Old Habits

Specifically, getting-old habits. I just saw The Family Stone on HBO. I know, so last year, literally. I won’t bother reviewing, bottom line, I give it a C, for cable-waitable, though the point is moot since it’s no longer in the theaters. They packed a lot of nice diverse characters and plot points, but the journey and end were predictable (though I will confess my eyes welled up at the final tableau).

The one thing that is sticking from that movie was when Rachel McAdams’ character remarks on Sarah Jessica Parker’s character’s irritating “throat-clearing tic” she would do when she was nervous. While we were watching, Paul remarks, wow, you do that, it’s kind of maddening.

Well, point taken : I’ve noticed that I’ve been doing a lot more throat-clearing but it’s not a nervous thing, it’s a getting-old thing. Like I'm just more phlegmy in general. I clear my throat in the morning. I clear my throat after coffee with a lot of half-n-half. I clear my throat if lounging in some obtuse angle for a while watching tv.

Sooo, as I get older, will I get even phlegmier? Will I be like those old dudes on the streets of New York who would hawk a loogey on the corners or air hank in the gutter? Ech.

And that's not the only thing. A long single whisker makes an appearance on my chin every other moon. I pass out in front of the tv on the couch if I'm not upright. I wave my fist at these young punk drivers on the road. I often start sentences, "when I was young..." I wake up with a sore back because I've spent the last 7 hours vigorously sleeping.

Anybody else getting older and grosser/more annoying/lamer?

Or is it just me?