Happy Birthday....To Me!

newborn
Originally uploaded by Barnaby.

Yup...today is my birthday, the big 38. I've always had weird feelings about my birthday. Starting with the fact that it falls between Christmas and New Year...just an odd time to throw in an additional celebration. My parents make an extra effort, which I appreciate. My grandmother went so far as to give me her birthday, which is May 19th. She would always send me a gift then and my mother also would do a little something for me on that day...she still sends me a card. The second image is the page from my grandmother's calendar from the day I was born. It includes her notes on my name, weight, and the phone number of the hospital room where my mother was. I found it in her house after she died.


Tonight I'm having a mystery dinner with Sheri (and possibly others), I have been given a hint that it may include fish.

Beyond that, it's been a day of introspection. Not only because I'm closing in on the big 4-0, but also because I've decided to leave A9...though what for is undetermined.

Yule Tied
It's getting close to Christmas and I'm starting to feel guilty even saying the word. I'm half Wasp (with some Catholic) and half Jewish. We've always celebrated Christmas on both sides of my family, more as an American holiday than as a religious observance. A staunch supporter of liberal causes, I long ago settled on "Happy Holidays" as a way of respecting everyone's form of celebration. However, the recent flap over "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" has left me feeling not so happy or merry. First, I'm tired of being politically correct. Second, it serves as a constant reminder for me of the liberal/conservative split that is more severe than I can ever remember it being in the US; at least in my lifetime. Uttering "Happy Holidays" now makes me think about the War in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, Abortion, Tookie Williams, the Environment, and a myriad of other bothersome things. Festivus is starting to look more and more appealing...or maybe this is the solution: http://www.chrismukkah.com

suburban blues

I think this sums up a lot of what's wrong with this country. People simply aren't willing to put their actions where their mouths are. It's really not that hard to save gas/energy/help the envirnoment. Too many people think that they would need to give up creature comforts to make a difference.

If you have to drive an SUV, drive a smaller one. The difference in fuel consumption is huge. We get about %25 of our oil from the Persian Gulf (http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/rankings/crudebycountry.htm)...A)... 2006 suburban gets 17 MPG, the 2006 Ford Escape gets 22 MPG, the Escape Hybrid gets 31 MPG. Other than the fashion statement of having a large SUV, there's very little additional "utility" in the large version. If everyone were willing to make a shift to smaller vehicles, walk a bit more, insulate their homes and take actions beyond adding a bumper sticker...we could easily eliminate oil imports from the Middle East...and keep Tahoe blue.