Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Birthdays. Happy Yours, and Mine, and Ours.

If you spend any time at all here in my cozy little corner of the Internet, you know three things:

1. This blog is named after a phrase in a poem by Charles Baudelaire.

2. My nom de blog is an affectionate corruption of Mr. Baudelaire's name.

3. I am not, in fact, Charles Baudelaire, the 19th century French poet.

I do love a smock with a large bow.
But the similarities end there.
But today I discovered an EXTREMELY FREAKY connection between me and the esteemed poet.

I picked up a 2018 calendar at my local Half Price Books.

Do you have Half Price Books where you live?

I have wonderful memories of visiting the HPB location on Dallas' Mockingbird Lane in the 80s, a subterranean space that was actually physically dangerous to navigate. Nowadays, HPB locations are located mainly in suburban strip malls in 17 states, but back in the day, they could be found mostly in cramped, funky retail spaces that no other self-respecting retail outlet would occupy.

I love Half Price Books, you guys.

Anyway, Precocious Daughter and I ventured to the HPB in Richardson, Texas. Here's the thing: She and her dad had been there over the weekend, and she found something we've both been looking for: An original US vinyl pressing of Jesus Christ Superstar. In near-mint condition, at a spectacular price.

She didn't buy it.

Totally my reaction.

Tonight she and I ventured to said HPB. I've been cooped up at home for a couple of days, and she was massively regretting not buying the album, so off we went.

Lawdy lawdy, the record was still there.

Of course, we snagged it - at $14.99, a tremendous bargain. It includes a booklet containing the entire libretto, which is worth the price all by itself. Right?

Anyway.

PDaughter also bought an antique book about Nazi war strategy for her dad's Christmas present. (If you were never married to an historian...good for you. Really.)

As a result, our purchases totaled more than $30, which qualified us to receive a FREE 2018 calendar.

And of course HPB's calendar is filled with interesting trivia, store coupons, and every day is marked with the birthday(s) of notable literary figures.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who reacts to a new calendar by flipping to his/her birthday to see what happened on that VERY important day.

You guys.

My IRL birthday is April 9.

Guess who was also born on April 9.

GUESS.


Charles MF Baudelaire.

I swear, I had no idea until now.

I'm a little bit thrilled. And a little bit freaked out.

But mostly I love that we share this tiny bit of history. Wouldn't you?

So my question is: With whom do you share a birthday?

Google it.

Share it.

And let me know if you had any idea of the connection prior to today.

I love being freaked out this way. <3

5 comments:

  1. Apparently, I share a birthday with Tom Hanks, Fred Savage, Jimmy Smitts and OJ Simpson. Hmmm.

    Never even heard of Half Price Books, but now I wish we had one.

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  2. Bill Bloody Gates and Julia Skeletal Grin Roberts

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  3. oh wow. I just share mine with George Harrison who has zero connection to my blog. haha.

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  4. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by the alias Lenin. As a card carrying commie bastard I have always enjoyed this. Okay, truth is I'm a hardline Trotskyite with a recurring headache about where an icepick would go. I am become death, destroyer of world because Oppenheimer and I share the day. More importantly John Waters. That's about it.

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  5. Björn Borg, Harvey Fierstein, Paul Giamatti, Sandra Bernhard, Robert Englund, Thomas Mann, Nathan Hale.

    ReplyDelete

You're thinking it, you may as well type it. The only comments you'll regret are the ones you don't leave. Also, replies to threads make puppies grow big and strong.