One More Year Closer to Forty

It's my birthday today. Well, technically. It's April 17th, although I'm pretty sure I was born later than 1:48 in the morning.

That makes me 37. (The only way I can remember this, btw, is by subtracting the current year from 1971, the year I was born. Seriously, I cannot memorize this one simple fact. I know that SHIELD stands for, I can name the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Teen Titans, Avengers, Defenders, etc. but I cannot remember my age without basic math.)

Weirdly, getting older doesn't really bug me. I mean, things seem to get more or less better for me as time goes on. Randy of 1988 was a high school junior with abysmal dating abilities, no clear idea what he wanted to study in college and an occasional dose of what I like to call "mopey whiny little shit-itis." Randy of 1998 was in love and soon to be married, but he was also in a job he hated with no idea what he might want to do. Randy of 2008 has a wife he loves, two kids he loves, a good house and owns a comic book shop that shows every sign of providing a stable future. Not too shabby for a guy who can't remember his age without doing basic math.

I mean, getting older and living your life is kind of like falling. It can be a pleasant sensation, if you take the time to look around and enjoy the ride, and try not to think of the sudden stop at the end.

Anyway, the original plan to hit up Fogo De Chao for some delightful carnivore carnage was ended because of the massive amount of cash required to dine at a Brazilian steakhouse, but plans for a casual get-together with friends at Hula Hut and then getting together to play Rock Band seems like a pretty good birthday plan to me. I have to admit I feel a *wee* bit pathetic organizing my own birthday party, but I hated the last couple years when I didn't do much of anything, and I'm an organizer by nature, so what the hell.

So far for my birthday I've spent some of the cash from my in-laws on three XBox games (Star Wars KOTOR, Jade Empire and Call of Cthulhu), and I'm pretty sure my birthday money will go to further XBox related purchases like the wireless adapter and XBox credits to buy more Rock Band songs and maybe the new downloadable game Ikaruga.

Yes, I realize this was an entirely self-indulgent post that is entirely irrelevant to 99% of you.

Cut me some slack.

It's my birthday.