I made this page because my brother got a big bash for his wedding and I just got.... Well I even got kicked out of Brainstorms so they won't be celebrating my party there, but I am celebrating it here because guess what, you don't need "social capital" to celebrate your birthday. You just need to realize that you are special and you are worth it. That's what I realized. I matter! I matter! I matter! That was very definitely worth saying three times. After that you just have to work at it. Yes, celebrations take work. Since no one was out showering me with good wishes and graphic gifts, I just went out and made my own. I even mounted them on he web. Now I can celebrate just as if I were still on Brainstorms! Woo-hoo! Scroll down to see all the lovely gifts that are on this page and to enjoy the prose! And if you want to leave comments, I have both a a guest book and a web board. Leave your comments on either of them. They are both pop-up and even banner-ad free. What could be better!

Well I'm forty-two. I'm not forty-two years young. I'm forty-two years old. I don't feel particularly old. Forty-two is a very cool number. According to the late Douglas Adams, it is supposed to be the answer to life, the universe and everything. The only problem is "what is the question?" Don't ask me. I like being forty-two. It means I'm almost too old to have kids. That is a big relief since I'm no longer under pressure to reproduce. I'm still in good shape. I lost twenty-six pounds in the last twenty months and I hope and pray the weight stays off. I've started working on a professional development project here at work. Yes, things are looking up for me and couldn't be better.

And this is one of my presents. It is a basket with rosehips. How did I end up with a basket of rosehips? I started out looking for old roses and wild roses. I wanted a basket of wild roses. I have a friend who has been after me to draw with wicker texture on PSP. Well I got the basket ready and went hunting for the right illustration and could not find a sufficiently red or wild rose. I had found one the other day. Then when I Googled "rugosa" a big picture of rosehips turned up. I copied a small piece of it, snipped some more and even resized the fragment and put it in the basket. Rosehips are a kind of cool think of which one does not usually think. I guess that makes them kind of special.