half dead yet fully alive

well . . . i made it. i'd like to think this is the half-way point but geeez, who do i know that's made it to 100 other than granny sullivan? nobody. so i guess the reality has set in. i probably passed the half-way point sometime ago. but you know what? it's all good. i may be 50 but i feel so, so much younger. that tells me that age is basically a state of mind or an attitude. i like young music, young tv shows and movies, and contrary to what some of you might think, i actually like being around young people. in small doses of course. so i'm not fretting about turning 50.

originally this post was going to be titled "50 things about turning 50" and i was going to spend a lot of time coming up with 50 observations i wanted to make. but you know what, i'm way too busy for that. i've got places to go and people to see. thank you very much. so . . . instead, i have done some research and decided to share some interesting things that have happened on august 1st throughout history.


1498 Christopher Columbus lands on "Isla Santa" (Venezuela)
1619 1st black Americans (20) land at Jamestown, Virginia
1779 Francis Scott Key, composer, Star-Spangled Banner was born
1781 English army under general Cornwallis occupies Yorktown, Virginia
1790 1st U.S. census, population of 3,939,214
1831 London Bridge opens to traffic
1834 Slavery abolished through out the British Empire. 750,000 slaves set free.
1867 Blacks vote for 1st time in a state election in South
1869 1st voyage down Colorado River
1873 San Francisco's 1st cable car begins service
1876 Colorado becomes 38th state
1903 1st coast-to-coast automobile trip (SF-NY) completed
1936 Adolph Hitler opens 11th Olympic Games in Berlin
1939 American band leader Glenn Miller records 'In The Mood'.
1944 Anne Frank's last diary entry; 3 days later she is arrested
1957 Dave Hix born in Dallas, TX
1958 1st class postage up to 4 cents (had been 3 cents for 26 years)
1960 Chubby Checker releases "The Twist"
1961 Comic strip hero Spiderman makes his debut.
1966 Former marine Charles Whitman kills 13 and wounds 31 at UT in Austin
1976 Flash flood in Big Thompson Canyon Colorado on Route 34, kills 139
1981 MTV premieres at 12:01 AM

so to all of the people i know that will read this blog, thank you for your contribution to my life. i love all of you and wish i could see you on my special day. i can't, but know that your close in my thoughts today.