Funny, I Don't Feel Like I'm 37.
 
I spent the last three days celebrating my birthday.  I realize that this sounds hedonistic but understand that the last two years were hellish on my birthday, so I felt the need to catch up.   Note: I don't mean to say "hellish" in the sense that no one (not least my wife, who has always made the occassion special for me) ignored or otherwise dissed my birthday.  It's just that those birthdays coincided with particularly grueling and stressful work days.   Some time off was in order.
 
They were three days well spent.  Most of the time, I was glued to my computer.  I played with Suse Linux, played City of Heroes, and wrote.  On Saturday, I went to the Barsana Dham in Driftwood, Texas, with my wife and two friends.  They have peach orchards there and one can pick peaches and take them home.  We picked a few buckets worth (Patrick picked a peck of peaches...) and went a few more miles down the road to my parents' house.  Once there, we put the peaches into a cobbler, grilled salmon steaks and veggies, and watched one of my birthday presents on DVD.
 
On Sunday (my birthday), I had a late breakfast with my wife, played more City of Heroes, and attended a showing of Spider Man 2 (a review of which anon).  It was great weekend, I tell you!
 
One of the best presents (in a year of great presents) I received was from my wife.  She gave me a subscription to a tea of the month club run by The Tea Table.  I received a little tea pot suitable for one person and three samples of tea to tide me over until next month: a black tea, a green tea and an herbal tea.  I brought the set to my office and I look forward to sampling one of them this afternoon.
 
Upon reflection, I am amused by the fact that I am no longer a kid.  I still feel like one.  I wonder if that is genetic or a predisposition on my part.  On the one hand, my parents are in their mid- to late fifties but they look and act much younger.  As do my grandparents.  I only hope I look as good as they when I am older.  On the other hand, I still read comics, watch cartoons and play games.   I suppose it is harmless enough: I pay my bills, vote and I don't hurt anyone.  I hope to be able to get away with it as long as I can.  After all, my parents do.
 
And since it feels like Christmas in July, I thought I' d recommend a favorite classic of mine:  A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.  I have a stack of great Christmas CDs but I shall post a more comprehensive list during the holiday season.
 
Ho Ho Ho!