My Annual Mid-Life Crisis

(originally posted September 2009) 

Well, it’s late September, and that means I made it through another year and another birthday.  And since I’m a practicing Virgo, that means I also survived my Annual Mid-Life Crisis ^TM.  This was actually my 10^th Annual Mid-Life Crisis (AMLC) and quite possibly my last. I started this ritual before my 35^th birthday and since then I’ve covered a wide-range of life-expectancies from 70 to 90.

You may wonder,  “Are you depressed, Greg?”  Well, I always get a little introspective near my birthday.  I enjoy comparing my life against a detailed milestone tracking spreadsheet (who doesn’t?).  I think of the journey as a personal “Quo Vadis”, or “where are you going” in Latin, a language which I’ve studied, but remain less than fully fluent (reference D:314 in the spreadsheet).

You may ask “what if you croak before you hit 70?"  Excellent question, and something I addressed exhaustively during my inaugural mid-life crisis. CliffsNotes version: Yes, of course, I should have started earlier. My plan, which I hatched during that very first AMLC was to just make sure I live until 70. I know it’s weak, but it’s the best I’ve got. I’m a goal-setter  and that’s my goal. I think I can do it. Don’t mess with a goal-setting Virgo.

People ask me, “Why do you celebrate your mid-life crisis every year?” Here’s the benefit of celebrating (yes, it’s a celebration) the mid-life crisis annually:  If you limit yourself to one mid-life crisis, there is a lot of shit to think about. A lot. More than you think. Even if you are relatively well adjusted, it’s a lot of shit. Some people get a mid-life crisis just thinking about thinking about it. It is just too much pressure to put on yourself to sort out all your issues in one crisis. I’m lucky. I’m a planner. And I thought, hey, why not spread this crisis into more manageable chunks?  Here’s how mine have come to pass:   

		Annual Mid-Life Crisis Tracking Spreadsheet
Year	Age	Topics
1999	35	Am I going to have kids, or not?  Also, why didn't I start these mid-life crisis sooner?
2000	36	What is death going be like? Will I be hungry?
2001	37	Have I ever made a flour-less chocolate cake?
2002	38	Gulp. I'm going to be a dad.
2003	39	I have made zero progress this year!
2004	40	WTF I'm 40? How did that happen?
2005	41	I am never going to get to the moon.
2006	42	I really like the number 42.
2007	43	I sure miss being 42... hey what is going on  with my toenails?
2008	44	What am I going to do with the rest of my life?
2009	45	Uh-oh:  My eyes are not “sunken”. That is actually  where my real face is, underneath this face fat.  What kind of exercises can I do for my face?

Sure, some years are deeper than others. But overall, I feel pretty good with this 10 year span.  However,  a pesky dreamer friend of mine (actually, I’m lying, it’s just me) brought up a really great point, namely, “Greg, why stop now? what if you live past 90?”  I’ll certainly ponder this during the next year.  I’ve created an option I call the “Annual Mid-Life Crisis in Perpetuity.” It gives me the peace of mind to know that my mid-life crisis occurred at the exact mid-point of my life. It doesn’t get any better than that.  The freaky side benefit of the “Annual Mid-Life Crisis in Perpetuity” is that if it turns out that I am immortal, I’m still covered, no matter how long I live.  And that is an Annual Mid-Life Crisis I can believe in.

Sourdough

For the past few years, I've been baking frequently - almost exclusively following Jim Lahey's no-knead bread methods to make bread and pizza, etc.  My results have been quite good and it's been very satisfying to bake good bread. In June of this year, I decided I was ready for the committment of sourdough. I created a sourdough starter following Nancy Silverton's method as described in her "Breads from the La Brea Bakery" book.

My starter, day 3.

Silverton's method worked great. And now I have a real, living sourdough starter on my kitchen counter. Maintaining a sourdough starter is daily activity. I think about my starter every day. I consider how it is progressing, how it looks, how it smells, it's viscosity, airyness, etc.  It requires daily attention. It is literally a new mouth to feed. And it has opened the doors to a wealth of new baking possibilities. 

I'm going to start to write about what I'm up to in the world of bread. My successes, but also my failures. Very much about that. 

My very first "country white" sourdough. 

(this was a success!)

Tram 28 and the weird cemetery

For a change of pace today, we did some sightseeing aboard Tram 28, Lisbon's best tram. Our meninos (boys) enjoyed it, and we all needed an easier day.

At some point, everybody had to get off the tram (?), so we looked around and there was a cemetery across the street. We decided to check it out. It can be interesting reading the names and looking at the headstones. This cemetery is known as "Prazeres" a name which apparently stems from the neighborhood, (but oddly translates as "pleasures"). It was unusual because it featured gigantic family-sized mausoleums in crowded rows, which in aggregate, looked like a little town. La di da. A town of dead people. I snapped a few pictures.

After lunch, we visited a Port wine tasting room in the Bairro Alta district. We tried some amazing Port. Good stuff. Super smooth.

Later on, we hopped on the metro to find Versailles Pastelaria, a longstanding favorite known for its attractive setting and delicious Portuguese pastries. It did not disappoint. Yum!

For dinner, we cooked a traditional portuguese-style dinner at our apartment. (there is a small kitchen). Nikki broiled dourado, a popular local fish, with salad and potatoes and we enjoyed some wine (tinto) from our hosts.

Good day!

Portugal day

A few nights ago, while waiting for a table at a crowded seafood place here in Lisbon, we began to chat with two women in line behind us. They spoke English, and like my mom and me, our fellow diners were also of Portuguese descent. And although they looked and sounded perfectly normal, they were Canadian. Shocking, I know. But Canadians are all right. Seriously. Soon we were sharing all sorts of information (did you know there is a big Portuguese community in Toronto? My mom mentioned Fall River Massachusetts. Neither party had heard of the others' huge enclave! Before long we were listing all the Portuguese surnames we knew (Sousa, Paiva, Mello, Raposa...) and any other Portuguese connection. "Did you know 'It's Not Easy Being Green' was written by Joe Raposo?" How about White House photographer Pete Sousa?

It occurred to me that I've poked fun at a friend of mine for engaging in the Jewish version of this dialogue. It made me realize that people just want to belong and feel connected. It was pretty cool connecting with our fellow diners. I even asked them about the Canadian healthcare system, and of course, they thought it was great.

Today was Portugal Day, celebrated in Portuguese communities all over, so that's my story.

Gulbenkian Museum

The Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon hosts a truly amazing art collection - prized specimens from a wide range of periods, places and styles. All housed in a fairly compact museum that has both the charm and uptightness of the Norton Simon.

Belém, Portugal

We had a great time in Belém today, and not just because we made two visits to the shrine of Portuguese pastry, and the home of "natas", Pasteis de Belém.

After some European-style transport woes, we headed straight for the natas, an egg custard pastry which is ubiquitous here. These were still warm, and made us all happy.

Next, we visited several key landmarks, most notably the Tower of Belém, a really amazing fortress built in early 16th century. We also visited the sensational Maritime Museum, a testament to Portugal's seafaring tradition, especially their amazing advances in navigation. The Portuguese were true explorers!

ps. And they really love pastry too.

Castelo de Sao Jorge

Enjoying perfect weather here in Lisbon. Today we walked in the oldest part of the city, the Alfama district. We keep getting lost in the maze of tiny twisted streets. I think we tend to forget how close places are, and we overshoot our destinations. Sometimes by quite a bit. Still, the exploring is all good.

While relaxing inside this castle we heard some beautiful live music from guitar and guitarra, the latter being a mandolin-like instrument peculiar to Portuguese culture. We also heard a fado singer join in, a melancholy and soulful musical style which is especially celebrated here in Alfama.