I'm proud to say I did get a job before I turned 21. I also am back in college. (Yay for staying on my parents' health insurance!) I'm double majoring in Criminal Justice and Psychology.
I know. I'm just as shocked as you are.
We always make jokes about what we'll do when we hit a milestone year.
Guess what? I didn't buy a pack of cigarettes till I was 19--almost 20. And even then, they weren't for me. My sister sent me buy her cigarettes.
I've drank before--please don't tell my mom--but not in the last 24 hours. I didn't go to a casino. Matter of fact, I did the same thing this year as I did last year, sort of.
I passed some bookstores, got some books, went out to eat and called it a day. I got SRL's new one...and read it in something like 5 hours. And now I get to wait a whole year before the next one in the series comes out.
I found a What People Accomplished When They Were Your Age Generator. So I typed in 21.
And here it is. My remarks are in italics.
At age 21:
Italian violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini had a dream in which he sold his soul to the Devil. The piece he wrote upon waking, the "Devil's Sonata," was the best he ever wrote, though far inferior to the one he heard in his dream. Does that mean he really did? I mean, dreams are important, man. I had a dream once when I got a text message from the devil. Different times we live in.
American novelist Herman Melville jumped ship and spent a month as the captive of a cannibal tribe. This became the source of his novel Typee. Awesome. Just awesome. And he survived. Glad I'm not him, though.
Jack London went to the Klondike with the first rush of gold-seekers, returning home a year later as poor as when he had left. That sucks.
English chemist Humphry Davy discovered nitrous oxide ("laughing gas"), and suggested that it may have use as an anaesthetic. Now I'm just intimidated.
Thomas Alva Edison created his first invention, an electric vote recorder. After it failed to sell, he decided to devote his energy to inventions for which there was a market. Wow. Holy crap, don't think too long on this one.
John Dillinger robbed a grocery store, was caught and spent 9 years in prison. He later became "public enemy number one," before being gunned down by the FBI. Sppt.
Luther Burbank purchased 17 acres of land near Lunenburg, Massachusetts and began a plant-breeding career that would span 55 years. Impressive.
Pablo Casals made significant modifications in cello playing technique and was acclaimed as a master. Impressive. Child genius, I guess. Never heard of him, though.
Pittsburgh songwriter Stephen Foster wrote "Oh! Susanna!" which quickly gained great popularity. That's cool.
Future robber baron Jay Gould began investing in the leather business and speculating in railroad stocks. Wow.
Robert Browning publishes his first poetry; it is poorly received. No duh. Of course.
Alfred Tennyson publishes his first poetry; it is poorly received. No duh. Of course.
College dropout Steven Jobs co-founded Apple Computer. Look, something I'm famliar with.
French mathematician Evariste Galois developed group theory (and many other theorems) before his death at the age of 21. Depressing.
Jesse Ball of New York stayed awake for 129 hours. At this same age, he had a dream that seemed to last 13 years. THAT is impressive.
And what have I accomplished?
I survived to adult, legal age, and I self-pubbed a book last year.
According to Goodreads I've read 665 books & short stories (all hail Kindle shorts). My personal print library consists of 922 books. I've written a few stories and novels. I've kept an inconsistent blog. Blogs. Plural.
And I can still use Spreadsheet and can make a pie chart of my book stats:
"N/A" comprises books that are either regferences, or story collections. Books you don't exactly read cover-to-cover.
Eh, not bad.
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