I turned 26 years old

yesterday.

That's 312

months or 9,490 days old. There have definitely been more good days than

bad days, at least as far back as I can remember.

Lots of great

things happened on June 5 in history. June 5, 1783, two men demonstrated

the powers of their hot air balloon with a 10-minute flight over Annonay,

France. June 5 was also the day that Bill Moyers was born and his books

and television programs are fantastic. I also share my birthday with actor

Mark Wahlberg and P-Nut from the band 311, which I think is very cool.

Unfortunately,

Kenny G was also born June 5.

I worked at

a music store one Christmas and we had to listen to his Christmas album

over and over again. I will never forgive that man for that album, nor

will I forgive that manager, who most likely couldn't figure out how to

take CDs out of the CD player.

June 5 wasn't

always such a great day in history. In 1967, war erupted in the Middle

East and a year later Robert Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.

Things did seem to brighten up the day I was born, though. In fact, the

Suez Canal re-opened June 5, 1975, as tensions in the Middle East decreased,

at least for a little while. There hasn't been anything amazing to happen

on my birthday since Mel Torme, a.k.a The Velvet Fog, passed away June

5, 1999. Some channel needs to show a Mel Torme on Night Court marathon

to honor the man.

I get more

reflective with each birthday. Last year I kept thinking, "I'm a

quarter of a century old," and this year the nagging thought is "I'm

closer to 30 than 20." I realize that it's nothing to get upset over

and that 26 really isn't all that old, but a lot has changed in my 26

years.

For instance,

when I was born, computers took up entire rooms, phones had rotary dials

and there was a gas crisis. Now, computers can be held in your palm, I

haven't seen a rotary phone since I was in that jail cell in Tijuana (just

kidding, Mom) and, well, I guess we may be heading into another gas crisis.

The best thing

about my birthday is that I spread out the fun to make it last all week

long, while I have a good time with my friends and family. Cards and gifts

can be sent to me here at the paper. I like chocolate cake and I could

really use a Playstation 2.

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