I am 38 Today.......Two More Years Before the Dreaded 4-0

It is a rainy day here in Roanoke, Va. So far, I haven't received any gifts yet, but I'm going to try to talk my mother into getting me a cd from Rusisan-American punk band Gogol Bordello. I feel as if I am still 14 years old, except Gogol Bordello wasn't around back in 1984_ which was the year I got a profanity-laced Eddie Murphy record for my birthday.
There have been some rather troubling things which have happened on my birthday before. My father Mehmet Gokbudak died very suddenly on my 13th birthday, and my first stepfather Ralph Wright died on my 26th birthday after complications from a heart attack.
But, I did start a new job in Woodstock, Va., on my 29th birthday, and my since deceased Turkish relatives made a surprise visit to see me on my 8th birthday back in 1978 when we were living in the Black Sea town of Eregli, Turkey. And, I had one pretty cool party on my 18th birthday in 1988. Some cute girls who were high school cheerleaders even came over to the house, but of course they brought their fill-in-the-blank boyfriends with them.
As it turns out, I share my birthday with actress and "SCTV" alumnus Catherine OHara, who played the mom in "Home Alone" and crime writer James Ellroy of "L.A. Confidential" fame.
I want to thank my friend Jack Payden-Travers who works with the ACLU of North Carolina for sending me an e-card earlier today.
I only wish I lived in a place like Lubbock, Tx, today, so I could finally get a vote in for this darn presidential candidate selection process.
Needless to say, as much as I admire the man's tenacity, I would NOT be voting for Mike Gravel. The long, long-shot Democratic who gets about a thousand votes per primary is amazingly enough still in the race!