I wasn’t sure if I wanted to mention this or not but what kind of blogger would pass up something this BIG, so…

On May 2, 1958 at 2:55pm Central Time a little girl was born and she was… Me! For any math challenged persons who might be reading this, that means that this Friday I will be 50! I’m not exactly thrilled to be 50 but I’m not terribly bummed out about it either. It’s like something on one of those lists of odd facts that make you think, “That can’t be true,” but at the same time you think, difficult as it is to believe, it probably is true. How can I be 50 when I’m barely even a grown-up but the calendar says it’s 2008 and I seem to recall having a couple of kids who are grown-ups themselves so… oh well, whatever.

I know everyone is getting tired of hearing “blank is the new blank” but 50 really is the new 30. Or at least the new 35. I actually feel younger now than I did when I was 35. (Well, except for a few isolated parts, like the knees, which feel their age sometimes) When I was around 35 I was thinking my life is almost half over and what have I done with it and I was somewhat bummed out about it. But now, with so many people living to be 100 or older I’m thinking that my life is just now half over or maybe even not quite half over. I could have another 50 years or more. And I still don’t know what I want to do with my life. Other than what I am doing, which is making me happy but still… Oh well, I’ve still got time to decide, haven’t I?

I don’t like the idea of being 50 but I’m glad I was born in 1958. I was born into a world of black and white television and rotary dial telephones and now we have computers, the Internet, cell phones, TiVo, microwave ovens and widescreen HDTV, though I personally don’t have that yet - all things that didn’t exist when I was a kid. I can remember when Pong was the coolest thing ever and now video games look like little movies that you control. I’ve seen CDs replace vinyl records and now CDs seem to be going out of style. I can remember when you needed a can opener to open a beer or soda can and I remember when the new-fangled “pop-top cans” were so cool some guy wrote a song about them. What else? Dozens of little things, maybe hundreds that I hardly even think about anymore. You have to be my age (or nearly so) to understand how seriously cool and awesome all this stuff is. I don’t want to be old but I’m glad I’m old enough to get it. And I can hardly wait to see what they come up with next.

Even as young as I am I claim the right to be a curmudgeon and to talk about how we did things back in the day and to say we were right, because we were. I know; I was there. I claim the right to be a know-it-all and to give unsolicited advice because I do know more than most folks. One of the benefits of being 50, you see.

My “Big Day” probably won’t be all that big - pretty much like any other day, I expect. That’s not entirely a bad thing. I’m fairly confident that I’m not going to be subjected to the ordeal of having to pretend to have a good sense of humor about receiving old age gag gifts. I hope someone at least remembers a cake this year though. You can have a birthday without presents but not without a cake.

In the last few years I’ve gotten into the habit of treating myself to CDs for my birthday. (Otherwise I don’t buy nearly as many CDs as I used to.) For several months I had been planning to buy a complete set of Haydn’s Symphonies. It seemed appropriately symbolic. If I had a “List of Things I Want to Do Before I Die” it wouldn’t include things like climbing mountains, jumping out of airplanes or visiting Paris. It would be a dull little list of books I want to read and music I want to listen to (and finally finishing that damned latchhook kit I started in 1983) and I definitely want to listen to all of Haydn’s Symphonies. I had heard a rumor that Berkshire Record Outlet had a good, low-priced set. (They don’t, at least not right now.) But the more I thought about it the more I felt in the mood for something else.

Instead of all the symphonies I bought just a few string quartets instead, Op. 76, #’s 1, 2 and 3. I also bought Bach’s English Suites performed by Murray Perahia. (I suppose this means I should stop picking on people who play Bach on the piano.) And finally, something of a novelty, Bach’s Cello Suites 1, 2 and 5 performed on double bass by Edgar Meyer.

Funny thing about that last one… When I got the ship confirmation from Amazon it said that I had ordered the disc with Suites 3, 4 and 6. I was very disappointed because I wanted the two minor key suites but I thought I had just not been paying enough attention to what I was doing when I ordered. But the CDs arrived on Monday (earlier than I expected) and it was exactly what I wanted - Suites 1, 2 and 5 - and there was a little note stuck to it that said, “This item is the best quality currently available from our distributors. Amazon strives to provide both quality and service; we know that sometimes getting an item in imperfect condition is better than not getting it at all and our goal is to meet your needs. If you are not satisfied with this item please visit our Returns Center” Odd.

In a supreme act of willpower I have decided to wait until my birthday to listen to my new CDs so they will truly be my birthday present to myself. I’ll try to say more about them later on.