Another Milestone

As of Saturday, September 26th 2009, I have been alive for four decades. I've lived through some serious history on this chaotic dirtball of a planet and some really screwed up things that have happened to me personally. Turning forty is something that, in my youth, I couldn't have imagined. One never thinks about getting old when one is a teen or even a twenty-something. Now, I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, my body is definitely not what it used to be (which was never very good to begin with, really) and there is a sense that I have wasted my youth without much to show for it. On the other hand, I'm rather proud that I've managed to survive to this point and things could be (and have been) much, much worse. I know that there are still many good things to come, but there is also the fear of what could go so suddenly and catastrophically wrong. As I said, mixed feelings.

All that aside, I did have a pretty good day for my birthday. We started the day with some geeky fun at a "pre-release" tourney for the latest Magic the Gathering set (Zendikar). I love the way this set plays! The setting is awesome and the new rules click for me very well. I got some very good cards, won a couple of rounds before we dropped to go do other things and had a couple of very impressive plays. After that, we went home and picked up the kids to go meet people at Red Robin for dinner. The plan was to eat, hit a nearby bookstore (I love browsing the shelves in the sci-fi/fantasy section) and then head out to Dave and Busters for some evening entertainment. Unfortunately, it being a Saturday night, Dave and Busters was a little too popular. It was so crowded that we decided to forgo that plan in favor of a much less frequented bowling alley a few minutes from the mall. The place turned out to be nearly empty and most of the people that were there were old even compared to me. I was glad that there weren't very many witnesses to see how much I suck at bowling. I throw to the left so badly that nearly every throw was a gutterball. I did manage one strike, at the very end of the last game. I was starting to get the hang of it, I think. Of course, by then my wrist was aching and my back was twinging something fierce. Oh, yeah, I'm forty all right.

I got a couple of gift cards for various restaurants and Ysabel got me the entire Kung Fu series on dvd (the old 70's show with David Carradine), which was one of the main inspirations for me to get into martial arts when I was a kid. By the time we got home, it was too late for cake, but we made up for it Sunday night after we got home from rapier practice. I love me some cheesecake and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake is even better! So, overall, a good weekend, with only a few minor issues to speak of (which I won't). If I live another forty years, I'll be surprised, but what's important is that life now ain't half bad and I have hope that it will continue to stay that way.