Happy Birthday, Uncle Bill!

But, should a man of your advanced years be consuming so much Starbuck's coffee?!?!

One day of blog silence for Dad on his birthday

I can have this cake and eat it, too!

Ye socks who know me well, know I'm always looking for a convenient justification for birthday cake consumption.

So, I proclaimed today my "half-birthday," since it's been six whole months since my real birthday and I have to wait another six whole months til my next one.

Thought I had that worked out real well til some smart aleck whose birthday is March 31st asked how their half-birthday should be calculated since there is no September 31st on the calendar.

I suppose one could count off 182.5 days from 3/31 and figure it out that way.

Or, better yet, claim BOTH September 30th AND October 1st!

But, quit bothering me about such things. I'm trying to eat some cake over here!!

Happy Birthday, Bodo!

Happy Birthday, Valda!

Looking forward to introducing you to P.f. Chang's tomorrow!

We'll have to try one of those lettuce wraps . . .

No, seriously. We'll have to!

Happy Birthday Cake!

It used to be one of the great perks of working in an office environment that, at least once a month, someone was celebrating a birthday.

And, of course, birthdays mean birthday cake.

Unfortunately, there's been a thinning of the herd around this little corner of heaven . . . as, I suppose, there has been everywhere else since the advent of The ObamaNation.

But, I refuse to digress into another soapbox rant.

Why should I when I'm hopped-up on refined sugar?!

That's right, someone around here is marking a fairly significant birthday today. And, yours truly is celebrating!

Now, pass the ice cream . . .

Why does this only happen once a year?!

It's pretty hard to fret about growing older when your day starts off with cake for breakfast and goes on to feature a free lunch consisting of BBQ spare ribs . . .

Thanks to all of ye socks for the greetings (and extra calories)!!

Happy Birthday, Morgan!

Apparently, every 7-year-old niece needs a mini-Me to help them celebrate an occasion like this!

Hopefully, it wasn't as rainy up there as it was in this little corner of heaven!

Happy Birthday, Florida!

Yes, ye socks, it was 165 years ago today that the great State of Florida was admitted to the Union.

Actually, two states joined the U.S. back in 1845.

Hmm . . . . what was that other state . . . .

Oh, that's right: Texas.

But, they weren't given their star on Old Glory until December 29th.

Yep, the Sunshine State has more than nine months' seniority on ya!

Guess that makes us senior citizens down here, in more than just the traditional sense?!?

Whatever. Any excuse for cake and ice cream will be indulged in the dryer!

Four years already?!

Birthday greetings go out to my favorite nephew this fine day.

I'm really looking forward to seeing him (along with his sister and mine) later this month!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Bill!

A quick congratulatory shout-out to my mom's baby brother as I head out the door this morning.

Devil's Food cake is (appropriately) on the agenda for later today in his honor!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Yes, ye socks, it was on this day back in 1948 that the sire of yours truly was birthed in this little corner of heaven.

A year later, he was presented with the cake pictured here.

Unfortunately, Dad lost his battle with early-onset Alzheimer's Disease a couple of years ago, so isn't around to celebrate with us in person . . . much less eat any cake.

But, methinks he was with us in spirit this evening as we toasted his memory with some fine Irish whiskey . . . and, we enjoyed a slice of cake, to boot!

Remember, ye socks. Life is short. So, celebrate it every chance you get!

Happy Birthday, Alice!

Wish you lived closer to home so we could see you blow out the candles on your cake today!

I'm sure you'll do something wild and crazy to mark the occasion, so make sure to take/forward pictures!

Catfish!!

I only felt slightly guilty about this, so will share it with ye socks in today's post.

In making preparations for a friend's birthday observance today, I successfully steered the debate in favor of The Catfish Place in Apopka.

The table in the foreground of the picture posted here was quickly surrounded by the eager beneficiaries of my debating skills.

We enjoyed all that bad stuff your cardiologist warns you about: onion rings, fried catfish, creamy cole slaw, cheese grits, etc., etc.

And, while we were at it, we tossed back way too much ice tea. The caffeine-induced hyper conversation that followed meant we had to leave a little extra table rent for the poor waitress who had to keep filling our glasses.

Oh, yeah, and couldn't leave until we had some Key Lime pie for dessert.

Anybody else got a birthday coming up that they want to use for a convenient excuse?!?

Oh, how times have changed . . .

There was a time (not SO long ago) when the birthday of yours truly was celebrated in a much more Bohemian style.

But, today, the highlight was coming home to a nice, quiet house; putting my feet up on the Ottoman; eating a ham and Provolone "sammich"; and watching 24.

And, in between commercials, I began perusing my favorite birthday present, the book "The Next 100 Years," by George Friedman. Although I've just begun to delve into his prognostications, I am already enjoying it. He makes some pretty astute observations, and has already made me view some recent world events in a different light.

Ah, well, time for this old man to head off to bed . . . tomorrow promises leftover birthday cake for breakfast!!

Happy 101st, Louis!

In keeping with yesterday's literary theme (and to avoid all things related to politics and our collective economic woes), I decided to dedicate today's post in the dryer to one of my favorite writers: Louis L'Amour.

He was born on this date way back in 1908--in Jamestown, North Dakota, to be more precise.

More importantly, he grew up hearing stories about the Wild West from some of the people who had tamed it. And, he used those tales as inspiration for more than 100 books.

Snooty literary types never took him seriously, I'm afraid. Yet, his books have sold over 200 million copies--not to mention how many were made into some of the most iconic western movies ever produced. (Ever seen John Wayne in "Hondo"?)

Anyway, Mr. L'Amour road into the proverbial sunset way back in 1988. But, he remains one of my favorite writers to this day. If you haven't read one of his books lately, pick one up to mark his birthday today!

Shuttle launch scrubbed for tonight.

What a disappointment! I was hoping to celebrate my niece's birthday tonight with a shuttle launch.

Night time launches are awesome, due in no small part to the fact that they can be seen from my 2nd floor window. The glow of the booster rockets fills the night sky. And, most important, you don't get stuck in traffic driving over to the cape and back.

But, it was not to be tonight. Something about a fuel leak, and they'll try again tomorrow.

Still, I hope Morgan had an "out of this world" 6th birthday!

Lincoln bicentennial

Well, ye socks, it was two hundred years ago today that the venerable Abraham Lincoln was born.

I used the word "venerable," because a lot folks these days have elevated him beyond even the iconic status he has enjoyed since his assassination. He has become the secular saint of far too many. You've seen them using his memorial up in DC as an altar of sorts, and as an inexplicably potent backdrop to much of their carryings-on.

Frightening.

The truth about Lincoln is that, like all of us, he was painfully human.

Don't take that statement as an insult, though. I think it was his humanity that made him worthy of our collective memory.

As I have mentioned in a previous post in this dryer (see http://sockdryer.blogspot.com/search?q=Ann+Rutledge), yours truly has a round-about family connection to the "Great Emancipator." And, I believe it was that tragic episode during his youth and its aftermath that gave Lincoln the tremendous capacity he had for dealing with crisis situations despite personal emotional turmoil.

So, today, I would encourage ye socks to remember Lincoln the man, someone who succeeded despite his many flaws and tribulations.

But, save the veneration for Sunday.

Mom's birthday dinner

So, a small group of us got together to mark the occasion by checking out this restaurant that I drive by all the time and vow to visit but never have.

Actually, I have a laundry list of such places since moving to the new neighborhood. But, the one in question this evening was PAXIA at 2611 Edgewater Drive.

It was a little too chilly to enjoy the patio, so we went inside and really got a kick out of the over-the-top Mexican decor and the not-so-subtle mariachi music they were piping into the dining room.

The menu was far-too-subtle, no description of the dishes being offered. This handicapped at least one person at our table, who simply wanted a chimichanga or something similar to it. The waitress recommended the flautas with a couple of special modification requests to the chef.

The birthday girl spotted an interesting chicken entree with a cocoa sauce, probably the most exotic dish brought to our table. Yours truly stuck with the enchiladas suizas.

To hold us over til the food arrived, we ordered some queso fundido as an appetizer. It was great. But, they only gave us three tortillas, a definite handicap. And, since the waitress chose that moment to go AWOL, we ended up having to raid the basket of chips she'd left on our table to finish off the queso.

Everyone agreed the entrees were delicious, too . . . if a bit pricey. But, the presentation detracted from the experience. They brought a small bowl of beans and another small bowl of rice to the table, announcing it was being served "family style" and if we wanted more all we had to do was ask. But, this is not a "family style" restaurant, and for the prices they charge they should put everyone's sides on their own plates.

We decided to split a dessert to top off the meal, but were disappointed to discover only two were available: flan or sopapillas. We took the latter, which were served "family style," too. This meant, one big plate of honey-dripping goodness and no smaller individual plates to save the tablecloth. Really turned out to be a mess.

Bottom line: Glad I can scratch this place off my to-do list. But, I don't think I'll be back for dinner until the service and presentation catch up with the prices.

Oh, and happy birthday, Mom!