In high school, I started reading Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. I remember Truman Capote’s interview with his housekeeper like it was yesterday. A few years later, I got hooked on the Paris Review interviews. In my career working with architects, I probably interviewed hundreds of people. Through one of those architects, I met the ladies at Paulson Bott Press (now Paulson Fontaine Press) and interviewed dozens of accomplished artists. One of my only posts since rewirement was an interview with myself. To lull myself to sleep, I often ask myself questions. I wonder if some of those conversations might put everybody to sleep. Maybe not if I keep them brief enough.
Whenever I leave the house, I overhear conversations in buses, restaurants, parks, and crosswalks. So I thought that in this period of rewirement, I would just share some of these conversations, even if they only take place while my mind is slowing down. I am helping keep the line between fiction and nonfiction fuzzy. I think Truman would approve.
Q: What is the best thing about getting older?
A: Health insurance costs go down once you are 65? The cost of public transit, entertainment, and amenities goes down too. About 10 years ago, a cashier at the Oakland Zoo sold me a senior ticket without me asking. That was a sign. If you retire, or as I like to say, rewire, the pressure of success and satisfying others recedes. The cost of this change can be a loss of identity. Instead of being perceived as knowledgeable, you can become invisible. You don’t get invited to so many parties, the phone rarely rings, and the human emails become fewer. (While the nonhuman ones increase.)
Photo: Karl Cosse
The first year of rewirement, I wrote some articles, but the second year has been slow. Honestly, I don’t have so much to say about architecture now. We have been saddened with the news that so many friends have one kind of cancer or another. But my friends’ kids are having kids. One of my favorite roles since my 20s was being Uncle Kenny. Now I am Great Uncle Kenny. Paul’s beautiful goddaughter in France, Clara, calls us both Tonton. After our recent visit for her civil baptism (as opposed to one in a church) she told her mum, “J’taime Pauly. J’taime Kenny.” In the past few weeks she has shortened the phrase. J’aime PaulKenny. Pretty good for a two-and-a-half-year-old. I wish I could convey to her that she already gets the point. So the best thing about getting older is that you waste less time on the petty stuff, and you focus on the meaningful: sharing love.
Photo: Karl Cosse
