Birthday Haul 2022

 

I’m really a simple man. For years, whenever someone asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I had a stock reply: “A book or a CD or a DVD.” And it was true, and it was valid for many, many birthdays. However, from what I understand, technology has moved on. There are these things nowadays called streaming and iTunes, so two-thirds of my stock reply is obsolete.

No matter, no mind. I’m a traditionalist. And my girls understand that and cater to it. I am a wealthy man because of it.

That being said, I had a decent haul this birthday. Hopper, get to it! I know you’re asking. Okay, I will. Here goes:

First, I got some cash, with instructions. One was to “buy myself a chicken parm hero.” No hesitation there. And the other was to pick myself up a work of classic lit. More on that later.

The Mrs. gave me a gift card to my favorite store of all, Half Price Books. Knowing my frugality and the price ranges of the types of books I like, I can probably score anywhere from three to eight items. Since I have about ten books in the immediate On Deck Circle, I’m going to table this gift card until November. Who knows what literary fields Hopper will be roaming then?

Little One bought me two CDs – “for your car.” Yes, I understand new cars no longer have CD players; everything is through yer phone, even when driving in the car. But I drive a 2015 Accord, perhaps one of the last models with such an audio device. For the longest time I kept a CD of Beethoven’s symphonies 5-8 in the car “in Case of Emergency,” but I haven’t listened to it in ages. Now I can replace it with Little One’s gifts: Live Rust by Neil Young and The Who’s Greatest Hits. Was a big fan of Neil’s before he became obnoxiously political, and even saw him perform live from the front row ten or fifteen feet away. And I’ve been an on-again, off-again fan of The Who since high school.

Patch, a confirmed lover of gift-giving like her mom, outdid herself this year. First, she promised to supply me with two protein smoothies to take to work this week. A great, tasty way to start the day at the office! Then, she promised that she would “give the Hobbit a go.” Wow! After begging my progeny every two or three months for the past six or seven years to read Tolkien, could she final rise to the challenge? We’ll see.

She also bought me a pair of socks. Socks that say “Book Nerd.” Thank You, Patch. But more importantly, she found a book for me to read. She’s been fascinated with the Titanic for a long time, and over the summer I found a magazine devoted entirely to the doomed ship and bought it for her while she was away on vacation, leaving it as a pleasant surprise on her desk. Well, she found a 1990 paperback written by Arthur C. Clark entitled Ghosts from the Grand Banks. Its main plotline deals with … raising the Titanic, using high-tech tech stuff. I immediately bumped it to the front of the On Deck Circle, and as of today I’m about 60 pages in.

As for that suggestion earlier to buy some classic literature, I decided to venture into the Bucket List, and after much consideration, landed on Lincoln: The War Years, by Carl Sandberg. I’ve been wanting to read this for at least a decade, but no library I knew carried it, and it was too pricey for me to splurge on it. That is, before birthday money.

And that’s it. That’s all I want, and all I need, for a birthday. My immediately family, a nice home-cooked dinner, some cheesecake, and some reading material.

Thank you all, guys! It was a wonderful day!