<\/em>\u00a0(my title), painted last year by my friend and student, Ho Pil Lee, and given to me as a gift. Thanks, Pil.<\/h6>\n

This is the day, when she was alive, I would call my mother and congratulate her on the birth of her first son. I was born on Labor Day<\/em>, the same as everybody else really, and there should be a holiday for every woman who’s gone through it. And that’s besides Mothers Day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Some years ago I decided not to make a big thing about any more birthdays. You can die from too many of them. Okay, I might celebrate those that end in a zero or a five. Then, if I get to 90, I’ll start celebrating them every six months!<\/p>\n

But today’s ends in a \u201c1.\u201d I’m forever 21+50. How does that feel? So far, not that different . . . except unlike when I turned 21, today I’ll stay sober.<\/p>\n

A birthday, to me, is something of a personal New Years<\/em>. It’s a time to look back, and a time to look ahead. Of course, as time goes by there’s more to look back at than forward to. But still, forward is the better view.<\/p>\n

When driving, the rear-view mirror is useful, but it’s the windshield that really matters.<\/p>\n

I’ve made a new acquaintance lately, an art consultant and dealer. I was complimented when he was taken with mine, \u201cboth the quality and quantity.\u201d As we talked he said, \u201cWhat you need is a 20-year plan.\u201d It’s the kind of idea I rise to, but as I thought about it, that should probably be adjusted to a ten-year plan. Or maybe five.<\/p>\n

I get ideas. Often more in number than hours in a day, and grander than there are years to do them.<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago I read a book about artists and their productivity in later life. I suppose it should be no surprise that I can’t remember its title or author, or where I put it. But just the concept inspires.<\/p>\n

Not like the one I came across looking for the other, James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man<\/em>. Seems there should be a sequel to that one, substituting the word \u201cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Joyce, of course, is dead. Too many birthdays.<\/p>\n

This morning I found a note I’d scribbled to myself at a waking moment in the night:
\nThese things are not forever–<\/em>
\n But there are things that are.<\/em>
\n Focus on them.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cForever 71\u201d\u2014not. But \u201cForever Something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happy Labor Day. (Thank your mother.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s another time of looking back and looking forward. The look forward is better, just shorter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9937"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9937"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9953,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9937\/revisions\/9953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}