Sorry I’ve been away for a bit. Excuses abound, and none of them worth a damn.  Suffice it to say, I’ve been very busy of late, and I’ll be posting some updates soon. Today, however, I’m taking a break and reveling (wallowing?) in the fact that I’m not getting any younger. Today’s my birthday, and an awful realization struck me as I was driving home last night:

When someone starts covering Dio songs, I’m getting a little long in the tooth.

Dio’s Holy Diver was released when I was thirteen years old, and it quickly became one of my favorite metal albums.  For a few blissful years, metal was about high adventure and demons and sorcery.  I wore more than a few tapes down while playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  Twenty-four years–gone in the blink of an eye.  But it didn’t hit me until I heard a cover of Dio’s masterpiece (recorded by Killswitch Engage) playing on the radio.  Then, it walloped me like a wrecking ball.

Twenty-four years between the release of Holy Diver and the cover version.

Gone.

Oh, what’s becoming of me?

I’m not complaining (too much).  I feel like I only wasted a few of those years.  I can admit that, and make a vow to myself never to let another second–let alone another year–pass without making the most of it.  That’s about the most anyone can do.  But, man, does it seem to slip away fast, not just twenty-four years, but the thirteen before them.

Blink and they’re gone, so make the most of them while you’ve got them.

And to make matters worse … now I want to re-purchase all those old metal albums I listened to in my youth.  It’s the retirement fund or metal.  You do the math.