YOUTH has a lot of advantages. It's one great disadvantage however, is that the youth isn't aware of those advantages, so they go around, wasted.

Not that I've wasted a lot of my youth; I got myself into almost every scrape, adventure, and avocations, but I could have done more... like explored my world and crunched on all those that can be crunched on more extensively and longer than I did. Where are all these reflections coming from? Oh, nothing big really, just the newly released EveryBlock Code. Arrrgh!

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"EveryBlock is a new way to keep track of what's happening on your block, in your neighborhood and all over your city," its blurb on its website says. It now has several cities in the US to track since it was launched in January 2008. But then, because we're in the Philippines, the really exciting news is the release of its code just very recently. Meaning, you can go ahead and tweak and explore and make your own! A louder arrrgh!

Where's the arrrgh! coming from? It's from how this article started... advancing age. Louder and longer arrrrghh!

It's like this. In youth, you have all the brainpower, the staying awake power, the physical power, and yes, the time.

Since you're just a young person growing up, responsibilities are most likely just toward the family (making sure you brought out the garbage and washed the dishes kind of family responsibilities) and the commitment to pass your subjects (not unless you belong to a family who requires all children to excel in everything deemed important by the family, not you... pity you). Normal kids, they are just busy growing up, making friends, flirting, and yes, getting that grade without having to be a valedictorian or a university scholar.

Now if you young guns think that is already a busy life, try having an adult life where responsibilities dictate where you should be and what you should be doing first, and then your physical state requires you to bump off earlier than you would have wanted. Yes, there's a reason why your parents are going to bed early. They are making sure they can live longer to tend to your needs. Otherwise, they'll party and work and take in hobbies and get hooked on the computer and tend to their children and just go on and on and drop dead right on your doorstep before you graduate from elementary school. Since they can't do this, most parents sleep after attending to their priorities -- the children and the livelihood.

Now, I don't have kids. That frees up some time, which are already booked with a lot of other concerns, health concerns included.

And so, here I sit, drooling over EveryBlock, knowing I couldn't tinker with it as much as I am tempted to lest I lose precious hours that should be devoted to work, avocations, health, sleep, friends, hobbies, plants, and fun... a whole life already dedicated to having a life, with already so little sleep.

Nike had it all wrapped up when it came out with that advertising blurb. It should put more focus, however, on the kids who just verge out, wasted, because they don't know what they will be missing.

While all these are playing... Michael Jackson drops dead in the background. saestremera@yahoo.com