In which my readership indulges my ramblings about whatever happens to pop into my head at the moment...
1) Birthdays are funny things. I'm not sure why we place so much emphasis on the passage from one year of life to the next or the significance of the move from one decade to the next. I was born on July 30th, 1981 at Mobile Infirmary, the first child of Claude and Kay Landry. I was named after both of my grandfathers. The choices were Joseph Clinton or Dillard Claude. I'll let you figure out which one they chose. None of us gets to choose our birthday, but if I had been born a day later, I could have shared my special day with Harry Potter (7/30/80). Instead, I'll have to share my birthday with Arnold Schwarzenegger (7/30/47), Sid Krofft (he of HR Puffnstuff fame 7/30/29), and Lisa Kudrow (7/30/63). On a personal note, I share a birthday with my favorite TV chef, Alton Brown of Good Eats fame (7/30/62). The only famous person born on 7/30/81 was US Women's soccer star Hope Solo. Clearly, as a July 30th baby, I'm in good company.
2) Apparently, no great portents heralded my entrance into the world. According to Wikipedia, exactly nothing worth mentioning happened on July 30th, 1981. After a little bit of research, I found that BB King was the special guest on Johnny Carson. Much of the world was tuning in to watch the video of Charles and Diana's little wedding in the UK from the day before, the search had just begun for 6-year old Adam Walsh after his kidnapping and subsequent murder from a Sears store in Hollywood, FL, and Dawda Jawara was deposed as president of the Gambia. Apparently, my arrival made some difference in the world, as Major League Baseball ended its strike the next day and within 36 hours a few thousand cable subscribers in northern New Jersey were able to watch an MTV that featured actual music videos.
Exit thought: Based on the video evidence, the 80's were strange but wonderful times.
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