Fifty years ago this evening, on the east side of Newark, N.J., I was born.
I don't know what to make of the new age I step into today. Part of it's depressing: I hear I'll be getting my first letter from the AARP soon. And is there any doubt I am in the second half of my career? (Maybe I'll work past 75, but I hope not!) Hair getting grayer and thinner, teeth getting longer, every day.
But things could be so much worse. A high school classmate of mine died a couple of weeks ago when a truck rear-ended him. A friend of ours found out yesterday that he's out of a job as of next week. A student recently had to drop my course because his mom had a devastating stroke at the age of 47.
Me, I feel 28. I have two young kids and a job that has me surrounded by bright young people in their 20s. I'm in halfway decent shape, and I'm sure a heck of a lot wiser than I was a couple of decades ago. I feel like Sally O'Malley, the goofy character that Molly Shannon used to play on Saturday Night Live -- the spritely dame in the too-tight red jumpsuit with the too-big hair, prancing around crowing to the youngsters that she was "fifty years old -- that's right, five-oh," as she'd "kick! and stretch! and kick!" That gal would wear that outfit for a week at a time, spraying a little Febreze on it as needed. But she always won out in the end.
I may be headed over the hill, but at least for today, I feel like I'm standing on top looking around.
Happy five oh, Jack. I have found the fifth decade to be the best yet. Over the hill? Nope. On top - where the view is best. Many happy returns of the day to you.
I'm a little surprised you haven't gotten the AARP letter yet. My husband started getting those several months before he turned 50. He wasn't nearly as amused by them as I was.
A local radio station sent me birthday greetings today, along with the following cogent observation: "At our age we're caught in a dilemma between listening to the Stones and passing them."
There's no doubt about it, you are on the back nine. Plus , you probably aged extra years due to your phobia when records were put on the wrong speed and you went apeshit.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
I don't know what to make of the new age I step into today. Part of it's depressing: I hear I'll be getting my first letter from the AARP soon. And is there any doubt I am in the second half of my career? (Maybe I'll work past 75, but I hope not!) Hair getting grayer and thinner, teeth getting longer, every day.
Me, I feel 28. I have two young kids and a job that has me surrounded by bright young people in their 20s. I'm in halfway decent shape, and I'm sure a heck of a lot wiser than I was a couple of decades ago. I feel like Sally O'Malley, the goofy character that Molly Shannon used to play on Saturday Night Live -- the spritely dame in the too-tight red jumpsuit with the too-big hair, prancing around crowing to the youngsters that she was "fifty years old -- that's right, five-oh," as she'd "kick! and stretch! and kick!" That gal would wear that outfit for a week at a time, spraying a little Febreze on it as needed. But she always won out in the end.
Comments (20)
Happy birthday, cuz. Ya done good.
Posted by Parkway Rest Stop | January 15, 2004 3:35 AM
Happy Birthday Jack! while i'm not in new jersey, i now live in easton pennsylvania and damn, it is cold here! -from a former student
Posted by zac | January 15, 2004 4:29 AM
Happy five oh, Jack. I have found the fifth decade to be the best yet. Over the hill? Nope. On top - where the view is best. Many happy returns of the day to you.
Posted by Moonflower | January 15, 2004 4:36 AM
Happy birthday big brother. Hope it's a great one!
Posted by baby annie | January 15, 2004 5:01 AM
Happy Birthday, professor.
Great writing -- you rival Lileks.
Posted by Klug | January 15, 2004 6:29 AM
Happy Birthday, and many, many more!
I'm a little surprised you haven't gotten the AARP letter yet. My husband started getting those several months before he turned 50. He wasn't nearly as amused by them as I was.
Posted by Rita | January 15, 2004 7:06 AM
Ew, you are much cooler than Lileks, who is actually kind of a creep.
Happy birthday, sir.
Posted by Alli | January 15, 2004 7:55 AM
May you have many happy returns of the day!
Posted by mtpolitics | January 15, 2004 8:00 AM
ok, now this is just getting weird.
3/4 of my blogroll must be January babies. Me included. And probably half my friends. Our parents were busy in April!
Happy Birthday!
Posted by pril | January 15, 2004 10:21 AM
Very Happy Fiftieth to you!
*Toasts with virtual microbrew*
Posted by alan | January 15, 2004 10:26 AM
Happy Birthday Jack. It's inspiring to see that at 50 you're still posting to your blog at 3:10 AM.
Posted by Josh | January 15, 2004 11:31 AM
Happy birthday, Jack! May you live 50 more and enjoy them!
Posted by Emily | January 15, 2004 12:08 PM
Happy b-day! My dad just hit the ol' 50 last week. He just got back into town, so we're going drinking! ;-)
Have a drink on me, Jack!
Posted by Jake Ortman | January 15, 2004 12:54 PM
Happy birthday professor Jack. May the best days of your past be the worst days of your future!
Posted by Jennifer | January 15, 2004 2:52 PM
A local radio station sent me birthday greetings today, along with the following cogent observation: "At our age we're caught in a dilemma between listening to the Stones and passing them."
Posted by Jack Bog | January 15, 2004 2:53 PM
There's no doubt about it, you are on the back nine. Plus , you probably aged extra years due to your phobia when records were put on the wrong speed and you went apeshit.
Let me stand next to your fire.
Posted by brother gary | January 16, 2004 5:36 AM
Happy Birthday, Jack.
WWP's big 5-0 is not that far out, either. We know that feeling: Look 50, feel 25. A mean trick on baby boomers, if you ask WWP.
Posted by Worldwide Pablo | January 16, 2004 11:36 AM
Hey, what do you know--maybe all great bloggers are Capricorns. Mine's sunday.
It is, however, a meager mid-30s b-day, and not so historic as yours. Hope the next fifty are just as good--
Posted by Emma | January 16, 2004 1:18 PM
Hi Jack, Congratulations But tell me something, if we grew up together how can you be 50 when I just turned 39.
"very strange"
Posted by Bern | January 17, 2004 7:22 AM
happy belated birthday !!!
Posted by tony | January 19, 2004 2:21 AM