Dog Years

It's my birthday. I never really celebrated my birthday much. I have even gone so far as to spend the anniversary of my birth in hiding. Four years ago I was drinking straight bourbon in the bar of a Holiday Inn in Vicksburg Miss., just me and the bartender.

Sometimes bad things happen, My Dad died two days after my 22nd birthday.

Sometimes good things happen, I spent my 21st birthday at a John Prine concert in Charlotte, NC with my youngest sister and my good friend Jody. Jody gave me my first CD ever, The Black Crows - Shake Your Money Maker... Now I have over 400 disks.

I've only had a few B-day Parties in my life. When I was 25 my roommates threw one against my wishes, but 6 or 7 of us spent the night standing around a keg of beer singing Jimmy Buffet songs. (surprisingly more fun than a lot of you would think)

I realize I've led a fairly strange existence as I complete three and a half decades. I've lived in 5 cities, 3 states and 2 countries, just since I was 20. I've been flat broke, and made lots of money... Sometimes simultaneously. I've been in love, and I've been in jail- tough to say which is worse, both were pretty brief.

Now, though,I have kind of a tradition I started three years ago, and it seems to have worked out pretty well so far.
I spend the morning doing something good for my soul. (Two years ago it was the Bob Bullock Museum, last year I spent all morning lying on a rock in the middle of the Perdenales river)
The evening I spend in B D Riley's Pub letting my friends buy me pints. There are actually a lot of August birthday's among the regulars, so it has become a group thing. Loads of fun.
Finally, I spend the night at The Driskill Hotel, and have steak & eggs brought to my room the next morning.
If you happen to be in ATX, stop by & have a pint with me & the other August celebrants. If not, heft one where ever you are.

And so, as the Sun rises behind him, having completed another year, our hero walks off into the west to new and exciting adventures. Tune in next time as our saga continues