How Many Years Young?

 Film composer and former lead singer for Oingo Boingo Danny Elfman just turned seventy. I was going to say "seventy years old," but I stopped myself. First of all, I continue to refer to this person whom I have never met by the somewhat diminutive "Danny" rather than "Dan" or "Daniel." My father waited until I was eighteen before he started referring to me as "Davy." That didn't sit well with me as I was beginning to forge my way in the adult world, but he was my father. My senior. My progenitor. It could be argued that he had earned it. 

But why would I continue to refer to someone who is nine years older than me in this same fashion? Probably because there has never been any effort to affect any change in his overall persona. All those scary, manic noises he sang and composed for all those years, it feels like the work of a Danny. And his last name is "Elfman." How grown up could you expect a guy with that surname will ever be? 

Back to that "seventy years old" thing: Now that I can imagine what seventy might look and feel like, I confess that I am looking for ways to ameliorate that rush of time. Lately, Danny has not been content to simply play out his string, conducting the occasional orchestra playing his film scores, or singing along with guests at the odd staging of A Nightmare Before Christmas. A year ago, Mister Elfman not only performed at Coachella, he did a great deal of that rock and roll set without a shirt. And he had GQ magazine asking about how he managed his "look." 

Then I think about this habit that I have, when I am out on a run, and I run past the occasional duffer who I suspect may be older than me. But by how much? And those who rush on past me, are they just flaunting their relative youth, or do I console myself with the notion that this isn't a race, and we'll all get where we need to go eventually? I am certainly not ready for Gentleman's Quarterly to come and interview me about my workout habits. Not that this is in any way a thing I would encourage. 

Meanwhile, Joe Biden and Bruce Springsteen fell down One is the leader of the free world. The other is a politician. Both of them are older than Danny Elfman. Media outlets felt compelled to use these as a mark of the ravages of time. Just a few days ago, my twenty-six year old son got smacked in the head by an errant door at Safeway. Nobody suggested that he was unfit for office. We all just figured that Safeway had mislabeled their doors. 

No word about how Danny Elfman has been handling his trips to the grocery store.