So having once posted it, I reread Second Gear for the umpteenth time, and I wonder, could I write this today?  (As noted below, I am absurdly proud of it :)  Or is it really true that I was capable of things at 30 that I am no longer capable of today, at 46?

Am I moving backward?

Clicking through my little One Year Ago link, I came across four posts from November 21, 2004.  They're good.  We had a pithy review of The Incredibles (it is incredible to think a year has passed since that movie came out), an excellent rant against plaintext email, the obligatory New Yorker cartoon, and a thoughtful analysis of a Paul Graham essay on computer languages and development culture.  Not bad at all.  Could I write these today?  Or is it really true that I was capable of things at 45 that I am no longer capable of today, at 46?

Am I moving backward?

In a year - hopefully not after a three-month absence from posting - I may consider today's posts.  Will I think they're good?  Will I think, "is it really true that I was capable of things at 46, that I am no longer capable of today, at 47?"  Nah.  It might be true, but I don't want to believe it, so I won't.  And honestly I actually don't think so.  Sure, there were things I did at 30 that were good, and sure, there were things I did at 45 that were good.  And maybe I wouldn't do those things today, because I'm not in the same place I was then.  But by the same token there are things I can do today that I couldn't do at any other time.  I've learned more and I've evolved, and I'm in a different place.  Because I keep moving.  And...

I'm not moving backward.