Retrospective

It's Sunday, Father's Day, my birthday, and I'm still sick.

I had plans to go to the Flight Museum for Warbird Weekend, plus a pancake breakfast, but didn't have the energy so I'm one step short of being depressed that I missed it because it only happens once a year and I do love those WWII warbirds. It would have been a great blip opportunity.

Then there was Pippin, the over-eager squirrel, who has now taken to throwing himself at the front door, launching his attack from the potted begonia. My front door has a window in it and I watched Pippin fly by a couple of times but couldn't catch him for a blip.

So, I decided to play with some pictures and commemorate my 73rd year with a few of them. The one on the lower right is obvious -- I was one hour and twenty minutes old. In 1940 getting to photograph a newborn was a big deal, but because my father was a professional photographer he was able to get special permission. Heck, getting in to see or hold a newborn in 1940 was nearly impossible even for the father. Anyway this was the photograph my parents used on my birth announcement.

The lower left picture was my high school graduation from Hollywood High in 1957 which, by the way, was a pretty amazing time to be in Hollywood, California. After graduation I went to work at Capitol Records which was even more amazing and a very interesting introduction to the entertainment industry.

The upper left is my favorite picture of me (I think I was about 3), and in the upper right picture I was about 11 and a budding ballerina. My mother was a dancer and had her own studio so of course I danced, danced, danced, until well into my teens. It proved to be good training in a lot of ways.

On the upside, I've had wonderful birthday phone calls from everyone important to me, including my two grandsons. And, I am still holding out positive thoughts that whatever nasty germ I've got will give up and go somewhere else very soon so I can feel better. I'm not going to complain -- getting to 73 in any condition is a big plus.