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poltr1But first, today's sound bite.
I'd been dreading this day for a while. The black balloons, the over-the-hill jokes, and the gag gifts. (Note that like rollercoasters, once you get over the hill, you begin to pick up speed.) Needless to say, I received none of them today. (And there was Much Rejoicing.)
There was a time that I reacted to birthdays with hostility. "I don't need another reminder that I'm another year older!", I would hiss at people. But I later came to the realization that those who didn't care about me wouldn't wish me a happy birthday, and those who cared (and knew the date) would do so.
And so, I've made yet another go-round on this cosmic carousel called Earth. How many more trips I have around the Sun, no one knows. To quote Vila Restal from Blake's 7, "I plan to live forever....or die trying."
I'm still a little reluctant to share my birth date online. Since it's used as a form of identification (especially within the medical community), publicizing one's birth date public may make it a little easier for someone else to perform identity theft. Also, there's the part of me that thinks I'm fishing for compliments or gifts if I say, "Today's my birthday."
Now, if I use a calendar other than the Gregorian calendar to report my birth date, I'm certain to get quizzical stares. If I say my birthday is 11 Av 5724, most people would drop their jaws and say, "Huh?"
So, how did I spend today? I took the day off work, like I've been doing the past few months. :-| I changed M's diaper and got her dressed for school. After she left with R for day care, I went back to sleep.
I had a dream about high school marching bands and someone who was playing a marching bassoon that someone had recently invented. (But it's been done before -- look up "sarrusophone" in a dictionary of musical instruments.)
I woke up around 10:30. I checked my email and my LJ-friends' list.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
redaxe and filkerdave recalled the Apollo 11 moon landing 35 years ago today in their LJ entries. It's one of the earliest memories I have -- seeing pictures of the LEM "Live from the moon" as the caption said, and eating cherry chip birthday cake. Even though all three networks carried the footage, I think we had the TV turned to CBS; I vaguely remember Walter Cronkite narrating or doing some commentary.
After finishing up on the computer, I went back downstairs, showered, shaved, and took my daily meds. And it was off to Bob Evans for my birthday meal -- steak and eggs, with tomato juice. (Nope, no broccoli or beer for me today, thank you.) During lunch, I also wrote the checks for some upcoming bills.
After my brunch, I came back home to get some tape to fix a bill that I put in backwards. I also went back online, and made my weekly call to my keepers at RHT to ask, "Any nibbles this week?". Their response was "No, but things are picking up." R also called to let me know she wanted tacos for dinner. I soon left home to mail the bills, and stopped at the store to get the fixings for tacos.
After I got back, I started on dinner, and soaked a couple of ears of corn in water, so that I could grill them while still in their husks. Dinner turned out well. M came home and wanted to watch her Baby Einstein DVDs. She's learned to say "D-V-D" when she wants to watch one. My little girl is turning into a couch potato. *sigh*
At R's request, I stopped at Ritter's for dessert and brought it back home. We also game M her bath.
On Sunday night, R took me out to dinner. Our tradition is that the birthday person gets to choose the restaurant, and the spouse pays the entire bill. This year's choice was The Dock, in Enon. I had seen some ads on the Weather Channel and other cable channels, and thought it would be a good place to go for seafood, which I love. The atmosphere and decor were both very good. Although we were in the middle of a land-locked area, and not near a river, there was a garden with a large pond, a bar area that overlooked the pond, and a large grassy area that would be great for outdoor parties. The food quality was excellent, but the selection was a little disappointing. Nearly all of their seafood was fried, and I was expecting more baked or broiled items. (And there was no raw bar! :-( ) However, they had a few non-seafood items on the menu, which pleased R. I had the seafood combo platter, which featured fried grouper, fried shrimp, and fried clams. R had the filet mignon, which she loved. M loved the fish tank, which contained a clownfish. She kept saying "Nemo!" when she saw it. Kudos to the waiter (T.G.) who was very patient with my fidgety daughter.
I'd been dreading this day for a while. The black balloons, the over-the-hill jokes, and the gag gifts. (Note that like rollercoasters, once you get over the hill, you begin to pick up speed.) Needless to say, I received none of them today. (And there was Much Rejoicing.)
There was a time that I reacted to birthdays with hostility. "I don't need another reminder that I'm another year older!", I would hiss at people. But I later came to the realization that those who didn't care about me wouldn't wish me a happy birthday, and those who cared (and knew the date) would do so.
And so, I've made yet another go-round on this cosmic carousel called Earth. How many more trips I have around the Sun, no one knows. To quote Vila Restal from Blake's 7, "I plan to live forever....or die trying."
I'm still a little reluctant to share my birth date online. Since it's used as a form of identification (especially within the medical community), publicizing one's birth date public may make it a little easier for someone else to perform identity theft. Also, there's the part of me that thinks I'm fishing for compliments or gifts if I say, "Today's my birthday."
Now, if I use a calendar other than the Gregorian calendar to report my birth date, I'm certain to get quizzical stares. If I say my birthday is 11 Av 5724, most people would drop their jaws and say, "Huh?"
So, how did I spend today? I took the day off work, like I've been doing the past few months. :-| I changed M's diaper and got her dressed for school. After she left with R for day care, I went back to sleep.
I had a dream about high school marching bands and someone who was playing a marching bassoon that someone had recently invented. (But it's been done before -- look up "sarrusophone" in a dictionary of musical instruments.)
I woke up around 10:30. I checked my email and my LJ-friends' list.
redaxe and filkerdave recalled the Apollo 11 moon landing 35 years ago today in their LJ entries. It's one of the earliest memories I have -- seeing pictures of the LEM "Live from the moon" as the caption said, and eating cherry chip birthday cake. Even though all three networks carried the footage, I think we had the TV turned to CBS; I vaguely remember Walter Cronkite narrating or doing some commentary.After finishing up on the computer, I went back downstairs, showered, shaved, and took my daily meds. And it was off to Bob Evans for my birthday meal -- steak and eggs, with tomato juice. (Nope, no broccoli or beer for me today, thank you.) During lunch, I also wrote the checks for some upcoming bills.
After my brunch, I came back home to get some tape to fix a bill that I put in backwards. I also went back online, and made my weekly call to my keepers at RHT to ask, "Any nibbles this week?". Their response was "No, but things are picking up." R also called to let me know she wanted tacos for dinner. I soon left home to mail the bills, and stopped at the store to get the fixings for tacos.
After I got back, I started on dinner, and soaked a couple of ears of corn in water, so that I could grill them while still in their husks. Dinner turned out well. M came home and wanted to watch her Baby Einstein DVDs. She's learned to say "D-V-D" when she wants to watch one. My little girl is turning into a couch potato. *sigh*
At R's request, I stopped at Ritter's for dessert and brought it back home. We also game M her bath.
On Sunday night, R took me out to dinner. Our tradition is that the birthday person gets to choose the restaurant, and the spouse pays the entire bill. This year's choice was The Dock, in Enon. I had seen some ads on the Weather Channel and other cable channels, and thought it would be a good place to go for seafood, which I love. The atmosphere and decor were both very good. Although we were in the middle of a land-locked area, and not near a river, there was a garden with a large pond, a bar area that overlooked the pond, and a large grassy area that would be great for outdoor parties. The food quality was excellent, but the selection was a little disappointing. Nearly all of their seafood was fried, and I was expecting more baked or broiled items. (And there was no raw bar! :-( ) However, they had a few non-seafood items on the menu, which pleased R. I had the seafood combo platter, which featured fried grouper, fried shrimp, and fried clams. R had the filet mignon, which she loved. M loved the fish tank, which contained a clownfish. She kept saying "Nemo!" when she saw it. Kudos to the waiter (T.G.) who was very patient with my fidgety daughter.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 09:19 pm (UTC)Heh. I usually quote Spider Robinson, who phrased it in the third person. And apparently they both cribbed it from Groucho Marx (which I ought to have looked up years ago, and am glad I finally have).
Seafood...and grilled corn. Yum. Too bad about the plethora of fried vs. dearth of broiled, and what you had sounds delicious.
We watched CBS. How could we not have Uncle Walter on that day of all days? It made for a great bedtime story for the kids tonight. Wish I had a new such story for them, soon.
Hippo bthudthdy, as Owl might have written. And welcome to The (40s) Club.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 09:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-21 04:28 am (UTC)Happy Birthday
Date: 2004-07-21 07:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-21 08:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-21 06:10 pm (UTC)