rediscover "young dave"

really, the transition is complete. I have not felt so charged with energy, hope and enthusiasm since, well, since I was “young dave”, moving to the bay area to start work at Lawrence freaking Livermore Laboratory. At that time I had a read notebook for a journal, about $1,000 of capital assets, and a vision for what to do with my life.

Now I’m waking from a Roger Waters’ “lost in a haze of alcohol soft middle-age” nightmare, to a new career, a new beginning, and a new life. I’m back.

Young dave has made great progress in Journal III. He’s a brilliant optical maestro, solving technical problems on demand, and commanding all the eccentricity of a genius. It’s fun to track his progress now, as he has redefined himself without the context of his ex-wife.

The interesting thing is young dave and old dave are converging. Old dave is re-discovering his technical aptitude and confidence, while young dave is about to meet old dave’s current wife!

I’m keeping this goal, even though my quest to develop my writing is on the back burner for the present. As I get into more technical work and perhaps consulting, I actually feel more like young dave, and am certainly living more like him. Perhaps this is the direction for me in the future.

I’d have to say at this point that I’m really becoming pretty familiar with the younger version of myself. I’ve been reading my early journals, and I’m seeing more and more evidence of who “young dave” was, and what he was all about. More importantly I think, I’m reading about the events that converted “young dave” into “crotchety old dave”. With understanding, I hope, will come the ability to reverse the process.