IT'S MY BIRTHDAY - SO, WHATEVER...

Certain annual events (that's "once a year" for those of you living in Aarhus, Denmark) are cool, really. Xmas being one of them - but that's about it for me. My birthday is coming up later this week, but I don't feel any of the excitement I felt as a little boy; it seems to fade away as we get older. It always felt awkward opening presents, trying desperately not sounding fake with the oohs & aahs as everybody looked on. The self-knitted woolen socks my grandmother gave me every bloody year; did she really hate me that much? My mother forced me to wear them; that's "conspiracy" if you ask me. And then there is the illogical cake bit...

You hit the mature age of one and get only one lousy candle on top of the cake. Now where the heck is the fun in that? We should establish an average life-expectancy, let's say 75 for males and a lot longer for females, of course. So the one year old boy should start with 75 candles on the cake (and garden-hose at the ready), and the 75 year old geezer would end up with just one candle, this way not having to blow out 75 candles while making a desperate wish that the dentures won't land in the frosting. Any birthday after 75 is a bonus - no candles at all... Makes sense to you? I thought so...

Paul McCartney and I celebrate on the same day. He's still a bit older than I, and I'm hitting 65. I'm more worried about Paul getting "so old" than I'm about my own age. I was a big Beatles-fan (still am) but in my ignorance through the years, I wanted the Fab Four to stay the same, and certainly not have John and George dead. And that's another part of "birthday" I don't care much about, when it becomes more so a reminder of... Oh well, let's finish on a happy note... So why only "birthday child" and not "birthday adult"?

On my upcoming birthday I will feel pampered simply by having my wife, our two sons and their terrific girlfriends together for a BBQ - and I tell you, that is a heck of a lot better than a pair of my grandmother's woolen socks.

Best Regards,
Peter B. Steiness

PS. Please make it a good week and why not give one compliment a day to somebody. They will like getting one as much as you will like giving one. I tried it, and that's how it works - really...