the eternal return

like ken lickiss (deseret news , ut), i've been thinking about rewinding to my teenage years and this time trying to get it right. ok, ok, maybe this 35-year-old was just into dating cheerleaders. but anyway, i could remake my life, expunge all my mistakes. this time i would definitely drop out, thus preventing the misery of an academic career. then i would triple my intake of alcohol and drugs, to hasten my recovery, so that i could relapse while still in my early thirties. then when i got to my late thirties again, i just might return for yet another round of adolescence. it's as american as american pie.