What I would say to my ten-year-old, or twelve-year-old, or sixteen-year-old self.

[xiphias]

"Hi. I'm you're thirty-one year old self. You're going to screw up a lot in life, and also do a lot of good things. You already know everything that you SHOULD do, and you're not going to do most of it, because you're clinically depressed. And you're already being treated for clinical depression as well as you can be. So, frankly, you're fucked until medical science advances. Which it will. Oh yeah, we swear a lot more now that we used to when we were your age.

"The things you can do now are to get a lot more exercise and try to make sure to get plenty of sunlight. I know you know that you should do these things -- Mom keeps telling you that. Well, she's right. And you won't listen to me any more than you listen to her. So there's really no point in me telling you. But I am, anyway. You know all this. You should probably actually do your homework. You should probably actually get involved in drama club, or other clubs. You should probably do SOMETHING other than just sit in your room doing nothing at all, but you don't, because you're clinically depressed. If that magically went away, I could give you all sorts of suggestions of neat things to do, but they're exactly the same suggestions that you already give to yourself and can't follow because you're depressed. You know how you're always down on yourself for not being able to follow through because you've got no willpower, and that's a moral failing? That's not a lack of willpower, that's clinical depression. However, you tend to be slightly more productive, if even more unhappy, when you decide to treat it as a moral failing instead of a medical condition. So I've got no good advice for you.


"Okay, fine. Here's a list of Kentucky Derby winners:

Year	Winner	Time	Jockey	Trainer	Place	Show
(F) indicates filly
1985	Spend A Buck	2:00 1/5	Angel Cordero Jr.	Cam Gambolati	Stephan's Odyssey	Chief's Crown
1986	Ferdinand	2:02 4/5	Bill Shoemaker	Chas. Whittingham	Bold Arrangement	Broad Brush
1987	Alysheba	2:03 2/5	Chris McCarron	Jack Van Berg	Bet Twice	Avies Copy
1988	Winning Colors (F)	2:02 1/5	Gary Stevens	D. Wayne Lukas	Forty Niner	Risen Star
1989	Sunday Silence	2:05	Pat Valenzuela	Chas. Whittingham	Easy Goer	Awe Inspiring
1990	Unbridled	2:02	Craig Perret	Carl Nafzger	Summer Squall	Pleasant Tap
1991	Strike The Gold	2:03	Chris Antley	Nick Zito	Best Pal	Mane Minister
1992	Lil E. Tee	2:03	Pat Day	Lynn Whiting	Casual Lies	Dance Floor
1993	Sea Hero	2:02 2/5	Jerry Bailey	Mack Miller	Prairie Bayou	Wild Gale
1994	Go For Gin	2:03 3/5	Chris McCarron	Nick Zito	Strodes Creek	Blumin Affair
1995	Thunder Gulch	2:01 1/5	Gary Stevens	D. Wayne Lukas	Tejano Run	Timber Country
1996	Grindstone	2:01	Jerry Bailey	D. Wayne Lukas	Cavonnier	Prince of Thieves
1997	Silver Charm	2:02 2/5	Gary Stevens	Bob Baffert	Captain Bodgit	Free House
1998	Real Quiet	2:02 1/5	Kent Desormeaux	Bob Baffert	Victory Gallop	Indian Charlie
1999	Charismatic	2:03 1/5	Chris Antley	D. Wayne Lukas	Menifee	Cat Thief
2000	Fusaichi Pegasus	2:01 1/5	Kent Desormeaux	Neil Drysdale	Aptitude	Impeachment
2001	Monarchos	1:59 4/5	Jorge Chavez	John Ward	Invisible Ink	Congaree
2002	War Emblem	2:01.13	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	Proud Citizen	Perfect Drift
2003	Funny Cide	2:01.19	Jose Santos	Barclay Tagg	Empire Maker	Peace Rules
2004	Smarty Jones	2:04.06	Stewart Elliott	John Servis	Lion Heart	Imperialism
2005	Giacomo	2:02.75	Mike Smith	John Shirreffs	Closing Argument	Afleet Alex

Comments

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

:::chuckles:::

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, it's true. And it's what I find baffling about everybody else's "advice to younger self." Me, I'm essentially the same person I was when I was younger, with essentially the same wisdom and knowlege. I don't know much now that I didn't know then.

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

Hrm, in my case I knew squat about being queer, poly or kinky...but that's because I grew up during the Lower Devonian.

I haven't given advice to my younger self in here 'coz it would seem silly and come out turgid
and angsty!

Good on you for posting the Derby winners!

[dancing-kiralee.livejournal.com]

"Me, I'm essentially the same person I was when I was younger, with essentially the same wisdom and knowlege."

Then your 40 or 50 year old self should come back and tell you to do something about that... There is an awful lot to learn out there, no one knows everything, and it would be a shame, now that you have a way to deal with the clinical depression, to waste the opportunity.

Kiralee

[querldox.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking major lottery numbers myself. That and a list of companies and their IPO dates, along with detailed instructions about the 1998-2002 stock market.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was just thinking: Microsoft's IPO was on March 13, 1986, when I was just shy of 13. The opening share price was $21, and each share purchased on that date would now be worth somewhere upwards of $8,000, if my calculations are correct. At the height of the tech bubble in 1999-2000, each share would've been worth even more. At age 13, I couldn't have afforded a lot of shares, but even a couple would've been nice.

Of course, the day before, Oracle Corp. had its IPO, with an opening share price of $15. I can't find good enough data to figure out what each share bought then would now be worth, but I can guarantee it would be a heck of a lot.

Of course, what I'd really like to be able to do is tell my grandparents' 1938 selves to buy as many 10-cent copies of Action Comics #1 they could afford, go to Chase Manhattan Bank (or some other bank that was around then and still exists), get a safe deposit box, and put them there, assuring them that, yes, it is worth the fee.

[beardedone.livejournal.com]

I completed my advice before seeing this post. I like your thoughts on Action Comics #1, but I think the IPO of Microsoft would be more lucrative. I didn't purchase Microsoft stock until 1996, but it would have been better if I purchased it in 1993 or earlier.

Did you count in all of the stock splits in your calculation?

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

Yes, my calculations (which I have to emphasize were rough) included the stock splits, at least most of them. They'd've had to, really, since the stock closed today at $24.84, which wouldn't exactly be a stellar profit on a $21 investment.

As for which is more lucrative, you may be right, but only because, after a certain point, having more copies of Action Comics #1 would actually make each worth less. Were that not the case, though, it would most certainly be more lucrative.

Consider: In 2002, a near-mint copy of the comic sold for $86,400. If you bought one for 10 cents in 1938, you could get at least a 8,639,900% profit today, after 67 years. (Assume that whatever cost you might take on for keepng it safe over the years is probably offset by the better quality than all others extant.) Anyway, that gives you a profit of about 128,754% for each year you held the investment. If, OTOH, you'd bought a share of MSFT in 1986 for $21 and sold the equivalent shares you'd have today (after the splits) for, let's say, $9000, you'd make a profit of 42,757% total, or 2,250% for each year you held the investment. No comparison there.