To me, full-time mothering felt like way too much and yet not nearly enough. Lost in a landslide of diapers, birthday parties, and others’ needs, I ached to reestablish myself.
I remember I asked my mom for a ukulele, and she said no because she thought I would never play it. So then I got my birthday money up, and I bought my own. It was the most rebellious thing I’ve ever done.
Seven years into writing a novel, I started to lose my mind. My thirty-seventh birthday had just come and gone, the end of 2008 was approaching, and I was constantly aware of how little I had managed to accomplish.
They decided as part of my 75th birthday celebrations that I would be entitled to fly first class. I’ll be honest, I’m not good at flying anymore. To my credit, I can stretch out on two coach seats.
I had Hallowe’en parties every year, as it was my birthday five days before. My parents would actually put prosthetic noses on, and my dad would wear a top-hat and tails, put on a fake curly moustache, and hold a pipe.
On my 50th birthday in 2005, my discount-wielding AARP card came in the mail. I hurled it in the trash, put on something fabulous, and had a decadent meal. Just the thought of putting it in my wallet felt like a concession.
I never got a chocolate birthday cake; I got a carob one. And when I went to other kids’ houses, I was very covetous of things like Cheez Whiz that I’d find in their refrigerators.
As I approached my 95th birthday, I was burdened to write a book that addressed the epidemic of ‘easy believism.’ There is a mindset today that if people believe in God and do good works, they are going to Heaven.
My wife and I love to travel, so if we don’t have work on either her or my birthday, we definitely travel.
Having spent half my time at university studying English literature, I know from experience that reading lists often contain more white men than Jacob Rees-Mogg’s last birthday party.
I dated a guy for over a year who lied about his age the entire time. I found out after the fact and couldn’t believe it! I even threw him a birthday party for the wrong age… I couldn’t get over how hard he had tried to keep it a secret!
I was fired at the pinnacle of my career, on my 39th birthday. And in the year that followed, I learned that there are many psychological phases of being ‘let go.’
When I was younger, I was a rave kid trapped inside a singer/songwriter’s body. But I kind of figured my way out because I started making these really terrible beats on this Yamaha keyboard that my parents got me for my 10th birthday.
If you catch me lying, it’s probably because I’m about to surprise someone for their birthday, or hide away the specific details about a company getaway to a strange but amazing place.
For my 21st birthday party, I had a ‘Strictly’-themed fancy dress.
Around my 40th birthday, I started to have extraordinary pain in my eyes and it was only happening overnight and I couldn’t figure out what the source was of this but it would literally shoot me out of bed in enormous pain, doubled over.
My mum, she loves a bargain hunt. You can’t buy her anything expensive. I remember I bought her a diamond bracelet for her birthday. I was being a nice son! She told me to take it back.
I was fired by ‘America’s Next Top Model’ on my birthday.
I’m an avid shoe fan. I got my first pair of Louboutins as a birthday gift from Jami Gertz.
I want a chainsaw very badly, because I think cutting down a tree would be unbelievably satisfying. I have asked for a chainsaw for my birthday, but I think I’ll probably be given jewelry instead.
There’s definitely something special about a working birthday, it’s the perfect way to bring in the new birthday year!
I like to keep my birthday very relaxed.
Washington’s birthday is worthy of celebration – he is one of the greatest men in history. But Washington himself would likely have seen celebration of the office of the presidency itself as monarchic in nature.
The sexiest thing my girlfriend has ever done for me is when she planned three full days of events, meals, and surprises for my birthday. It was like one continuous gift.
I saw Farrah Fawcett originally when she and her boyfriend, Lee Majors, came over to my house for a birthday party that I was having for my ex-wife, Leigh Taylor-Young.
