Happy Birthday Dale!

Happy Birthday Dale! Have some Cake on me!

Guess.What.Day.It.Is?

Guess who turns 5-0 TODAY!

Happy Birthday Sawsan!


More on Sawsan here at Sawsan Takes The Proust Questionnaire!

Happy Belated Birthday

zeke-vizsla-sleeping-dog-pet-adorable

I’m on the couch reading, or quasi-reading and surfing – flicking through May Sartons’ journals in The House By the Sea and Knausgaard’s essay in The New York Times Magazine on The Terrible Beauty of Brain Surgery.

Yet, I’m wrapped by the beat of something bigger. Sun beams pour through the windows, warming, and then disappear with cloud cover.  The bird feeder hangs on a cast iron hook and swings ever-so-gently to and fro in the northerly breeze which gusts to rattle the windows.  And Knausgaard from his essay,  “I didn’t understand the words, but the sound of them filled the air with mournfulness and humility. Man is small, life is large, is what he heard in the ring of that voice.”

Then there’s Zeke, napping, after his six-mile morning walk, drawing Sarton’s short breaths, in a ‘rhythm, a kind of fugue poetry.’

The couch, books by world class writers, a sleeping dog leaning in and a morning free of all commitments – Oh, the bliss of Saturday mornings… [Read more…]

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Birthday-Cake-With-Candles-1

She showed up here with a comment in March, 2012. How? From where? No idea.

She rings the morning bell at the crack of dawn with a dash of wit or splash of insight – softening up the spillway for others to come behind her. Gentle. Grace. Light.

I’ve had a handful of guest bloggers post on my blog. Don’t miss: The Final Act of Love

Her post was recognized by WordPress as one of the best of the day in “Freshly Pressed“: An Ode to Entomology

Here’s an excerpt from her beautiful post yesterday on the Eve of a Big Day:

Perhaps that’s it – I still believe in wonders.  In fact I think I notice them more than ever before.  Wonder in the breath of the wind, the intangible, unbreakable connections that tie me to those I love.  Wonder at how much more meaning my days have now that they have fewer requirements to dilute the attention I might give to the sun on my face.  And while I marvel, I also realize how tightly I am holding onto this life.  How much I love the moments as well as the spaces in between, when I breathe in the absolute sweetness of being a part of it all.

Read more here: Suddenly Sixty

Happy Birthday Mimi.


Image Credit: calendar.org

 

There’s Joy. There’s Exaltation. There’s You.

Rachel - five - swimming
22 years ago, you came in our lives.
Here you are at five.
We couldn’t imagine our lives without you.
Happy Birthday Honey.

Mom & Dad


Happy Birthday America

fireworks-gif-fourth of July


Source: Totally Transparent

Happy 20th Birthday Bud!

birthday

Eric Eating Birthday Cake

Eric 4th birthday

 

 


(P.S.: For the record, this was your Mom’s idea. You were 3-4 years old here.)

Happy Birthday Zeke

dog,puppy,cute,vizsla

Six years ago today, Zeke was born.

Who knew?

  • That a dog would eat (and enjoy) carrots, broccoli and cauliflower? (Incredible.  Better eating habits than the kids.)
  • That a dog could steal chewing gum from the counter top, unwrap it and eat it? (How?)
  • That a dog would bark, snarl and snap at the King of the Household to protect the others? (Why bite the hand that earns the cash that buys the food that feeds you? Repeatedly?)
  • That a dog would know every day at high noon, it’s Peanut Butter in Plastic Kong time? (How?)
  • That a dog would sleep under the covers at your feet, every single night? And then move up to share your pillow later on at night? (Who needs central heating in the winter? Or a comforter for that matter?)
  • That a dog could be so afraid of Andie, the black and brown tabby cat? (Come on Zeke. Man-up.)
  • That a dog could spot anything in the sky but would miss a deer 20 yards in front of him?
  • That a dog would lie down in front of his Momma, lift his paws one by one, and let her clip his toe nails. And then do a full-body wiggle between her legs after it was all done? (King’s Dog enjoys pedicures. Something very wrong here.) [Read more…]

Are you common? Or rare?

heat map birthdays


The Patriarch of this household is less common (aka “special/rare”).  The rest of the brood would be defined as common based on their birthdate.  About right.  See The Daily Viz for background on study and sample set.  The chart has had more than 250,000 views.  If you want to read more about this study, hit this link.  Still wouldn’t change the end result.  🙂


Source: ilovecharts

Related Posts: Yup. I’m Greek.

Happy Birthday Eric!

Happy 19th Birthday Son.

Your Mother and I were looking at your baby pictures last night.  We came across the shot below.  You were two months old.

You and I have debated this point.  (On Head Size.)  Yet, the truth is now inconvertible upon reflection.

  1. Despite your impressive academic achievements, your head size remains disproportionately large compared to your body.  (Yes, the photo is shocking.  Your Mother had to sit down as she looked at the photo – I saw her shudder as she recalled the memories of the birthing process.  BTW, I checked out Einstein’s head, it was normal size.)
  2. See the position of your head in the shot.  Your neck was straining to support your head.  All of your photos have you in the same profile: leaning and tilting.  (Again, the cranium cargo load is daunting.)
  3. All 10 lbs 3 oz of you were delivered via c-section – – because you wouldn’t come out the traditional way.  (Resisting parental guidance starting early – at birth.  And Head size.  Simply Massive.  And yet your Mother still coddles you even after that trauma.)

Have a great day Eric. Big Head and All…We love you.

Baby pictures, baby


Related Posts on Eric:

Happy Birthday Bruce…

The Boss turns 63 today.  Here’s Bruce Springsteen with “I’m going down.”


Happy Birthday Van…


It’s Van Morrison’s 67th birthday today.  Here’s Van singing “High Summer.”

↓ click for audio

 

 

 


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A belated birthday card to my friend…

paco and migue - birthday pictureI missed your birthday. I’m sorry. From the pictures, it looks like you had fun.

This post started as a roast. A walk down memory lane.

And there are just so many soft targets. Where does one start.

Well, let’s start with your Baby fat. It must have been cute at five. It’s all a bit unseemly at 50.

While we haven’t worked together for years, the memories are fresh. Your complete lack of organization immediately comes to mind. Your inbox gushing like water over a dam with thousands of unread emails. (Most of them mine.) And not a worry on your brow.

Your ability to consistently stumble to the finish line, harried, flustered, often late and not even knowing it.

Yet, despite the urging from your wily Dominican assistant (blond looks good on her in the pic btw), I couldn’t go there.

You play bigger than this.  So much bigger. 

I remember how your eyes would light up when you spoke of spear fishing as a child in the warm tropical waters of Puerto Rico.

[Read more…]

30 Gifts to 30 Strangers…

Lucas, a Brazilian man, moves to Australia and is grateful for the country and its people for open their arms to him.  On his 30th birthday, he decides to thank 30 complete strangers in Sydney by handing them each a gift.  “Man’s first responsibility is to be happy…The second is to make everyone else happy.”  Video is paired with beautiful music (This is the place where I feel at home…).

30 gifts to 30 strangers in Sydney from Lucas Jatoba on Vimeo.


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