Birthday Thoughts

Yes, it's true! Today (March 17) is my birthday. It's the day I make sure I have at least one beer (because usually when I have a drink it's Rum & Coke) ... and that beer is green. Today I had my green beer at Pei's China Bistro ... and they didn't have green beer but a drop or two of the blue food dye I brought along did the trick.

I also stopped down at City Beat, talked to B.J. and Pecan Sandy and had some Irish stew (foregoing the corned beef and cabbage this year). Turns out B.J. is from North Dakota and speaks Norwegian and German. And he knows the area around my Uncle's farm (near Binford, ND). What a small world. This compares, oddly enough, with finding out that I'd actually heard Patty singing in a band called back in about 1986 *and* I actually dug up an old vinyl LP her band made that I bought at the gig I went to. So I've heard her sing before ... all the while thinking I just met her for the very first time in February of 2007. Strange how life goes sometimes.

My son Ryan sent me a birthday present today ... couple of Clint Eastwood DVD's ... and also called me. I was out on a bicycle ride when he called so I called him back and we talked for 20 minutes or so. It was good. This evening my other son, Scott also called to say "Happy Birthday". Probably nothing that makes a parent feel better.

Someday I hope that I really get to know and understand "what women want" ... or even what just one woman wants. Every now and then I've deluded myself into thinking I *do* know and then some event brings me back to reality. Well, I guess it might just be that I simply may never know ... and that there's no woman out there that even wants to share her life with me. But I don't believe that. Either way, I know that I'm OK as I am ... and life is fine. Hey, maybe by *next* St. Patrick's Day all the answers will be known. Or not .

Think I'll relax for awhile now and then go out to sing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" at some karaoke place. By tradition, today's the only day I sing that particular song. Tradition is good. And thank goodness Ohio State pulled out that game against Xavier today ... I was sweating it as everyone in every NCAA pool across the country was. Whew!

Later ... back from singing and I did sing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" with Mike's Crowne Karaoke at the Sip N Stir down on 1st Avenue here in Cedar Rapids. The big surprise of the evening, though, was that thoughtful Alice Pei who made and brought to Pei's a white/with Green jello "poke" cake for my birthday (and they sang "Happy Birthday" to me as well). So, you might well ask, as I certainly did, "what's a 'poke' cake"? First you make a regular cake (white, in this case) and then you "poke" it (with chopsticks, of course, and pour jello with the color of your choice (green here) into the resulting holes ... then put it in the fridge to set everything up. Now I didn't get a real recipe on this so I don't know exactly the order of doing things but the result was a nicely mixed green color in the white cake ... and the frosting was a thin coating of whipped cream. And it was very good. I also brought a few pieces home.

Finally, I stopped over at Billy Magoo's to sing a song or two at Eddie's show and they (somehow, I think it was Pecan Sandy) found out it was my birthday and they sang happy birthday for me also as I was coming up to sing. So it was a pretty fun night. And, no, I didn't learn anything at all new about "what women want" ... guess all I can be is open to the possibilities that may come my way for that.

Take care everyone!