So today I was reading Sarah Brown's post about her life's regrets (This sounds like a downer, but it's actually kind of fun, she writes, and I agree) and I was happily thinking about my own regrets, when suddenly I remembered one of the major problems of my youth, which made me actually laugh out loud (or LOL, for you kids out there).

When I was about 16, I seriously had the thought -- like most teenagers -- that I wanted to learn how to play guitar. Faced with this situation, some kids might get a guitar and immediately give it up as if it were a NordicTrack or a BowFlex. Other kids might incessantly talk about learning, but never gather the initiative or patience to actually do it. I, on the other hand, dismissed the thought outright, firmly believing that at 16 I was too old to begin the arduous task of learning to play the guitar. Too old. At 16. This was not the violin, and I was not interested in playing Mozart. I wanted to play Ramones songs -- three-chord songs written by drug-addicted doofuses.

In a similar vein, I remember seeing Lollapolooza II in 1992, which featured the Pearl Jam, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Soundgarden, Ice Cube, Ministry, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As I was getting ready to go to the concert, I remember thinking that at age 19, I had better enjoy Lollapolooza, because seriously, I was already too old to attend such a thing. (Two years later I saw Lollopolooza IV in 1994 with L7, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, A Tribe Called Quest, the Breeders, George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars, the Beastie Boys and the Smashing Pumpkins, and I felt even more awkward, being a 21-year-old at such an event, though I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what were then my favorite bands.)

I always felt a lot older than I actually was, and I always had a lot of criticism for most of the people my age. I think I missed out on a lot of fun because of that, but then again, I can't be too sure of that, because I never felt like I suffered from a lack of fun. Most of my memories are pretty fun-filled, so it's hard to tell.

I think this whole trend stopped when I was around 27. It was then that I finally felt my age, which is weird because 27 is not too old to learn guitar or to attend Lollapolooza, or anything, really. Since age 27, I've learned numerous things -- probably more than I learned in my whole four years of college, actually.

Most of all, I've learned to ascertain the things I really am too old to do.

Read and appreciate Thomas Wolfe.

Add Facebook applications.

Go camping in the winter.

Unlike when I wanted to learn guitar at age 16, I have no desire to do these things. The thought of doing them absolutely rankles me. Yes, I just used the word "rankles." I am 35.

I still have plenty of fun.