Couple of people got their panties in a little twist when I said I needed to quit hanging out with people my own age. Some posted, some emailed. Here's the thing: I never said, and never meant, anything about "boring ol' farts." Boring's not the issue. The world, from where I see it, is a pretty shitty place right now, both on the macro and micro levels. And a lot of my friends are, for their own reasons, seeing it from the same place I am. I'd forgotten what a great relief a little hope can be. The kids at Sui-Ling's party don't know the world's a shitty place. And Dan's friends may know it, but they're yet too young to have felt it very much, and still young enough to believe it doesn't have to be like this. It's not that I can share their positive sense of the future -- that kind of thing can't be willed, any more than religious faith or love -- but it's sure great to be around it for awhile. Like walking on the moon -- you don't change, but briefly, you weigh less.