Shortly After The Epiphany

Yesterday I celebrated my first half a century on this planet.

I was born at 4:48PM in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. I don't remember what the weather was like, probably not to hot or too cold. It was exactly seventeen years after the death of James Joyce. Three years later on that day Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips was born. I also share a birthday with two of the most flamboyant game show regulars of the 70's, Rip Taylor and Charles Nelson Reilly. I don't know much about astrology, but I've heard that Capricorns are serious people.

My birthday is exactly a week after the epiphany celebration. My grandmother used to talk about watching the Greek boys dive for the cross in Tarpon Springs as a part of the celebration. She said it was marvelous.

Yesterday I had a party at my friend Tom Ward's house. There is a tiki bar that his shared by the people in the apartment next door. The party went on from noon until around 1:30AM. There were people young old and in between. Some friends played music. My friends Ben and Katie gave me a gift certificate to Cecil's Bar-B-Q. My mother always says, "Your father and I had Bar-B-Q the night before you were born, maybe that's why you like Bar-B-Q so much."
Today I went to lunch with some friends. I used my Bar-B-Q gift certificate.

In Knoxville a few of my friends decided to throw a party in my honor. They made a shrine of a Sunday New York Times, a cup of coffee (these are staples in my life) pictures of me and I'm not sure what else. They know something about me. I got a few happy birthday calls from Knoxville, Miami, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle and then I lost track as the keg emptied.

I have no idea what the next half a century has to offer. I'm ready for the offerings. I've seen a good portion of the world. I have a good portion left. I don't plan on getting old even when the numbers indicate otherwise.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't know much about astrology, but Kris Kristofferson wrote a song several years back, called Jesus Was A Capricorn. I'm not very religious either, but I think I'm in good company. Nixon was also a Capricorn. I guess it's all about balance.