42

Hi Lynn and Bill,

I am very happy with how birthday 42 went for me this weekend. I had a big party, with so many diverse friends that I felt wealthy in the best sense of the word. I combined an idea from Lord of the Rings with Hitchiker's Guide. Such high literature, I know.

I like Tolkien's idea that Hobbits give away presents on their birthdays, so I did that. I had a table by the door with my new CDs, my band t shirts, and a pile of nice print outs of one of my paintings. I encouraged people to take a "mathom" on their way out. Mathom is Tolkien's word for something that's just sitting around in a closet, but you can't throw it out, which is what all of those items are for me.

All the musicians I know have piles of their CDs in their closets. I can afford to just give them away to those who are interested without pushing them, which is nice.

So no one gave me presents, and no one sang happy birthday to me, and I loved it!
It was kind of a blur, though.

I was honored that such a big crowd came. It was loud and fun, with good food, and people did whatever they wanted. We had a nice circle of musicians for awhile, and it was folks who hadn't played together before, like Gerry from the Daytrippers, Jim from Don't Panic, and assorted hangers on. This was in by the piano.

I remember being one of the loudest, most obnoxious fans for the big foosball tournament. Jack and Kehau were scoring on Kirby and Kale, and I was shouting "Go Blue!" and other inanities.

Sierra had a bunch of other little girls to pal around with, including dress up in her room and a trip to the park at night.

Some teens and adults monitored the U.H. volleyball game in the TV room.

Mostly people were just talking, eating, and drinking in the back yard. The weather was great, and talking out of doors, meeting new people, and sampling the various delicacies was the favorite activity. Lots of Punahou folks came, and my musician friends like Dave, Gerry, and Martha. Bob and Ginger came down the hill, and several other neighbors. The usual suspects like the Miller/Watkins clan, Dane and Lisa, Bob Tam, etc.

People snapped the mathoms up, and instead of the traditional birthday stuff, we just had a great time eating, playing games, music, talking and drinking. Definitely my best birthday ever, and I feel great about being 42.

more later,

Jim