Home

Don’t Panic…

26 Comments

…I’m not. 😉

On Sunday, November 21st 2010:

French philosopher Voltaire will be 316.

Hammer Scream Queen Ingrid Pitt will be 73.

2nd best Dallas Cowboy Quarterback ever, Troy Aikman, will be 44.

And I will be the perfect age…42!

After all, it is the ‘Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything’.

Why the early announcement?

Well, it is not because you still have time to overnight me that life-sized Han Solo in Carbonite statue I have always wanted. (Then again…)

No, it is because I am packing up the fam and taking them out into the wilderness for a weekend of games, grilling, stargazing next to an open fire, and the Lord of the Rings on DVD. That is if you define ‘wilderness’ as being a really nice cabin in a state park. 🙂

We went camping there last fall and had a really good time and I decided a couple of months ago that a return trip was how I wanted to celebrate my birthday. We leave tomorrow (Friday) and will stop by the parents for a birthday meal on the way home Sunday.

I was going to regale you with 42 things that I’ve learned in my 42 years, but us old folks need to get to bed early. Instead I will regale you with 6 (4+2=6) things I have learned lately:

1. Jack Horkheimer, the Star Hustler (Star Gazer if you look at his website…they changed it after getting complaints from parents of kids searching online and seeing celestial bodies of a different sort) passed away on August 20th of this year. “Who is Jack Horkheimer?”, you might ask? Jack was the last thing on PBS on Friday evenings when I was a young man and I would often catch him when I got home from work or a date or something. Although he was easy to make fun of as a teenager, I truly enjoyed him and there was something kind of special and bittersweet about television going off the air for the evening, sent off to sleep by Jack. I’m sad. As Jack used to say, “Keep looking up!”. Here’s a one minute clip for those of you who missed out:

2. Community is truly one of the best shows on this season. Tonight’s episode was almost as good as the paintball war episode last season. And that is saying something.

3. You can put up your Christmas tree with confidence on November 18th. Especially if your neighbors have had their outdoor Christmas lights on for the past few days.

4. Getting a really good annual performance appraisal at work a few days before your birthday actually makes you feel quite nice. 🙂

5. Every time Nathan Fillion drops a Firefly reference into Castle, as he did this past Monday night, I want to drop everything and go watch the series again.

6. 42 feels no different from 40, which didn’t feel much different from 30…and so on. I like to think I am wiser. Certainly have been financially for the past couple of years. But I am no less, and perhaps at times more, of a child (at heart) now than I have ever been.

I plan on having a glorious weekend. I hope each and every one of you do the same.

26 thoughts on “Don’t Panic…”

  2. Happy 42ned Carl! Just remember..you will never be this young again! heh.

    LOL I can actually say I own the Firefly dvds!!! I came late to Firefly but love it just the same and love him as Castle too!

  3. ps: oh I do think you should have named 42 things you’ve learned in your “long long life’!!.. however if you think I am going to list 67 of them on MY next birthday..well, lets just say, don’t hold your breath!

  5. Happy Birthday Carl!

    I’m just glad I’ll never be as old as you are! 😛

    Have a great weekend get away and enjoy time with the family.

  6. Happy Birthday Carl!

    I laughed out loud when Nathan Fillion dropped his Firefly reference Monday night! I love that they do that ‘so tongue in cheek’ you’ve got to love the man, he has soooooo much fun with his life.

    (now you’ve made me want to break out the LotR’s dvd’s myself, maybe a Thanksgiving marathon…)

  7. Happy early birthday. Castle is a show I wanna get into, cause hey, when Cap’n Reynolds is in it, it’s gotta be killer. Enjoy the cabin.

    Oh, I thought the Community episode with the trampoline was pretty funny, especially the racist angle that jumped out of nowhere.

  10. Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great weekend–sounds like a great way to spend your birthday..

    as for #5…that time Fillion dressed up as Mal at the beginning of a Castle episode last season was awesome! …we were just watching Doctor Horrible the other night. Fillion is very funny.

  11. Happy birthday! I love the Hitchhiker’s guide reference. I so agree wtih you about Community and about Castle/Firefly. How great was his Mal costume on Halloween last season.

  12. Don’t panic unless you were born in 1961, as some of your friends were. 😉

    I hope you have a glorious weekend, what a perfect way to celebrate!

  13. Happy Birthday Carl! Hope you are having a marvelous time at this very moment! I am sure you are, it sounds like such a great plan.
    Hope you have a great turkey day, too.

  16. Don’t Panic indeed Carl!! Hope you have a fantastic birthday and that your whole weekend is a great one with lots of great memories created. Happy Birthday 😀

  18. I so hope you all have a lovely, lovely weekend, Carl!!! I’m sure you will.

    HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

    (And since I’m a few ahead of you, I’ll be sure to let you know if those numbers ever do start to mean anything. 😉 I’m guessing they won’t though.)

  20. Happy Birthday,Carl-42,really? I was just 42 not too long ago!! Got dinner ready for you,come hungry! Love you and are so proud to have you for a son. Hope your weekend was great!

  21. Happy birthday my friend !

    Christmas up already! Dude we don’t even have our Halloween itmes all packed away yet. LOL! You enthusiasm mirrors my patheticness. 🙂

  22. Happy Birthday, Carl, and many more! Hope you had a fabulous trip. And you are definitely not “old.”

  24. Happy Belated Birthday Carl! Hope you had a blast and the 40s are the new 20s right? At least that’s what I’m going with 🙂

  25. Happy birthday to you. I can say that 47 does not feel much different from 42, but it does feel different from 30. In a good way.

    Thanks for the Jack Horkheimer tribute. I always enjoyed his little program. I wish PBS would bring back more shows like his. He was a regular feature of Science Fiction Sundays on the San Jose PBS station, where I became addicted to Dr. Who.

    I’ll have to check out Castle, too.

Comments are closed.