[Royal Fool]

Turning 20 in August as well.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

YOU OLD FOOL!!!

[Supreme Goddess]

I was married at 19, and spent my 20s working extremely hard. By the time I was 30 I felt old....really old, spent, worn out. Then I had kids and discovered what exhaustion was.

So, 47 now and I have to tell you the desperate belief that time is running out chases you your whole damn life. Go out and party. I had no fun when I was younger and now I'm a middle-aged mother. Opportunity really does pass you by.

So - here's my advice. Have as much sex as you possibly can - with as many people as you fancy (avoiding parenthood). Spend your money (but not ALL of it). Don't do drugs or too much alcohol - it catches up with you pretty quick. Stay fit. Don't get fat. Travel BEFORE you settle down (that way it'll actually happen). Keep a journal so you can read it in 20 years time and remember how wild and wonderful your youth was. And don't tell your mother I told you to do it.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

HA!!! That's EXACTLY what I've been telling my niece in California. She's 21, is beautiful, and has had her heart broken as well as many boys chasing after her and the classic conflict with her parents. They refuse to let her study in London even though she already did the math and research and knows she can do it. It hurts to see them try every time to break her spirit. I kept telling her, "Go to Europe, whatever you do! Study there, make best friends, fall in love in with beautiful guys, make love, have your heart broken, break their hearts, laugh, cry, eat fukcing gelato all day...........LIVE GODDAMMIT!"

I don't want her to end up like her parents, all caught up in acquiring BMW's and half-million dollar homes in California and feeling bitter deep down inside. Needless to say, my niece and I are more best friends than anything, I depend on her as much as she me.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Oh, and has anyone here seen that movie with Diane Lane, Under The Tuscan Sun?

[EasilyConfused]

My mother always says of aging that it's better than the alternative, but she manages to live her life with more gusto than anyone I know. She's 60 (which we managed to forget, and so forgot to throw her any party or anything this year :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ), but she has friends of all ages. She hasn't ever stopped traveling, being curious, or wanting to try new books, new foods, to meet new people . . . . She might be one of the most open minded people I know. . . . Wait a sec, what did you ask again?

Oh yeah, turning 20 was awful. So was turning 22, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31, and 33, if I remember correctly, plus some extra years I've surely blocked out. If you obsess about your age, it will get you down. If you feel like your age is going to doom you to misery, it will. (I spent six months miserably anticipating turning 33, and it's shaping up to be awesome. 8-) ) So don't do as I did. Don't worry about it, figure things will mostly get better, not worse, and enjoy that drink.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I gotta be honest, man. I feel far sexier now than I did when I was 21. And when I get all upset, it's because I have a damn good reason. When I was in my late teens/early 20s I had no right to be upset. Why should I be? The world was there at my feet, I had so many opportunities, and the only thing worth worrying about was which black turtleneck to wear to the bars that Friday night.

Oh, and ECsie.........um, would you be able to hook me up with your mom?

[Bastich]

I would like to paraphrase the great philosopher Glum Of Banana Splits fame, "YOU ARE DOOOOOOOMED! YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT!!!!"

[Intrepid Homoludens]

He would be doomed if he kept obsessing about his age.

[tabacco]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

HA!!! That's EXACTLY what I've been telling my niece in California. She's 21, is beautiful, and has had her heart broken as well as many boys chasing after her and the classic conflict with her parents. They refuse to let her study in London even though she already did the math and research and knows she can do it. It hurts to see them try every time to break her spirit. I kept telling her, "Go to Europe, whatever you do! Study there, make best friends, fall in love in with beautiful guys, make love, have your heart broken, break their hearts, laugh, cry, eat fukcing gelato all day...........LIVE GODDAMMIT!"

I don't want her to end up like her parents, all caught up in acquiring BMW's and half-million dollar homes in California and feeling bitter deep down inside. Needless to say, my niece and I are more best friends than anything, I depend on her as much as she me.

Wait wait wait... you have a beautiful 21 year old niece with rich parents living in California? Dammit, man, you need to tell us these things!

Also, I will be 23 on Wednesday

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by tabacco

Wait wait wait... you have a beautiful 21 year old niece with rich parents living in California? Dammit, man, you need to tell us these things!

Um, I just did.

Also, I will be 23 on Wednesday

You OLD CRAB!!!!

[fov]

Originally Posted by tabacco

Also, I will be 23 on Wednesday

It's all downhill from here.

I second the "have as much sex as possible" sentiment. Unfortunately (in some senses) for me I met a man at age 22 that I've now been with for 4 years. In most ways it's absolutely great, but it sure screwed up my average.

-emily

ps He'd never admit it, but meeting me screwed up his average too.

[tabacco]

Originally Posted by fov

It's all downhill from here.

I second the "have as much sex as possible" sentiment. Unfortunately (in some senses) for me I met a man at age 22 that I've now been with for 4 years. In most ways it's absolutely great, but it sure screwed up my average.

-emily

ps He'd never admit it, but meeting me screwed up his average too.

Oh, whine whine :p

[Maquisard]

Originally Posted by fov

It's all downhill from here.

I second the "have as much sex as possible" sentiment. Unfortunately (in some senses) for me I met a man at age 22 that I've now been with for 4 years. In most ways it's absolutely great, but it sure screwed up my average.

-emily

ps He'd never admit it, but meeting me screwed up his average too.

lemme see, if you calculate averages by dividing something by the amount of times you've had sex, then my average is infinity!

[tabacco]

Originally Posted by Mares

lemme see, if you calculate averages by dividing something by the amount of times you've had sex, then my average is infinity!

Aw... I must now quote the obligatory section of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Note relevent passage 7:

Originally Posted by Douglas Adams

The Universe-some information to help you live in it.
1 AREA: Infinite.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy offers this definition of
the word "Infinite."
Infinite: Bigger than the biggest thing ever and then some. Much
bigger than that in fact, really amazingly immense, a totally
stunning size, real "wow, that's big," time. Infinity is just so big
that, by comparison, bigness itself looks really titchy. Gigantic
multiplied by colossal multiplied by staggeringly huge is the sort
of concept we're trying to get across here.
2 IMPORTS: None.
It is impossible to import things into an infinite area, there
being no outside to import things in from.
3 EXPORTS: None.
See Imports.
4 POPULATION: None.
It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply
because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in.
However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must
be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by
infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average
population of all the planets in the Universe is also zero, and that
any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of
a deranged imagination.
5 Monetary Units: None.
In fact there are three freely convertible currencies in the
Galaxy, but none of them count. The Altarian Dollar has recently
collapsed, the Flainian pobble Bead is only exchangeable for other
Flanian Pobble Beads, and the Triganic Pu has its own very special
problems. Its exchange rate of eight Ningis to one Pu is simple
enough, but since a Ningi is a triangular rubber coin six thousand
eight hundred miles along each side, no one has ever collected
enough to own one Pu. Ningis are not negotiable currency, because
the Galactibanks refuse to deal in fiddling small change. From this
basic premise it is very simple to prove that the Galactibanks are
also the product of a deranged imagination.
6 ART: None.
The function of art is to hold the mirror up to nature, and
there simply isn't a mirror big enough-see point one.
7 SEX: None.
Well, in fact there is an awful lot of this, largely because of
the total lack of money, trade, banks, art or anything else that
might keep all the nonexistent people of the Universe occupied.
However, it is not worth embarking on a long discussion of it
now because it really is terribly complicated. For further
information see Guide Chapters seven, nine, ten, eleven, fourteen,
sixteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty-one to eighty-four inclusive,
and in fact most of the rest of the Guide.

Erm... and also, from a mathemtical nitpicky point of view, the answer would be "undefined" rather than "infinite"

[Maquisard]

Originally Posted by tabacco

Erm... and also, from a mathemtical nitpicky point of view, the answer would be "undefined" rather than "infinite"

shushhhhh

[Wormsie]

Originally Posted by Supreme Goddess

So - here's my advice. Have as much sex as you possibly can - with as many people as you fancy (avoiding parenthood). Spend your money (but not ALL of it). Don't do drugs or too much alcohol - it catches up with you pretty quick. Stay fit. Don't get fat. Travel BEFORE you settle down (that way it'll actually happen). Keep a journal so you can read it in 20 years time and remember how wild and wonderful your youth was. And don't tell your mother I told you to do it.

...That was absolutely wonderful to hear. Thank you!

[Fairygdmther]

Twenty is a wonderful age - you're old enough to do what you want with no one to tell you that you can't (unless of course it's illegal). I totally agree with Supreme Goddess - you don't want to look back on these years wishing you'd done this or that - be brave and do it now! Try new things, stay up all night, become a new person, reject that, and do it again! Meet new people, of all ages - learn what YOU want to learn and not what is stuffed down your throat. Try everything you can - and learn your own limits. This is the most expansive growth period of your life - live, love, learn, and never look back with regret! And don't be afraid to make mistakes - you'll make lots of them, and you need to learn how to deal with that and accept yourself.

FGM

[Elton28]

Awwwww.....eess just an ickle baby

Wish I was turning 20 in April instead of 29.

Supreme Goddess is exactly right. Do all of those things before you decide to settle down. I still havent done a lot of the things that I want to do. I want to do so much traveling still, yet I am restricted due to finances and my partner does not like me going away.

Another piece of GOOD advice. If you are still living with your parents, try not to take handouts from them if they offer. Sure, its nice to have this luxury, but it will not prepare you for later life when you have your own finances to manage. I have learnt the hard way as I never got any handouts or help financially when I was younger. But the hard way is the best way, trust me. If you can manage your money, thats half the battle in life my friend. The rest is easy.

I'd advise travelling as a single guy, unless of course you are lucky enough to have a girl who enjoys this also. For example. My missus does not like the fact that I climb mountains. It scares the crap out of her. But, she will never do it with me, which is understandable. So I find it hard to go away at weekends/long weekends to places like Scotland to do my climbing.
On the other hand, dont ever let anybody tie you down, so all this sex you'll be having keep it responsible. In the UK teenagers getting pregnant as early as 12 years old is a major problem. Sure, 20 years old is older, but I still dont think at that age, you are responsible enough to father a child.

Just have as much fun as possible. Yeah, I'm pushing 30, but deep down I am your age, all this maturity arse is just a front.

Life life to the full, as you never know whats around the corner mate.

Have a good 'un

[Wormsie]

Originally Posted by Elton28

Sure, 20 years old is older, but I still dont think at that age, you are responsible enough to father a child.

I am so incredibly grateful I don't have to worry about that. I think. Well, one worry less.