Acting my age

What does it mean when someone says 'act your age'? Is it a criticism implying that you are behaving badly? Possibly. But then, what is actually acting your age - fitting into a stereotype that was set by others, at another time, in another context?

Blow that for a game of soldiers.  This year I am rapidly approaching the grand old age of 53 and I have felt no urge whatsoever to wear floral print, thick stockings and beige cardigans. Oh, hang on, I do wear beige, but more along the lines of 'wannabe safari explorer' than zippered cardigan or sensible waterproof jacket.

So how do I act my age? I'm not sure. Take my week so far...

Monday night - The Full Moon Party.

• Drive an hour or more after work into the Suffolk countryside
• Get lost - find a pub and find local who knows exactly where I am supposed to be
• Meet with a childhood pal, a number of interesting artists, sculptors and a neurological psychologist (who used to live in Totteridge Lane, across the road from where I also lived in a past life)
• Make pizza using host-prepared dough and own toppings
• Cook pizza in dragon-shaped outdoor oven
• Have in-depth conversations on dementia (unsurprisingly), the speed of the universe, psychology and probably a few other things I can't remember
• Tickle one of two six year old blond twin boys who are fascinated by the open fire
• Lose half my pizza to a Staffordshire bull terrier
• Sleep for an hour and a half in the back of my car
• Drive back home between 2 and 3am and watch the most spectacular lightning storms all the way from Thetford to Cambridge

Tuesday evening - bowls match against Great Shelford

• Finish work and change into a white polo shirt and trainers
• Walk  two hundred yards from office door to hidden bowling green (at work)
• Help set up for the match
• Get placed as number one in fourth team (playing first means your bowls are most likely to get thunked out the way during the rest of the end)
• Play average bowls (good for me) in winning rink team
• Sandwiches, drink and raffle with opposing team and team-mates in bar (also at work)

So what age am I acting - as if I were 30 years younger by staying out so late on a work night? As if I were 20 years older by playing bowls?

I don't care. I don't want to fit a stereotype, I want to enjoy life and carry on learning new things and meeting new people. But, I have to say, the 3am bed time is not something I want to do too often - especially not with work the next morning. Well, I won't - not until the next Full Moon Party, or gig, or ...