What I would tell my 16-year-old self

• You have a condition called "Aspergers Syndrome".  It is why the world seems so confusing and unpredictable to you, and why you seek black-and-white rules to make sense of it.  You will never be rid of it, but the more you understand it the better you can deal with the world.
• Your parents are weird.  No, really.  A lot weirder than you can imagine.  Get to know other families and don't dimiss their differences as aberrations.  Every family is different, and each one has something to teach you.
• You are not necessarily a burden or a drain to those around you.  There's even a chance that your presence might brighten someone's day.
• Stop being such a goodie-two-shoes.  Your pristine behavior is appreciated because it's convenient.  That doesn't serve you, it only serves  them.  The grownups come down on you because anything bad is such a contrast to your pristine goodness.  Get down in the mud and a little dirt won't show nearly as much.
• Get the damned polyester out of your wardrobe already.  Stop dressing like your dad.  The other kids aren't "evil" for wearing jeans, they're NORMAL.
  
• There is no permanent record.  The grownups may scream and carry on as though your transgressions are earth-shattering, but it's really because you threatened their convenience.  Nothing you do short of getting convicted in a court of law will affect your chances of college or employment.  Start living, dammit!
• You don't have to be perfect at everything you do, and you don't have to skip an activity because you're not perfect.  You don't have to be "the best".  In fact, being "one of the crowd" is much more rewarding.
• The other kids around you aren't shallow, they're complex in dimensions you can't perceive.  You probably appear the same way to them.
• The world is constantly changing.  What's a sure thing today may be touchy tomorrow, and vice versa.  You might very well be happier working with your hands than doing thinking-stuff.  There may even come a day when plumbers are more securely employed than computer programmers.
• Let me tell you about the concept of "casual dating".  Not every date has to be an audition to find The One.
• I know you're goal-oriented.  It's what you were taught.  Believe me, the journey is where it's at.  Take each day, each experience, one at a time on its own terms.  You're smart.  You're resourceful.  You'll find a way, so stop obsessing about where you'll end up.  Enjoy the ride.
• You'll never end up with Karen.  Don't stay friends with her if you can't accept that.  Move on.  No one person is your "last, best hope" to get coupled and/or laid.
• Yes, stay with the music.  It's in your soul.
• Rock music isn't evil.  Learn to appreciate it.
• There is no substitute for love.  Gratitude isn't love.  Admiration isn't love.  If you don't feel loved, start loving yourself.  Don't go after substitutes.  That trick never works.
• It really does get better, but only if you let it.  If you cling to the fears of the past, you will continue to live them.
• You have a lot more personal power than you think.
  

*pant* *pant*

I am, like, seriously out of shape. A brief test-ride on the new bike has me pretty badly winded (okay, I had to get used to the gearing as well, but still...)

Hopefully it'll get better if I keep it up...