Newsletter

Future Imperfect Tense

in the present aging

Juan Chavez

10 Sep 2023 • 1 min read

“We went to the New York World’s Fair, saw what the past had been like, according to the Ford Motor Car Company and Walt Disney, saw what the future would be like, according to General Motors. And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.”

A nighttime picture of some sort of neon sculpture and sign. It reads, “Tomorrow_and.” A hint of the broken “L” shines at the bottom. — The future will need maintenance.

Fear isn’t what I feel thinking about the future. I know the rent will be higher, and the food, judging by ice cream menus, will feature more coconut. That’ll be tragic, but a small price to pay after the Dairy Wars of 2053. I also figure I’ll be, as every generation before has, painfully aware that the future never quite feels quite there yet. It’s always the present in the end.

A gif of the pixelated main game menu from the SNES version of Tokimeki Memorial. In the text box it says, “Today’s my birthday,” and the date is 9/9/96. — These stats might not be too far off, save for the fitness score.

I’m going to shorter today as I’m still in the post-birthday shadow. (It was very nice and fun, thank you for asking.)

Your humble narrator gazing over the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon. His back is to the camera. — Entering my Caspar David Friedrich phase.

And I just as I said I was going to be short, I started writing more (beyond this self-tattle). Don’t worry, I put a stop to it. Promises are promises! And I’m hoping to be more disciplined for this next trip around the sun.

in a future age is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Sign up for more like this.