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Four decades plus one

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(Image by jakes creations)

“It takes a long time to grow young.”
~Pablo Picasso

This past weekend, Saturday to be exact, saw me shift from being forty, to being IN my forties. Traumatic?!?! Not really, no. I have always had an ’embrace the celebration’ attitude about birthdays and just the right amount of healthy narcissism to enjoy being the center of attention for one day out of the year.

And so Saturday came and went. We met my parents and sister and her husband and baby for breakfast, antique store shopping, and then lunch. (Sounds like an early start on Thanksgiving with all the food!). The afternoon found Mary, Tori and I putting up the Christmas tree and some of the indoor decorations, a tradition that began a few years back when we realized we needed a slightly longer season in which to enjoy our decorations. We then settled down to snacks and Star Trek to end the evening. It was a wonderful, wonderful birthday.

Being on a spending/debt reduction plan there has not been much call for book porn lately, so I’ll use this occasion to show you all what I got.

This birthday had a strong science fiction vibe, with copies of:

—Star Trek Vanguard, Book 1: Harbinger by David Mack

I have been wanting to read this series and have no excuse not to start now that I have the first book.

—Star Trek, the movie, 2 disc DVD collection

It was so fun to see this again. Really makes me wish for a new Star Trek television series. I hope to see more films with this cast and crew on the horizon. Some really nice extras.

—Fallout 3 Expansion Pack: Broken Steel and Point Lookout.

One day I have got to do a post on Fallout 3. What an incredible gaming experience. I am journeying through Dragon Age: Origins right now so the Fallout expansions will patiently wait for some time closer to the Christmas holidays.

—The Piano Teacher ~Janice Y.K. Lee

Isn’t the cover on this one lovely?

—The Man Who Loved Books Too Much ~Allison Hoover Bartlett

Surprisingly this is not my autobiography! 😉 It sounds absolutely wonderful. Cannot wait to read it. This is one criminal that I have a feeling I’ll have an actual affinity with.

—Kate Rusby, Live From Leeds

I had gotten this on Interlibrary Loan a month or so ago and just loved it. It is a fantastic, intimate concert and the music is magical.

—Peter and Max ~Bill Willingham

I’ve heard really good things about this one, am a fan of Fables, and you don’t have to have read Fables to enjoy this as it is a stand alone story.

—The Adventures of Dr. Who ~Terrance Dicks

This looks like a fun one. It contains three stories and Tom Baker is a favorite of mine.

—There and Back Again ~Sean Astin (audio book)

Be still my beating LOTR-loving heart! I look forward to listening to this one.

These are some really cool stamp magnets and a decoration from this awesome store here in Kansas City called Curious Sofa. Haven’t been there forever, but it is a great place for creative/decorating inspiration.

Unbeknownst to my parents, their monetary gift purchased me one of these soon-to-be-released miniature shields from Weta Workshop. The other is a Christmas present. Geek? Of course!

I also received some wonderful birthday cards, but there is one in particular which I think tells a very profound truth that I just had to share with you.

Wait.

For.

It.

Happy Birthday to all of you who share November birthdays!!!

47 thoughts on “Four decades plus one”

  2. I am glad you embrace your special day. Doesn’t pay to think about the years adding up…other than you are getting wiser, right? 😉

    Happy belated, anyway. I believe in celebrating birthdays for a week, so I’m not so late after all.

  3. Very cool LOTR shields. I also love the cover on ” The Man Who Loved Books Too Much “. Way cool. You’ll have to explain that greeting card to me though. I just don’t get it. 🙂

    Happy Birthday again my friend!

  6. Happy birthday, Carl! It’s wonderful to hear you had a great day and to see all the wonderful things you’ve got! (And Dragon Age mention! This makes me squee!)

  9. Jenclair: I was definitely blessed this year, thanks.

    Chris@: Thank you!

    Shanra: Dragon Age is so much fun. I’ll be doing a full review once I’ve finished it. Thank you.

    Deslily: you are correct, geeks do collect the best things! 🙂

    The replicant: I’m glad to hear it. I haven’t read a Star Trek novel in a long time, but with the release of the film this year I am back in the mood.

    Jeff: Ya, sure. 😉 The shields do look pretty cool. I pre-ordered the Numenorean and Gil-galad shields (the ones on the right and left).

    Qugrainne: I can only hope I’m getting wiser. Some days it seems so and others it seems unlikely. Ha! We always do the ‘birthday week’ thing for our birthdays and try to do little special things during the week surrounding a birthday.

    Susan: You’re one of a kind, thanks! 🙂

  10. Glad you had a fantastic birthday! You can certainly pack a lot of decoration celebrating in in 5 weeks.

  11. Happy birthday! What an excellent bunch of gifts. 🙂 I love the Bill Willingham particularly – I’d never heard of this book, but the cover looks amazing. Might have to break my bookbuyingban.

  12. I absolutely loved/love Fallout 3. I beat it on my friends PS3 a few months ago and I still love it. I saw that a Black Friday sale is having the Fallout 3 GOTY Edition for $19.99 at Best Buy, so I’ll hopefully pick it up and start anew, this time on my 360. I want Dragon Age…

    Another awesome game that I really liked (which surprised me, cause I’m not a shooter gamer) was Dead Space. That’s the only game I’ve ever played that actually scared me.

    Happy Birthday!

  13. You most certainly deserve to be spoiled rotten…and for more than one day of the year! So glad to hear you had such a wonderful day, Carl!

    Btw, I have finished your cthulhu…I just can’t seem to get it ready to mail. Must. Get. Organized. Anyway, he should be making his way west very soon. If not…feel free to smack me upside the head.

  14. That is exactly what Dad and I were going to purchase for your gift but we couldn’t agree on which shield to get!!

    We enjoyed Saturday-even if it was TOO much food!! Love you!

  15. Happy Birthday Carl. Hope it was a great one, looks like you got plenty of great presents. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on “There and back again” I went looking for it back when it came out but couldn’t find it. Then it slipped my mind before I got around to ordering it.

  16. Happy birthday. Sounds like you had a wonderful day. I am impressed that you have your decorations up already. I won’t get around to doing that until next weekend. I am still in the middle of Christmas present buying.

  17. Happy Birthday…don’t worry being “in the forties” is not so bad! I saw an interview on Book TV with the author of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much and the book sounds fascinating!

  19. Happy Birthday Carl, glad you had a lovely day. And ending it with Star Trek…perfect! Enjoy Kate Rusby, I find it perfect autumn music. Speaking of which, I saw Lisa Hannigan (used to sing with damien rice) in concert for the first time this weekend and….wow! I recommend her debut album, Sea Sew!

  20. Mariel: Thank you, it was lovely. And you are right, ending with Star Trek was perfect. I’ll have to check out Lisa Hannigan, thanks for the recommendation.

    Bride: Sliding is okay, as long as you aren’t galloping towards your 50’s. 😉

    Kathleen: That’s great to hear as I have high hopes for this book. I’m not minding my age, honestly. Just don’t like the effects of age!

    Vivienne: That is always a part of my birthday celebration so they are generally up earlier than a lot of people…I’m crazy, I know.

    Fence: I remember hearing a couple of negative things about stuff that Astin said but overall the book sounds like it will be enjoyable. And I cannot get enough LOTR movie related stuff, so I’m thrilled to have it. I’ll let everyone know what I think when it is done.

    Mom: Yes, I could tell you had a real struggle with that. 😉 The food and company was great, I had a really nice birthday!

    Debi: I may BE rotten many days, not sure about deserving to be SPOILED rotten. 🙂 I’m excited about the little Lovecraft cutie coming my way!!!

    Logan: I’ve heard really good things about Dead Space. I finished Mass Effect recently and loved it. I am really looking forward to Mass Effect 2 coming out at the end of January.

    Jenny: Willingham has brought some really great story to the world with his Fables series, that is for sure!

    Jodie: Yes, I plan on reveling in the Christmas spirit over the next 5 or 6 weeks!

  21. I am also in the four decades plus one category and it’s not that bad! Happy Bday to you!

  22. It sounds like you had the perfect celebration, surrounded by all the people and things you love. The two books which make me want to reach into your post and grab them (you wouldn’t mind, would you? 🙂
    are The Piano Teacher and The Man Who Loved Books Too Much. You’ll have to let us know how those are when you finish them. Probably after you indulge in Star Trek…?

    A very Happy Birthday to you, Carl.

  24. Happy Birthday, Carl… here’s to (at least) 41 more! Have a great Thanksgiving ~ Deb

  26. JS: Thanks!

    Deb: I’ll take it, and then some! Hope your Thanksgiving is great as well.

    Ladytink: It was fantastic, and thanks, I hope the next year is as well.

    Bellezza: I will definitely review them both once I’ve read them, and I hope that I can give them both rave reviews. Right now I’m trying to finish three books that I had started and then stopped. I’d like to enter 2010 without any half finished books hanging over my head.

    Ti: Fantastic! We 41 year olds need to hang together.

  27. Happy belated birthday. You are still a child 😉 Enjoy your birthday plunder (and being–still–‘in your forties’; you have many more of those years to go).

  29. Happy Birthday, Carl! Sounds like you had a wonderful day 🙂
    I’ll be putting my little Christmas tree up today. I generally leave mine up through the 12 days of Christmas (family tradition) which gives me a bit more time with my lovely decorations.

  30. Happy belated Birthday. It sounds like you had a great celebration! I’m also on a debt/spending reducing kick, though I’ve managed to find a few ways to get some new (or new to me anyway) books. Glad you received some bookish goodies!

  31. Happy belated birthday, Carl!

    Isn’t that Kate Rusby DVD just fab? I wasn’t at that gig, but I have seen her live a time or four 😉 and she is even better in the flesh.

  33. So sorry I missed your birthday. Have been a bit under the weather lately. (actually aLOT under the weather. death would have felt better, I’m sure!)

    Happy Birthday!! LOVE the LOTR shield, and that card just flat out cracked me up!!

  34. Stephanie: I hope you are on the mend now. Sorry you’ve been sick. I cannot wait to see what the shields look like in person. Great card, isn’t it?

    Jennifer: Thank you so much! Belated birthday greetings just spread the celebration out longer. Yay!!!

    Bart: Yes it is! I am so envious. I imagine she is fantastic live. I love listening to her talk as much as I do listening to her sing.

    Danielle: I hear you, creative book finding is the way to go right now. Being on this debt elimination journey means that when I do buy a book, especially something new, I am more apt to read it right away. I am enjoying each of these acquisitions even more because I am being more discerning about what I choose to spend my budgeted book money on.

    Terri B: I hope your tree trimming was a delight! I sat in my favorite chair last night, while everyone was in bed, and just smiled because I love seeing the light in the house created by twinkling Christmas lights.

    Bella: Me too, it looks so fun.

    ds: I’m hoping that, in some way, I will always be a child. Or at least stay in touch with that child. 😉

  36. Happy Birthday Carl. I didn’t remember your birthday being so close to mine, which was yesterday (25th). What a great haul of birthday presents. I didn’t get as many as you. But I got the complete Thin Man series on DVD, and the William Powell and Myrna Loy DVD collection for a total of 11 of their films. As you might guess, I love William Powell and Myrna Loy movies. We even named our cats Nick and Nora after the Thin Man movies.

    Plus I got The Year’s Best Science Fiction, 26th Annual Collection.

  37. Jim Harris: Hey, Happy Birthday to you! I LOVE that collection. My wife got it for me for Christmas several years ago. Every so often we pull them out and watch them again. Myrna Loy is so gorgeous in those movies and they are both so funny. Great haul!!!

    Heather T: Thank you. 🙂

  38. Happy Birthday, Carl! I just must get myself back in the habit of a daily check-in again, so I don’t miss such important posts!

    I’m with Qugrainne, actually – if we can have the Christmas season, why not a birthday season? A week seems just about right.

    And at last – I’ve figured out what LOTR means! My education continues….

  39. Happy Belated Birthday! I recently read Peter and Max. It was a great read. Hope you’re having a great weekend!

  40. Vasilly: Thank you. I’m glad that you liked Peter and Max. I started it the other day and am happy thus far. I hope you are having a great weekend as well, mine has been very enjoyable thus far.

    Shoreacres: Hey, I don’t do well checking everyday either, so no worries. Glad you are on the Birthday Week bandwagon! We need to spread the word! I’m glad you figured out LOTR! I guess I should have a Geek Key for these kind of things. Ha!

  41. Belated happy birthday, Carl! Hope it was great and that the subsequent week of celebration was equally fabulous!

    And hey, being in your 40s isn’t so bad… really.

  42. Thank you Laura Gayle! It was a really nice birthday day and week. No complaints from me, I am truly blessed.

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