BIRTHDAY THOUGHTS 5: HAROLD EMERGES

This is a photo of Harold, magnified about 5000 times. Harold is the new grey/white/Leslie Neilsen type chest hair that Olivia found a few weeks back. He's an allright guy, but his unexpected arrival has me pondering a few things on this birthday, the 28th one for me, and my life.

Birthdays are the epitome of "in with the new, out with the old...", although I am not sure if I am comfortable with the literal meaning of that analogy. I've seen some friends come and go, namely hair. In high school, I had a constant hair party on my head, so much so that at one point it was almost down to my shoulders. They would be all night parties, with no conditioner, and it was truly fabulous. My back and shoulders, and even my chest, were not that into the party scene. It was a lifestyle of debauchery, and it all took place on the top of my body...the very top.
I'm not sure what ended up happening, but the party seems to be moving, and as I look upon my birthday today, I realize that my hair is making a run for it, from my head to my back. The party is in fact still moving, and expect it to continue moving...but hey, that's what parties do.

Yesterday I bought a new suit with Liv. She turned me onto this great place in the shopping district of the building that she works in that is excellent. It's called Benton's, and is located at 240 Sparks Street on the main level. Ask for Simon. Whenever Liv gives a referral or suggests you visit an individual for something, it is always deserved. He was great. We were looking for a cream colored/light suit for me for the gamut of weddings coming up. Olivia had kept her eye open for a few things, and we found a beautiful one yesterday which I am still thinking about right now. Anyways, I was looking in the mirror as I was being fitted, and suddenly it was if all of the mirror glass broke away, and I went to another universe. It was me, talking to myself. Only the image in the mirror was of a younger version of me. The younger version of me looked deep into the older version of me's eyes, which is me, and said to me...

You're going to be 28 tommorow. 28 years ago, you were born.

It dawned on me that that was in fact the case.

Then, the younger version of me raised his hand, and gave me a thumbs up, and said...

This one here's for you, bud. Take it and use it wisely.

Then a bunch of Jedis appeared, and we flew away on a Star Cruiser to Tatooine. Man it was awesome!

The I came back to reality.

Birthdays are a time of honesty. It is time that I am honest with myself. Chris, bud, you're getting older, but you're also getting better with age. So what you lose a few hairs. Your character is aging like a fine wine. You're like a roller coaster, which gets more dangerous and exciting with age.

One thing I did notice, and this happens to every year, is that every birthday morning, I develop a severe and acute case of mental stupidity. I suddenly have an alarming decrease in my I.Q. in the range of 30-40 points. It was particularly bad this morning, and I'm sure Olivia was wondering what the hell was wrong with me.

Anyways...hey 28, and life couldn't be better.