Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me....

Today is my 39th birthday. In other words, it marks the end of my 39th year on this planet and the beginning of my 40th.

According to the Globe and Mail if today is my birthday, and it is: “Jupiter, planet of excess, is strong on your birthday, so you will work harder and expect more, of yourself and of others, over the coming 12 months. However, if your body tells you it needs a break you must not ignore it. Plenty of short vacations throughout the year will keep you energized and engaged. “ Well, that sounds OK.

The Guardian (a PEI daily paper) tells me “You head down your own unique path this year, not wanting to be distracted. Though you might know what you want, others will challenge your ideas, direction, and commitment [so this year will be like last year?]. You will never get 100 per cent support for everything you do [no kidding]. This year is no exception […sigh, I was hoping it might be].”
Oh well.

July 18 is a rather auspicious day in history. The #1 single on the charts was Hugh Masekela’s “Grazing in the Grass”. You can watch it here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ot4LvxKURs):

On the day I was born the two-day Honolulu Conference begins in Honolulu, Hawaii between US President Lyndon B. Johnson and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu. On my 1st birthday, after a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts drove an Oldsmobile off a wooden bridge into a tide-swept pond and his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, died.

In an odd twist, and no, we didn’t know this when we named him, July 18, 390 BC marked the Battle of the Allia - A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome. And the leader of the maurading Gauls? None other than Brennus, a chieftain of the Senones, a Celtic tribe of the Adriatic coast of Italy. Those who know us, know that Brennus is the name of our 19 month old. Keeping to July 18th, but about 400 years later, Rome began to burn. It appears that July 18th isn't the best day to have been a Roman. You can learn all about the last days of the Empire in the 1955 Looney Tunes “Roman Legion-Hare” here:


1968 was a year that, perhaps, exemplifies that time in our history: manned space flights, riots, shootings and deaths, countries gaining independence, all amidst the social climate of the late 60’s. Of course, the US was loosing and oversees war then too.

Well, as I move into this 4th decade of life, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done and where I’ve been. Lived all over. Great wife, great kids. Lots of goals and lots more to do… You couldn’t beat the smile off my face with a stick.