The Great Birthday Weekend

There's a plane and I am flying
There's a mountain waiting for me
Oh these years have been so trying
I don't know if I can use them
Am I strong enough
To be the one?
Will I live to have some children?

Whenever I am in the middle of a bad day or a bad weekend, I always try to remind myself that the pattern in my life has been Bad Weekend now = Good Weekend the following week. And after the hell ride I endured last week with my visit to the emergency room, I was ready for a great weekend (that just happened to coincide with my birthday) this week.

I am very happy to report that the pattern has stayed true to form.

Yeah, it was just a great weekend all around. Unfortunately though, this year was the last of the Weekend Birthdays for the next few years (the last three years my birthday was on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively). The Weekend Birthday is great because you can genuinely celebrate it all weekend long. You can’t get away with those kinds of shenanigans when your birthday is on a Tuesday (which mine will be on next year because of Leap Year). But you can abuse the Weekend Birthday because you never have to tell anyone when your birthday is specifically.

YOU TO A FRIEND: “Hey, do you want to go out on Friday to celebrate my birthday?”

FRIEND: “Cool, yeah, when is your birthday?”

YOU: “This weekend!”

You can’t pull that same conversation when your birthday is on a Tuesday! No one is wasting a Friday night on your lame Tuesday birthday.

Forget about it.

But when your birthday is on a Sunday, then you have some pull when you play the Social Obligation card on your friends.

Needless to say, I played that card ALL weekend long as I tried to plan out a nice, diverse celebratory weekend. On Friday night, a bunch of my buddies and I played some pool and watched some NBA basketball at a very nice sports bar in downtown Norfolk. On Saturday, I just relaxed after my radio show that morning and then my Girlfriend and I went out to dinner with our good friends, Chris and Michelle that night. Sunday was great as well because my family and my Girlfriend’s family took me out to my favorite steak place after church and then we just relaxed before I lost my mind on the Greatest Search ever (more on that later this week).

So, yeah, it was just nice and relaxing and I was very appreciative of everyone coming out and spending part of their weekend with me.

Help me get down
I can make it
Help me get down
If I only knew the answer
I wouldn't be bothering you, father
Help me get down
I can make it
Help me get down
If I only knew the answer
And If all our days are numbered
Then why do I keep counting

I'm not one of those people that freaks out with every year they get older (I am freaking out, however, by the number of WHITE hairs on my head that have been multiplying like rabbits lately) but 28 is just a weird age to be to me. It doesn’t sound very sexy or exciting, it’s just kind of there. At least with 29, you can say that you’re almost 30 but that’s still too much of a stretch at 28.

I can’t really believe I’m 28, if that means anything.

I still remember being a kid thinking that I would never be in my late 20’s, it just seemed so far away and yet here I am. I really doesn’t sound that old to me, 28 still seems very young in the grand scheme of things.

I guess my biggest thing is that I would have done more with my life by the time I was 28 (and by more, I just mean “not still living with my parents”), but at the same time, I really don’t have any real regrets. I love the life I am living and I’m really excited about the path I am on, so I guess there just had to be some sacrifices to come with that.

I just thought 28 would be hopefully be or at least feel a little different that 27 but so far, not so much. But the first 24 hours of being 28 years old have been really nice and enjoyable, so I’m not complaining.

My sugar sweet is so attainable
This behavior so unexplainable
The days just slip and slide
Like they always did
The trouble is my head
Won't let me forget
I took one last good look around
(So many unusual sounds)
I gotta get my feet on the ground

I really received a lot of nice gifts from my friends and family this year for my birthday, like I was REALLY blown away by it all. I got a couple of DVDs that I really wanted, some new clothes and some new shoes that were badly needed (basically it had gotten to the point where I could not leave my house when it was raining because ALL of my shoes had holes in them); but I have to say that beyond the writers' strike FINALLY getting settled (more info on that here: http://community.tvguide.com/blog/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Wga-Strike-Watch/800059822), my Girlfriend came through with the surprise gift of the weekend that was my favorite.

I had only seen it in a Best Buy one time before and I guess she had remembered it because I had completely forgotten about it and was very surprised when I opened it.

She got me a DVD that basically tells the story of the forming of my favorite band, The Killers. It’s just a collection of interviews with the band, but more importantly, with people (former band mates, local DJs, band promotion people, etc.) that knew the band and were around with they started playing together in Las Vegas back in 2001-02.

It was awesome to hear that when they started playing, that they couldn’t book a job anywhere because they were so different from all the hardcore/metal rock that was coming out of Vegas at the time. People didn’t know what to do with this group of clean cut guys that were basically playing 1960s British Rock with a 1980s New Wave sound. They tried be more appealing to the mainstream by doing some Oasis covers (PS – If I ever hear The Killers do an Oasis cover please have the paramedics ready because I don’t think my body or my brain would be able to handle the awesomeness of that moment) but still struggled to find an audience.

Obviously people started coming around when they released “Mr. Brightside” onto a four song demo (I told my Girlfriend that getting an original copy of that demo is now the only gift that I want for the rest of my life, so good luck to her on that one) and then really landed with “Somebody Told Me” and my personal favorite, “All the Things That I’ve Done”.

I guess that’s why I’ve always liked The Killers. They just don’t sound like anything else on the radio yet they are able to weave familiar sounds through their own unique vibe. After watching the video, the title track from the band’s second album “Sam’s Town” just got 10x cooler to me because they have the very unique ability to match their sound to their lyrics. All through the song there is this very British, 1980s New Wave thing going on while at the same time you feel like you’re listening to a Bruce Springsteen song and then you hear the lyrics: “I see London/I see Sam’s Town/ Holds my hand and let's my hair down/Rolls that world right off my shoulder/I see London, I see Sam's Town now” and then it all make sense.

That’s why I included the lyrics to one of my favorite tracks, “Why Do I Keep Counting” from “Sam’s Town” in this post. And for whatever reason, this song makes a lot more sense on your birthday too.
Looking forward to 28, it’s gonna be a great year! Thanks to everyone that helped me celebrate, it really did mean a lot.

Would you help me get down?
(I can make it, help me get down)
Help me get down
(I can make it, help me get down)
If I only knew the answer
If I change my way of living
And If I pave my streets with good times
Will the mountain keep on giving

And if all of our days are numbered
Then why do I keep counting