Happy Birthday To Meeeee

Well, today the earth has spun around for another full cycle in my existence on this small blue blob we call home. Sometime between noon and 1pm of this day, I was born some 29 odd years ago. The world, has yet to be the same.

It's my typical habit, you may have noticed, to be regretful about a day like today. To mourn the loss of time, and all the things I had wanted to accomplish, but never got around to. Most days, I would consume healthy doses of stiff drink and harsh reality, and try to come to terms with the failures fed by my procrastination and perfectionism.

Today doesn't feel like one of those days.

Today, I think I'll try something a little different, and celebrate a few milestones I've managed to bring forth in these 365 days. Because somehow, I was able to do a few things worth commending.

So, for this, the first day of March, here are ol' Boogie's milestones:

• For the first time in 6 years, the label on the back of my pants says 36 instead of 38.
• For the first time in 11 years, I have short hair.
  
• For the first time in over a decade, I actually gained more friends then I lost
  
• For the first time since her adoption, my dog can be trusted to run around without a leash.
• For the first time in 15 years, I'm comfortable with my musical sound.
• For the first time ever, I have an album in the world.

The last one's quite the head trip for yours truly. For a long time now, I've blown out birthday candles (or opened beer bottles or wept into towels, depending on which of my birthdays you pick from,) and told myself, "This will be the year I do it!" The next birthday would come along, and I would find myself no closer to that goal. Another year of my sonic goodness remaining trapped in hard drives, cassettes, or my aging noodle. Always assuming that next year, things would be done.

And here it is, the 29th birthday, and I'll be damned if I didn't actually do it.

I finally have an album. A musical baby of my very own. Granted, it's not the powerhouse rock opus that I had thought it would be all those years ago. It doesn't revolutionize or change the way people perceive music. Matter of fact, it would be a flat out lie to even say it rocks. But it's mine, no apologies about it.

Matter of fact, I almost have two of the damn things. Despite a few setbacks, I've almost managed to make two complete works with my pitiful handwriting all over them. I'm feeling pretty good about this whole mess I've made for myself.

Now, I admit it would be a lie to say, that in the four short months it's been out, that my music has taken the world by storm. Things are still pretty quiet on the BGO front. But, people are listening, and that's always good. Plus, I have yet to hear someone say they hate the album so much, that they rue the day it became public. Bonus points for me.

So one year short of thirty, and I am able to find things to be optimistic about. How about that? Age is something I dread less than I used to. My pants fit better and I am certainly less disgusted with what I see in the mirror. Life is good people.

So, I'm gonna leave you now. Tip a glass of Merlot, slice a slab of cake, and indulge in the simple pleasures of breathing and existing, steeped with high amounts of sugar and a bit of libation. I hope today, birthday or no, is equally pleasing to you all.

From the top everybody,

"Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday dear Boogie,
Go buy my CD."

All the best.