AskMen's Top 10 Things Men Should Not Do After 30

I consider this is my first “real” post in sticking with my new topic and is a taste of what I hope to be focusing on.  The rest was just intro.

I have been a frequent reader of the online men’s magazine AskMen.com for nearly a decade.  It is loaded with useful, interesting and sometimes humorous articles for men of all ages (though typically geared to younger men).

They put together a piece called “Top 10: Things Men Shouldn’t Do After 30”.  Allow me to run down the list and provide my insights.

1. Eat fast food. My first job was at McDonalds so I am disgusted by the stuff.  I do get a hankering for a quarter-pounder with cheese about once a year and I believe they are selling the McRib again for a brief time (both rare indulgences for me).  I am willing to part with these at 30.
2. Drive recklessly. I’m a good driver… depending on who you ask.  This should be easy for me.
3. Play video games obsessively.  A guilty pleasure!  Honestly I’m a HUGE video game player.  My friends and I are into the Call of Duty first person shooter games (PS3 – acegdl007 gamer tag if you wish to join me!).  It is a fair (but potentially difficult) habit to drop at 30.  Here is my plan.  I will sell or donate ALL of my PS3 games and even the controllers by age 30.  I plan on keeping the PS3 and upgrading to remote control for it because it does make a great Blue-ray player and also plays Pandora and Netflix.  That does however give me just under 500 days to play guilt free!
4. Live in a dorm room.  I’m in the clear here.  I have real furniture, walls without posters and with nice décor and it is relatively clean.  Plus my wife makes sure I don’t slip up too much on the last one.
5. Get a tattoo.  I have one and have contemplated getting a second.  I have 492 days to decide.
6. Binge drink.  Have not done this much since college.  I’m O.K. with that.
7. Live paycheck-to-paycheck.  Again, I am doing well with this one even in today’s economy.
8. Work at a dead-end job.  I am great at my job and my managers seem to love the work I do, but it is not exactly my dream job.  This one may need some work. (No pun intended.)
9. Be socially/politically clueless.  On the contrary I’m probably too socially/politically informed.  Throughout my later 20’s a second guilty pleasure of mine has been talk radio.  Politics is like reality TV to me.  You just can’t make up some of the ridiculous things that happen in political news.
10. Dress like a slob.  I have a decent fashion sense but there is room for improvement.

Overall I am doing well on my way to thirty.  Number 3, number 8 and a little bit of number 10 need some improvement.

The Ground Rules

Before I begin this project I want to lay down a few ground rules I hope to follow throughout writing this blog.

1. Posts will be kept brief when possible.  The unwritten rule of 250 words per post will be followed to minimize my tendency towards long windedness.  Short, medium, and long length posts will be tagged so the reader can select and read depending on how much time they have.  We all lead busy lives.
2. This is not a blog about my personal day to day life, though I may share some personal events and experiences.
3. Controversial topics are off the table (politics, news, social issues, etc.).  I have a strong interest in many of these topics as can be seen from my previous blog, but I will not use this blog as a soapbox.
4. The goal of one post per week at minimum is a reasonable expectation.
5. I do not expect this blog to make me rich enough to never work a day in my life.  In other words, I'm not quitting my day job with delusions of grandeur.

The Big 3-0: Five Hundred Days.

Focus.  Not a day of blog writing has gone by where I wrote with any sort of focus on a consistent topic.  Turning thirty and living in your thirties is something that almost everyone will do or has already done.  I have a feeling many people have advice to give or are seeking advice on the topic.

You are probably thinking, “Glen, you are not thirty yet!”.  You are correct.  But part of what I will be writing about is the approach to “The Big 3-0”.  This is not going to be a semi-depressed lamentation over my lost youth.  Nor will this be some twisted rationalization as to how “30 is the new 20” thus allowing me to go get drunk and relive my college days.  That would be pathetic.  I’m going to be thirty.  I plan on acting like it!  (What ever that is.)

The reason I chose this date for establishing “Building Your Thirties” is today marks 500 days until I turn thirty.  (Put that on your calendar.  There probably will be a party.)  That gives me a little over a year to think and write about the age 30 milestone.

The Unveiling

Welcome to my new blog called "Building Your Thirties".  My previous blog, "Private Life in a Glass House" is over 4 years old and in all that time I could never figure out precisely what to do with it.  My writing was like that of an ADD inflicted chipmunk on crack, sporadically jumping from one direction to the next.

As promised, I am implementing some fundamental changes to my blogging.  This paradigm shift is so major that I need a whole new blog.  I have not decided if I will cease writing "Private Life in a Glass House" but it seems likely.

I will need to pour my efforts into my new project .  The major difference between this blog and my previous is that the writings here will have a laser sharp focus as compared to my old blog that lacked a coherent voice.

I plan on writing about all things related to turning  thirty and being in your thirties.  It will be something I will be living through for many years to come and I am sure there is a lot to learn during the process.  I am the type of person who wants to know how everything works.  In your thirties, there is building a career, starting a family, establishing your finances among many other major life activities.  Looks like I will have my work cut out for me!