The Anniversary Of Your Presence...
I'm not sure whether I will ever have children, but when and if I do, I know there's two or three months I would like to avoid as birthday months: March, September, and December. December is rather self-explanatory; I have several relatives, friends, and acquaintances with December birthdays, but I wouldn't want to put my child's birthday on or very close to Christmas. It just seems like Christmas overpowers everything else at that time of the year, and I'd want my children's celebrations to be as personal and individual as possible. Sometimes you don't get what you hope for though, and a December birthday is something you make the best of. If we wound up with a December baby, I'll do the best I can to make sure they know it's THEIR birthday.
March and September don't have such obvious connotations. But in my family, those are big birthday months already. When I draft my annual budget, I know in March, September, and December/January, I'm gonna pay far more than I planned, and I always make sure I have extra money at that time. In March, for the birthdays, there's my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, aunt, father-in-law, and cousin. There's a couple close friends with birthdays that month too, and my grandparents' wedding anniversary.
In September, there's quite a few birthdays: an uncle, my grandfather, two cousins, another brother-in-law, my wife, and myself. There's also two or three close friends with birthdays that month too. On top of all this, my wedding anniversary is in September. So that month definitely breaks the bank. Then again, with my birthday and my wife's and our wedding anniversary all in the same month, it'll probably be just our luck we have kids then.
American culture is pretty unique-- not too many other cultures/ethnicities make such a big deal out of the anniversary of the date you graced the world with your presence. Nowadays, you have to know your birthdate so you can fill out all kinds of forms. At some point, I anticipate the powers that be will just have each baby's forehead tattooed with their birthdate, so as to simplify things. It's not exactly a mark of freshness, or an "expire by" date (I'm not sure how many people really want to know *that* one), but given the way things are going these days, I figure at birth all babies will be tattooed with their birthdates and identification marks, and those that can hear will be implanted with a mobile phone. Or maybe they'll have some sort of attachment implanted, with an extension that can be changed for size as the person grows older, so that the newer extension can hold the latest mobile phone. I'm just jesting, of course... or am I??
Some cultures count taxi time before takeoff, so how old one is depends on your cultural views. Then again, what is age? How do you really measure age? Some people look older than they are, and others look much younger. When I was in college, I was rarely carded because even when I was very young and slender, I looked older than I really was. I haven't reached the point where I look younger than I really am, or even close to my actual age. Now that I'm greying, I doubt I ever will. In this town, there's tons of people who walk around with all kinds of plastic surgery, from face lifts to tummy tucks to botox injections. Inside, they may have the bodies of 65-year-olds, but outside they look like they're 29, or at least trying to look like they're 29. It's amazing to look around at all these mommies with their little darlings around them, and trying to figure out if they just plucked these kids out of their bellies fully formed before mommy's belly got too round and saggy. Most other places in the U.S., women who've had children for the most part look like they've had children, or at least look more realistically like mothers. There are always exceptions of course, but for the most part, that's true. Here, it looks like every other woman has given birth through the immaculate conception. You want to search for the Second Coming, come to L.A.
As for birthdays, I've gotten most of the cards I need for this month, and I've been a dutiful son and gotten gifts for my parents. I have something for my sister, but I'm a bit stumped as to what to get my brother-in-law. I'd better hurry up though, as his birthday is next week, and I need to ship the gifts.
If today's your birthday, a very Happy Birthday to you! If it isn't, no cause for alarm; a very Merry Unbirthday, and many more! *grin*
March and September don't have such obvious connotations. But in my family, those are big birthday months already. When I draft my annual budget, I know in March, September, and December/January, I'm gonna pay far more than I planned, and I always make sure I have extra money at that time. In March, for the birthdays, there's my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, aunt, father-in-law, and cousin. There's a couple close friends with birthdays that month too, and my grandparents' wedding anniversary.
In September, there's quite a few birthdays: an uncle, my grandfather, two cousins, another brother-in-law, my wife, and myself. There's also two or three close friends with birthdays that month too. On top of all this, my wedding anniversary is in September. So that month definitely breaks the bank. Then again, with my birthday and my wife's and our wedding anniversary all in the same month, it'll probably be just our luck we have kids then.
American culture is pretty unique-- not too many other cultures/ethnicities make such a big deal out of the anniversary of the date you graced the world with your presence. Nowadays, you have to know your birthdate so you can fill out all kinds of forms. At some point, I anticipate the powers that be will just have each baby's forehead tattooed with their birthdate, so as to simplify things. It's not exactly a mark of freshness, or an "expire by" date (I'm not sure how many people really want to know *that* one), but given the way things are going these days, I figure at birth all babies will be tattooed with their birthdates and identification marks, and those that can hear will be implanted with a mobile phone. Or maybe they'll have some sort of attachment implanted, with an extension that can be changed for size as the person grows older, so that the newer extension can hold the latest mobile phone. I'm just jesting, of course... or am I??
Some cultures count taxi time before takeoff, so how old one is depends on your cultural views. Then again, what is age? How do you really measure age? Some people look older than they are, and others look much younger. When I was in college, I was rarely carded because even when I was very young and slender, I looked older than I really was. I haven't reached the point where I look younger than I really am, or even close to my actual age. Now that I'm greying, I doubt I ever will. In this town, there's tons of people who walk around with all kinds of plastic surgery, from face lifts to tummy tucks to botox injections. Inside, they may have the bodies of 65-year-olds, but outside they look like they're 29, or at least trying to look like they're 29. It's amazing to look around at all these mommies with their little darlings around them, and trying to figure out if they just plucked these kids out of their bellies fully formed before mommy's belly got too round and saggy. Most other places in the U.S., women who've had children for the most part look like they've had children, or at least look more realistically like mothers. There are always exceptions of course, but for the most part, that's true. Here, it looks like every other woman has given birth through the immaculate conception. You want to search for the Second Coming, come to L.A.
As for birthdays, I've gotten most of the cards I need for this month, and I've been a dutiful son and gotten gifts for my parents. I have something for my sister, but I'm a bit stumped as to what to get my brother-in-law. I'd better hurry up though, as his birthday is next week, and I need to ship the gifts.
If today's your birthday, a very Happy Birthday to you! If it isn't, no cause for alarm; a very Merry Unbirthday, and many more! *grin*
posted by Mr. Sandman | 10:04 PM
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