Am I middle-aged yet...

...because it was my birthday yesterday. (you say, “happy birthday” here.) Thank you. I spent it by going to work as usual, then crawling around under Preston’s truck, both of us covered in transmission fluid, until probably 11:00.

When I was in my thirties, I thought birthdays would start to depress me. Not so. As I approached 40, I thought, oh this is going to be the big one. Didn’t happen. 45 now, and still no existential crisis. I know other people who have had major emotional upheaval at those ages, but I haven’t had mine yet. I wonder why that is? The only thing that upset me was the one person who did not call me to wish me a happy birthday. You know who you are. And let me just say, I have never once forgotten YOUR birthday. Ever.

The truth is, I don’t feel 45. I still feel 20. I don’t even know what 45 is supposed to feel like. Carol says there’s no “supposed to”. And maybe she’s right. But she also says you don't get a year older until you eat a piece of birthday cake. And it has to be YOUR birthday cake, with your name on it. So this year I aged two years.

People are usually surprised to hear I have a 24-year-old son, and I know it’s not because I don’t look my age. I think it’s because I don’t act my age, whatever that means. Everybody I meet gets the real me, for better or for worse. I just don’t know any other way to be. I suspect I’ve lost a few customers at work because of that, but I know I’ve also kept some because of it so it’s ok. It all works out.

They say you learn something new every day.....

....and today I learned that I am utterly fascinated by the subject of Steampunk. Or Steam Punk. I don't know which one is correct; each one, when googled, nets the same results.I'm not sure how to define the word (or words), except to give the above example (and if this is your pic, please don't sue me. I sit in awe of your creativity and only wish to share it with the world!) Steam punk seems to be characterized mainly by the presence of many extraneous pieces and parts, and is inspired by late 19th-century fashion and technology. Think Captain Nemo's Nautilus, H.G. Wells' time machine. Apparently this has been going on for a good twenty years, and what I want to know is, where the hell was I?

The thing I find most intriguing at the moment is that Steam Punk involves it's own sort of fashion trends, which appear to resemble some weird sort of Victorian clothes on acid. I can most definitely get into that, especially since lately I have been commissioned to sew some Victorian mens' clothing for a couple of different people, which has renewed my obsession with Folkwear patterns. I used to have a huge stash of them, expensive bloody things that they are, until squirrels plotted against me and turned my precious collection into confetti. Well most of it, anyway. 15 or so survived, and I have the Folkwear website and a credit card, so all is not lost!

Alice in Chains....

...is not for everyone I guess, but I am really happy with my new CD. You know, you can say all that alternative stuff sounds alike but really, it doesn't. I suppose you could say all rap sounds alike, and all jazz sounds alike, all country sounds alike (Ok all country DOES sound alike. Sorry.) But you have to be willing to really listen to stuff to appreciate the work that went into it. Well most of it anyway. Some stuff is just crap. Really.

In the interest of expanding your musical horizons, I thought I'd post this: These are five CDs I never seem to get tired of listening to. There are more I'm sure, but these come to mind right now. They all appeal to me for different reasons:

Three, “The End Has Begun”

Action Figure Party (self-titled) I believe this is the only CD this band ever made. The band was formed by an assortment of musicians from other bands, some of them quite famous already.

VAST, “Music for People”

Dream Theater, “Falling into Infinity”

Widespread Panic, "Panic in the Streets" (really this is a DVD but Preston put it on CD for me. I love WP but you have to listen to them live to get the full effect. The studio tracks just don't do it for me.)

I don't know if anybody actually reads this blog but if you're reading this, by all means please post some of YOUR favorites so I can check them out!

I don't know what to call this except ironic....

...today in the mail I got my first invitation from the AARP.

Like I can afford to retire.

It told me all about the benefits available for people over 50. I'll be 45 this month, so I don't know where they're getting their information, first of all. The ironic part was that in the same mail delivery with that were the two CDs I had ordered from Amazon--this one:And this one:So unless they want to give me a discount on tickets to go see Disturbed, I don't think I'm ready for the AARP.