What's this stuff called life anyway?

I just commented to my mom that it's the last week of January. Come next week is February and the week after, CNY. A month of 2005 has expired and 11 months left. Where are you now? On the way I hope.

Ah, the shortness of life. You might lament that it is too brief to accomplish anything significant. 4 years for a President is too short; 30 years for a career is too short; 50 years to live and love is too short; an entire lifetime to myself is too short.

In Tolkien's world, the elves are immortal unlike the humans. With an eternity to live, they instead, admire humans for the gift of mortality. Yes, they wished they could die. It's a deadline, the lid on the pressure cooker that compels us to live a life of memorial events to pass on to the next.

"Life isn't just about passing on your genes.
We can leave behind much more than just DNA.
Through speech, music, literature and movies...
what we've seen, heard, felt
...anger, joy and sorrow...
these are the things I will pass on.
That's what I live for.
We need to pass the torch,
and let our children read our messy and sad history by its light.
We have all the magic of the digital age to do that with.
The human race will probably come to an end some time,
and new species may rule over this planet.
Earth may not be forever,
but we still have the responsibility to leave what traces of life we can.
Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing."

Solid Snake-- Metal Gear Solid 2