Wednesday, February 23, 2005

And one to grow on.

OK, so it's my birthday. I'm 41. Yippee.

Actually, I'm OK with this ... I have always appreciated presents! Except I don't like to make a big deal of it around my co-workers ... I wouldn't expect them to do anything, and I don't want to guilt anybody into a fake, forced "well Happy Birthday then!". So I pretty much keep it to myself.

A number of years ago, when I first arrived at the newspaper here and seemed to have more friends, they surprised me with a party. It was really nice; I don't remember if I got a present, but the cake was enough of a present.

Years more ago, in college, my now-wife surprised me ... twice.

The first time, she threw a full-on surprise party for me, with friends hiding in a restaurant and everything. It was themed to the last episode of M*A*S*H, which was coming on TV that week. She was certain I had guessed that a party was coming, but I had no idea. I still have to reassure her!

The next time, it was a little more dangerous! First, some background.

I was sports editor at the college newspaper during basketball season. The basketball team had risen in the rankings early in the season to #4, mostly because everybody ahead of them had lost and they hadn't yet. Byt I wrote a critical column saying they didn't deserve the ranking, that they hadn't played anybody of consequence. Of course the team hated me, and of course they promptly lost their next game.

So here comes my birthday, and who do I see walk into the college newsroom but ... one of the basketball team's star players! Carrying a cake! My wife says I looked like I was afraid he was going to throw it at me, but I was just shocked to see him in that setting! We had one class together, Spanish, and my wife had done some finagling to get him there. (Interesting aside, the player that delivered the cake isn't anyone who you'd recognize, but a pal that came with him, also on the team, was future pro Tim Hardaway).

My least favorite birthday? I had tickets to see my favorite band, Third Day, right around my birthday, but I had to give them up because I was deathly ill with a major cold. Fun, huh?

-Zube.