I am not any kind of big fat fan of David Brooks, but this offering in a chat feature he shares with Gail Collins made me sit up:
The great art critic Kenneth Clark once wrote an essay on what he called the “old-age style.” He noticed that some artists peak young but others, like Michelangelo, Titian, Rembrandt, Turner and Cézanne, peaked in their elderly years. These artists shared what he called:
A sense of isolation, a feeling of holy rage, developing into what I have called transcendental pessimism; a mistrust of reason, a belief in instinct.
Holy rage? Transcendental pessimism? I’m there. Not sure about the mistrust of reason, but after reading this, I’m clinging to the hope that as I get older, I’ll write something really worthwhile.
Hit the link to the chat; it’s a bagatelle worth your time, over a morning caffeine infusion or while waiting for someone to return a call.
Sixteen Tons 
I definitely have transcendental pessimism. But in response to the dialogue, all I can say is how the F do they know?
At least they defer to credible sources.and eyewitness observations.
Reblogged this on WORK IN PROGRESS and commented:
Me too. Hoping to write something worthwhile! Hold that thought. You’ve already written a bunch of bunch of posts that no one else could have written, Ms. Sled. You could probably mine your blog for a good eBook.
Ah, I mean really good, as in aspiring to the narrative grip of the novels I treasure and read over and over. I am a severe critic. I’m not sure what sales would be like on a quilt of grumpy rantings about noobs refusing to relinquish the adductor machine…
Thank you for the reblog!
Forget novels. Here’s a start for you:
These noobs refuse to relinquish the adductor machine, and therefore I have sailed the seas and come to the holy city of Byzantium.
Felices juntos, by the way, sled, we’re doing a cover of it the next time I see you! 😉
If I tried that I’d probably go off course and end up in Brighton.