In today’s comic I’m using Jared as the conduit to express some of my own self-esteem issues. But before I get to that, let me backtrack a little.

A few weeks ago, I went to see Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Cami opted out citing that the movie would make her feel “old.” I thought the objection was kind of silly at the time. I enjoyed the film, but it left me with a certain melancholy. The movie does a really good job of transporting you back to a period in your life where all things seemed possible, but you had to dig deep to find the courage to make them happen. I also think it’s one of the handful of movies that understands the first few moments of infatuation turning into romance and treats it right.

Anyway, I walked out of the movie satisfied, but also a little sad that I’ve moved beyond that time in my life where spontaneity wasn’t something you planned for.

Watching Sex Drive this weekend has exacerbated things somewhat and made me realize for the first time in a long time that I’m just plain… old.

Now before anyone starts jumping to conclusions, I want to make it understood that I am very happy with the life I lead now. I’m really into my family, I’m enjoying my son and things are great. This isn’t a confession about me wishing I was 20 again, wanting to run around and party all night. I had that opportunity once and, frankly, it didn’t much interest me. Specifically, the whole horndog aspect of Sex Drive was never something I aspired to, either.

In concert with this, I am very much aware that these films promote a kind of hyper-actualized reality. So it’s not like I look at them and wish “Gee, I wish my life were more like that.”

Rather, what bums me out about these movies is that they remind me of being a certain age where I was able to operate in a vaguely consequence-free environment. I’m not talking about the lack of culpability. Just the room to test the waters, make some mistakes, learn from them and still recover.

The older you get, the more and more you feel is at stake. Your reputation, your livelihood, your relationships. Its like a game of Jenga. When you’re younger, you can pull out the wrong piece and the tower can come crumbling down. No big deal. Plenty of time to rebuild and start again. When you’re older, you become much more careful about the pieces you chose lest all of it come tumbling down.

A lot of this feeling racked into focus after Henry was born. That was certainly a clear signal that you can’t goof around anymore because your actions have consequences and you certainly don’t want to set a bad example for someone else. Have fun, sure. Keep it light, enjoy life. Just… don’t screw up – because it’s more than just you that you have to be worried about now.

I dunno. I feel like I’m only articulating this half as well as I should be. Some of this goes without say. Although, when you’re younger, it’s certain not advice that you want to hear. It just stings a little bit when you realize that every time you heard “Youth is wasted on the young” and you rolled your eyes, you were really short-changing that wisdom.

I’ll probably have more to say about Sex Drive tonight on The Triple Feature. So if you want to listen to me stick my foot into my mouth further, you can check it out as we record live at 9:00 PM CST.

Incidentally, I also saw W. this weekend and thought it was pretty good. Although I think Oliver Stone got sloppy in the second act and basically makes the audience sit through re-enactments of “Dubya’s Greatest Hits.” Josh Brolin knocks it out of the park, though. His version of George W. Bush is very subtle. He does the mannerisms without descending into total caricature. Excellent work from the former Goonie.

That’s it for now. Take care, everyone and I’ll see you here on Wednesday.