Getting older ain't no drag

  As is usually the case around birthdays, people tend to ruminate about their advancing years. Unless, of course, you're ten and every year takes an eternity to go by. No, I'm talking about us folks that are in the "Good Lord, it's already 2012? What happened to 2011?" bracket.
  That wonderful image above is from a movie I did in 1996. What made me think of it was a trip to the local multiplex to see "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." (By the way, if you haven't seen it, go see it. It's the most entertaining action movie I've seen in ages. Even if you don't care for Tom Cruise and his insanity, do yourself a favor and go see it. But, I digress.)
  Seeing the film made me think about seeing the first Mission: Impossible movie way back in- you guessed it- 1996. It was an amazing summer; one of my favorites in fact. My friends and I were busy all summer filming "The Price of Truth VI: Final Mission," but we squeezed in a lot of movie viewings when we could. Mission: Impossible was one of them. It was a great time, and helped to keep us all in the action-movie mindset during filming. It made us push our action sequences further, including the above, which culminated with me being dragged down a gravel road for several weeks to get all the shots we needed. We had quite a variety of injuries on that film, but the result went on to become one of our favorite projects ever.
  So, thinking about that on my way to see this new movie, I realized it had been sixteen years. SIXTEEN YEARS, in case you didn't hear me in the back. That's insane! Quite a lot has happened in those sixteen years. Quite a lot.
  Then there was my birthday on the fourteenth of this month. The age/time thought train continued to steam ahead in my mind. I was gifted a fantastic new watch this year, and retired my old watch to the sock drawer. That watch itself had been a birthday gift exactly five years prior. Had it really been five years? I thought about all that had happened in THOSE years, and everywhere I had been with that watch strapped around my wrist.

  Time really does fly.

  But you know, it's nothing to be down about. It's an exciting time. Goals I have worked for all my life are within my grasp now. It's been a struggle out here so far, I can't lie- but things are constantly improving. New opportunities, networking, new projects. It's what's AHEAD that's exciting; not what's dragging along behind you like some battered action hero clinging to the bumper of a Chevy Suburban.
  Time to make some new memories.