Saturday, March 3, 2012

Godlike. . . Or Not. . .

One more piece of evidence that Bill Watterson is a cartooning genius. . .


There's just something emblematic about this, isn't there?  We never have as much control over our lives and circumstances, or those of others, as we like to think we do.  I imagine Chevy Chase saying, on behalf of the Almighty, "I'm God, and you're not."

*************************

Today is my birthday (Suldog's was yesterday, but he's a whole year younger than me; okay, a year less one day).  And just for fun (and cryptic-ness - crypticity?), for the next year, my age and my birth year will be the same (hmmmmm. . . come to think of it, the same would be true of this year's six-year-olds).  Jen will join me this summer.  But we're not even the first members of our family to reach this milestone - 8M beat us to it by eight years. . .

-------------------------

On March 3 in history -

in 1820, Congress passed the Missouri Compromise
in 1845, Florida was admitted as the 27th state
in 1873, Congress passed the first Comstock Law, prohibiting the sending of 'obscene, lewd and lascivious' materials through the US Mail.
in 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, ending Russia's involvement in WWI
in 1923, the first issue of Time magazine was published.
in 1924, the last Ottoman Caliph was deposed, giving way to the modern state of Turkey
in 1931, the United States adopted The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem
in 1969, Apollo 9 was launched
in 1991, an amateur video captured the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers

I was born the same day as -

Jim Barton, an Olympic bronze-medal yachtsman,
John F Reid, a cricket-player from New Zealand,
and Zbigniew Boniek, a Polish soccer player.

(*ahem*)  Well, now.

I was born

eight years before Mexican cyclist Raul Alcala,
six years before Herschel Walker and Jackie Joyner-Kersee,
two years before Bob Bradley, who coached the US soccer team in the last World Cup,
and nine years after American astronaut Bonnie Dunbar.

Princess Lee Radziwill (whose sister was Jackie Kennedy Onassis) was born 23 years before me;
James Doohan (Star Trek's Scotty) preceded me by 36 years;
Hall of Fame baseball player Wee Willie Keeler by 84 years;
Alexander Graham Bell by 109;
German mathematician Georg Cantor (discoverer of the transfinite numbers) by 111;
and George Pullman (inventor of the eponymous railroad sleeper car) by 125.

Please - hold your applause. . .

And I am, beyond a shadow of a doubt, not God. . .

-------------------------

(edit, 3Mar)

As if the previous sentence needed any empirical confirmation. . .

I also share my birthday with my (step-)sister, who was born two years after me, and came into my life when I was nine.  Happy Birthday, Barbie. . .   {{{hugs}}}
 

14 comments:

  1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRAIG!!! And there was much rejoicing.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Birthday!

    Enjoy your age now, just think years from now...you'll wish you had!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a bummer... having to share your day with all those others.

    Happy Birthday ...and don't invite any of them over

    ReplyDelete
  4. well happy birthday! hope it's a terrific day for you! way too much math for me to consider trying to figure your age. i'll just ask suldog how old he is when i see him and his lovely wife.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy birthday my friend ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bijoux - Aw, thanks; rejoice away. . .

    Kay - I intend to! ;)

    Skip - Well, now that I've edited the post to include my sister, I can say that it was an ongoing tease that 'I had it first!' . . .

    Lime - Sorry about the math. . . I'm sure Suldog will be happy to fill you in. . .

    ;)

    Xavier - Thank you, my friend. . .

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Birthday! I hope your year is filled with blessings and wonderful times! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well, happy birthday to you, Craig! I hope you have a truly blessed celebration and enjoy every minute of your new trip around the sun.

    I'm glad to know of you and your family through this little piece of blog realty! Many returns!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I was out of town without computer access so I couldn't reply earlier. But since I think you should get to celebrate your birthday more than just one day, I'll just say 'Happy Birthday' now!

    Hope it's great!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sailor - So far, so good. . .

    ;)

    Flutter - Thank you. And I'm glad to know you, as well. . .

    JM - Of course, I'm grateful for any extensions of the celebration, so. . . thank you.

    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I like that thing about being the same age as your birth year. I'll get that in 2014. Hope you're still alive by then, old man!

    Happy (belated) Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Suldog - See, we're in that realm where people get confused about it. I would say, "I'm 55," and folks would say, "You were born in '55?" "No, I was born in '56, but I'm 55 years old." "Oooooohhhhh. . ."

    (But don't tell Lime 'til she comes to visit; I want it to be a surprise. . .)

    And, you know, we're also getting into the realm where the next two years aren't quite as 'given' as they once were. . .

    ReplyDelete
  13. Forgive my very belated birthday wishes! I hope you had a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Aw, thanks! I did. And without even busting my diet. Too badly. . .

    ;)

    ReplyDelete