Baby We Were Born To...

Yesterday was my birthday and like any self-respecting 23 year old Wisconsinite, I went out. I partied, I raised a little hell, but most importantly I had fun and lived. But I couldn't help but feel that there was something missing, an emptiness about it all. This void I felt didn't belong to me necessarily, but the weight of it, or lack there of, felt as if it was on this entire generation's shoulders.

Last night while I was already neck deep in the excitement and alcohol I had a thought. The whole night, the drinking, the dancing, the laughing, the horrible singing, it was all just so damn romantic. Now of course I don't mean the Valentine's Day sort of romance. But that feeling you get when you realize that you're doing something that could be a rock & roll song, and that in 10 years it will still be one of your favorite stories to tell. But that void I mentioned earlier was still with me and I began to realize just what it was. I felt like I was part of a species that was going extinct.

Now, I may be completely off base here. It's been known to happen. But to me it seems like that desire to raise hell, that rebellious want to be doing something you probably shouldn't be doesn't exist in Americans anymore. I feel this lack in everything these days. The music has no edge, even the popular music I like isn't really saying anything. The books are shallow and filled with interesting stories but no messages. It seems like we as a people have become very good at shrugging our shoulders but forgotten about raising a defiant fist. That we've forgotten that there is something good and important about making love, chasing girls and boys and learning just how far you can bend the rules, the values, the norms of society.

Now I know I'm not some masked rebel setting fire to the system. I'm definitely not some Lothario type guy, so perhaps I'm just flexing my hypocritical muscles. But I know that I'm in my prime right now, I want to enjoy it. I want to sleep with women, I want to drink a little too much from time to time. I want to cause a little trouble, I want to do all those things. I want to have fun, I want to live I want to do things that I can laugh about years later, I want to do things that will teach me things I can teach my family someday.

So, I guess I should say sorry mom, you're not getting your grandkids yet.