The Big 4-0.

Yesterday I turned 40 years old. The day came and went. I drank some, I lamented some. I got a few cool gifts (the first two seasons of Mad Men on blu-ray, for example, not to mention a gift card that I'll be using to purchase The Prisoner: The Complete Series on blu-ray, and a great customized Twilight Zone Hallmark card from my friend Bill, spotlighted here). However, the single coolest thing presented to me (and the thing that ties my birthday to this blog) is my cake:

If getting older means I'll get cakes like this… well, perhaps I'll age gracefully after all.

Naturally I got the best piece:

Check out the plate! Clapboard slates! Man, that wife o' mine thinks of everything... maybe I should keep her around. Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, my beautiful wife Teresa, posing with her idol... the University of Oregon Duck:

The Ducks will undoubtedly stomp all over the Oregon State Beavers Thursday night in the annual Civil War game, which will subsequently propel them to the Rose Bowl. A "Big Tall Wish"? Hardly.