Yes, I AM a man of a Certain Age now...

Yup, today was my birthday! YAY!! Gary's Special Day! But aren't they all? I can't be 100%, but I'm pretty sure i've been VERY crafty about keeping my age a secret on here. Me and mystery and all. I'm like a busty, sexually viable actress afraid of losing parts to the ingenue. Yeah, something like that. Well, it's been a good day. A good TWO days. My good friend B.K.T. paid a shocking visit. Well, he called first...Monday night, saying he'd be driving through. So he wound up staying over last night and hanging around till 3ish today. Last night we waltzed around the Isle of Manhattan for a good 8 hours, walking more than I have in AGES. Rather invigorating. And as the clock struck midnight, and yours truly successfully made it to another year on this earth, I toasted B.K.T. with my 3rd Smithwick's at the Irish bar on 7th Avenue near 28th, and felt rather positive about things. Which is always a plus. Back in NJ, I found 27 cents on the ground near our car and considered it good luck. Once home, we'd sip Baileys and Amy's Organic "Tom Kha Phak Thai Coconut" Soup while sifting through college photos. MMMM. Deliciously soothing. By 3:15am, I'd fallen asleep with the light on, Eliot Spitzer's sordid whore exploits in the NY Post draped across my chest. So I slept through my actual 3:41am Birth Moment.

Today, after B.K.T. left, it was back to the standard Ma, Pa, and Bro routine. A hearty meal and 2 Coronas. I'd asked for "something Chinese." For dinner, that is. Mom dutifully fulfilled her firstborn's wishes with a rice, chicken, broccoli, and pepper stir-fried concoction, dripping with an Asian-fused sauce. If this had audio, I'd do my Homer Simpson, tongue-out, salivating sound. I can do it on command if you have the pleasure of knowing me. Then the gifts. I got my first Ipod...a Shuffle...I'd specifically asked for it. One gigabite and classic silver, thanks. That's 240 songs...why the FUCK do you need more than that? Sure, i'm 6 years late to the game, but i'll catch up fine. And you can't go wrong with a ShopRite gift card and new pillows!! Then it was my usual Carvel ice cream cake with the green lettering and little shamrocks, too...representin' Ireland, y'all. Christ, I could have this cake nightly...SO good! Then it was time to download songs for the first time...and I'm already having problems "finding" 19 of the 21 I downloaded. Don't ask. Because I wouldn't know how to answer you. I need to read the instructions VERY closely. And for you eye-rolling tech smartasses...go suck yourselves off in a dimly-lit corner. On that note, whew...it's 4am and I should start wrapping things up. Get this year GOING!! Thanks to those who wished me well today...you're the best. Stay with me for another wild year of my life! I'm quite optimistic about things. Right now, though, I'm excited to roll my head around on my new pillow...