Getting Old (but I'm not talking about myself) | March 19, 2007 | 23:51

Is it a normal thing for birthdays to grow more and more unheralded as one gets older? I imagine there must be some people who have huge celebrations every year no matter how old they get. Those people probably have money, and if they don't have money, they at least must have friends who give a damn.

My birthday's going to pass tomorrow with less fanfare than a sanitation truck going down the street in the early morning to pick up the refuse from the sidewalk.

I've had some good ones, though ... and I may yet have some more. Six years ago, at nearly this very moment, I was at the Peanut Barrel in East Lansing, Michigan, commemorating my 21st with more Guinness and Bailey's than anyone should drink. I left my mark on the back steps of Berkey Hall.

Tomorrow, I'll probably not even leave an impression on the bed since I plan on being in it unless there's some good reason to roust me from there on my day off. My gift to myself is relaxation ... perhaps bordering on extreme lethargy ... but, hey, it's free.