Patton in Jeans

Thanks to Phil Ford over at Dial "M" for Musicology for posting a link to Patton Oswalt's New Year's post. Oswalt is a young man, and he is quite funny, but he reasons like a young man. If I were a young man (in my 20s or 30s), I might find this bit of wisdom worthwhile:

"Life Is Short"

Is it?

As many people this phrase has helped to get out there, take a chance, grab their talent and make their lives, it's also led to some of the lamest decisions, failed marriages, sell-out careers and dumbass deaths in history.

Life's only short if you're dull or desperate. Take a deep breath, enjoy the present, and keep in mind that, unless you're plankton in jeans, you'll probably be around for 80 odd years. Don't make a limited splash in your twenties and live sixty years of diminishing returns. Build a foundation, and enjoy the whole thing.

Now I know that life is short, and the older I get, the shorter it gets. Perhaps his second paragraph should read "Life's only short if you're dull, desperate, a woman with a biological clock, or you are over 40." And what on Earth does he mean by "plankton in jeans?"