Ah Crap, I'm 40

Okay, it's really not such an awful thing to turn forty. The plainest truth is this: the last day of 39 and the first day of 40 feel not at all different. Sure there are tectonic stresses building up over time, but the day-to-day difference is negligible, so there's no reason at all to go weirding out over the flipping of a number.

Right? Right. It doesn't sound like I'm trying desperately to convince myself of something, does it? Oh no, of course not.

Well there's always this thought: George Bernard Shaw's career didn't really get going till he was forty; he didn't even get married (or move out of his mother's house!) till he was forty. And the actor Wilfrid Hyde-White didn't start acting until he was in his sixties, as I recall. (Nope, turns out that's a myth--his imdb entry clearly demonstrates that he was an actor his entire life. So there goes another cherished myth.)

Here's the story of my birth day, complete with photo. On that cheery Thursday morning in Miami, I was, or so I'm told, about three weeks late. The doctors said to my mother, "Mrs. Toombs, we need to do a C-section." She said "Oh no you won't," and they said back to her, "Listen lady, this kid is huge. You want a C-section. Really." And she said back to them, "Nope. Let's go."

Now bear in mind: her wisdom teeth had started coming in when she was about six months pregnant. Impacted. So because she was pregnant, they really couldn't do anything until she wasn't pregnant anymore, which meant living with the impacted teeth for three-plus months till I finally decided to be coaxed out. And by the time I did come out, I was 10 pounds 6 ounces, and damn near two feet tall already. Plus I was breach: as I've joked ever since, I came into the world ass-first and I've lived that way ever since.

Mom never had any more children, and really, do you blame her?

Here's the picture, taken at the hospital that very day:



Yep, that's me. Feisty from the start. But I mean come on, it was comfy in there, who were these people to go dragging me out like that?

But never mind. Now I am forty. Not doing anything, really, to observe the occasion today (aside from this here blog entry), but I did get a present: an NTSC monitor for my editing work, which is only exciting if you're another editor, but hey, these things don't come cheap. Tomorrow morning Jamie will pick me up and we'll go for a hike that takes in one of the most spectacular ocean views in Los Angeles, and that seems a very fine way to turn 40. Assuming I survive what is supposed to be a very steep climb, I'll make sure to take some pictures.