UPDATE: My column for The Durham News is up, and it’s a related piece about the changes in my hometown that I’ve witnessed over my 46 years.
There’s nothing particularly special about turning 46, unfortunately. Another mark on the calendar. You folks out there who turned 50 =nudge= know how to handle the real milestones… 🙂
To the right is an embarrassing array of photos from my childhood to the present. I spared myself the agony of including junior high photos; all of those should have been incinerated. I couldn’t find any with embarrassing 80s attire, or 70s unnatural fiber, stick-to-your-thighs-in-the-summer polyester wear, but trust me, the photos exist somewhere.
I still have trauma from the “miracle of polyester”…I remember wearing 100% thick and nasty hot poly powder blue gauchos, similar to the ones on the left. Purchase date around 1977. I wore those crappers for two seasons — with brown boots with the thick stacked heels. Have gauchos gone so out of fashion that they are back in as nostalgia togs?
My uncle Charles in Bed-Stuy…
Marty Feldman born on July 8, 1933
Jeffrey Tambor born on July 8, 1944
Anjelica Huston born on July 8, 1951
Kevin Bacon born on July 8, 1958
Toby Keith born on July 8, 1961
Joan Osborne born on July 8, 1962
Lee Tergesen born on July 8, 1965
Billy Crudup born on July 8, 1968
Michael Weatherly born on July 8, 1968
Beck Hansen born on July 8, 1970
Nelson A. Rockefeller born on July 8, 1908
John D. Dingell born on July 8, 1926
Phil Gramm born on July 8, 1942
Some events in history on July 8…
1994 Space shuttle STS-65 (Columbia 17), launches
1988 Stevie Wonder announces he will run for mayor of Detroit in 1992
1982 Billy Martin records his 1,000th career win as a manager
1975 President Ford announced he’ll seek Republican nomination for president
1973 New York Mets are 12 games back in NL, and go on to win pennant
1969 U.S. troop withdrawal begins in Vietnam
1950 General Douglas MacArthur named commander-in-chief, United Nations forces in Korea
1923 Harding becomes 1st sitting president to visit Alaska (Metlakahtla)
1889 Wall Street Journal begins publishing
1876 White terrorists attack Black Republicans in Hamburg, South Carolina, killing 5
1870 Governor Holden of North Carolina declares Casswell County in a state of insurrection
1693 New York City authorizes 1st police uniforms in American colonies
951 Paris is founded
Also, the infamous Roswell incident was covered in the July 8, 1947 edition of the Roswell Daily Record.
Anyway, 46 sounds like smack-in-the-middle age, but this is the first year that it hit me that I’m on the back half of the life timeline and that it’s OK. I’m thankful for every year, for the healthy days that I do have, and for the people in my life who make it worthwhile on the not-so-healthy days when my body feels like a broken-down Yugo (oh wait, weren’t they always broken down?). 🙂
No day off for me. It’s just another crazy workday in the real world. Posting on the blog will be lighter on my part, though.
Many thanks to those who sent the nice (and early!) birthday wishes on Facebook!
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