Happy Birthday to Me

I called my Mom one day when I was twenty-two, to complain about how totally sucky my life was. I don’t remember exactly what was so awful — I think maybe I was frustrated with a new boss or something. Whatever. I had just graduated college, spent a year on the Clinton campaign, and was sharing a 2,000 square foot apartment/recording studio in Georgetown. My job was fun, my circle of frineds was huge, my bank account wasn’t over-drawn, and I had recently spent a half-hour, solo, with Nelson Mandela. In short, I had absolutely zero to whine about.
In her polite, rosy way, Mom told me told shut the fuck up, and enjoy what I had. Great moments don’t last forever, she said, and you better enjoy them while they’re going on.
I still struggle to remember that simplest of lessons. But birthdays have a way of forcing you to stop and take an inventory of your life — especially milestone birthdays, like number 35.
So with Mom’s advice in mind, here’s a list of some of the things I’ve done since I turned 34.

- Hung backstage with Snoop
– Shot guns with Xeni
– Got shot at by Iraqis
– Climbed Chichen Itza
– Caught the dunk by Iguodala (and Knicks/Sixers with Uncle Steve)
– Rode the rapids upstate
– Got choked in Krav Maga
– Tested a killer robot
– Blew up an IED
– Threw parties
– Threw up at parties
– Rode a Black Hawk and a C-130
– Flew a Joint Strike Fighter sim
– Fasted
– Gorged
– Snowshoed
– Snorkled
– Hiked
– Spellunked
– Sinned
– Atoned
– Prayed
– Cursed
– Cried
– Comforted
– Visited:

* Brooklyn
* San Fran
* L.A.
* London
* Leeds
* Chi-town
* H-town
* Tulum
* Cozumel
* Philly
* Baghdad
* Kuwait City
* Deadwood
* DC
* Sedona
* Manchester, VT
* Norfolk
* The ‘burgh
* Ft. Irwin, CA
* Ft. Monmouth, NJ
* Ft. Huachuca, AZ
* Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
* Eglin AFB, FL
* Pentagon, VA
* And THREE laser weapon labs

- Chased crooks (A few weeks before the 34th, technically. Still counts.)
– Filed about 750 blog posts
– Wrote for Wired, Newsweek, the Times, the Forward, Pop Sci, Pop Mech, Wired News, the Times mag, the National Post, and Fast Company.
– Blabbed on CNN, NPR, and the BBC
– Had four albums come out with my name on ‘em
– Learned a nice chunk of Hebrew
– Reconnected with my brother
– Raised some Katrina cash
– And, of course, got engaged

You know what? That seems like a pretty good year to me. Thanks, Mom. You were right.

February 24th, 2006 | News | 478242 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fdefensetech.org%2F2006%2F02%2F24%2Fhappy-birthday-to-me%2FHappy+Birthday+to+Me2006-02-24+20%3A27%3A22noahmaxhttp%3A%2F%2Fdeftech.usmilblog.com%2F2006%2F02%2F24%2Fhappy-birthday-to-me%2F