Two 21 Year Olds . . .

We interrupt this top ten books list for a bit of reflection. We'll get back to the book list shortly, so the two of you who are anxiously awaiting the last four books will be able to read my inane ramblings soon.

So today is my birthday. Today, I'm officially old enough to purchase and consume alcohol. TWICE OVER! That's right, I'm the equivalent of two 21 year olds.

And yes, my "dirty old man joke" all day has been "If you're only as old as you feel, I'm going to go feel two 21 year olds!" I didn't actually get to fondle any young hotties, today. Too much other stuff to do. But when we make it back to Parliament House, I'll tip the dancing boys, and reflect that one guy in his forties is probably better than two twinks, anyway. And Scott . . . well Scott is worth more than all of them put together; I'm a very lucky guy.

Back in September of last year, I blogged about how Facebook scares me sometimes. Today, my observation on Facebook is completely different.

Today, Facebook rocks!

I know it's really easy to click on the birthdays list and fire off a quick "Hey, have a great one" message; but I really wasn't prepared for the birthday messages from well over a hundred people.

I send birthday messages all the time. Like I said, it's easy. But being on the receiving end, is a bit overwhelming. In the best way. Even if it was for the briefest moment of their day, all of those people stopped and thought about me, and took a bit of time to say "hi, hope you're doing well". It makes up for all the maddening things about Facebook (like farmville, and fishytown, etc). It reminds us that in the end, it's about keeping in touch with the people who are in our lives, however briefly, however trivially, however near, however long term, however importantly, however far away. They're right there.

No, it's not any less scary than it was last September when worlds collided, but today, the cool part of it shines through.

And it got me thinking about the really amazing people I've been lucky enough to have in my life. Not just my wonderful family, and my perfect partner; but people that I've know from grade school, up to people that I work with now. I've been truly blessed with some remarkable people in my life. And they mean the world to me, even if we don't keep in touch as much as we'd like.

If I've amassed such a remarkable group of friends in the first 42 years of my life, I can't wait to see what it's like when I'm another 21 year old along . . .