{"id":103,"date":"2005-11-07T18:11:35","date_gmt":"2005-11-08T00:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/index.php\/2005\/11\/07\/a-perfect-day\/"},"modified":"2006-02-16T18:12:26","modified_gmt":"2006-02-17T00:12:26","slug":"a-perfect-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/11\/a-perfect-day\/","title":{"rendered":"A perfect day"},"content":{"rendered":"
Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock<\/font><\/h6>\n

Monday, November 7, 2005.<\/font><\/b><\/font> Now I can understanding the irritating habit of young brides to have everything “perfect” on their wedding day, the heck with the confused groom and the beleaguered parents. Birthdays are like that.<\/font><\/p>\n

At least for me, every year I want my birthday to be perfect, a celebration of myself — not by others, that would be an ego thing and in a superficial sense — but of myself for myself. It’s very ego-driven, in the Freudian ego sense, though. The baby, who cannot see, cannot sense outside of himself, wants all good for himself.<\/font><\/p>\n

If I want to sleep soundly the night going into my birthday morning, it should be so. If I say I want to not be alone, after years of bachelorhood, the spouse should make every effort, and succeed. If I want a perfect pizza for supper, by gosh, it has to come from the local joint and no franchise outlet.<\/font><\/p>\n

I never have had a perfect birthday, by these lights.<\/font><\/p>\n

Maybe it stems from my 10th birthday. It was a schoolday the morning of Nov. 6, 1967. Mom and Dad had presents for me and as our tradition I opened them in their bedroom. I already knew that in a few weeks an Australian terrier would be flown from a breeder in St. Louis, my first dog all my own. (George was purebred but had the wrong proportions for showing so he was not expensive, the breed chosen because my dad enjoyed an “Aussie” owned by an English officer with whom he served in Afghanistan, in WWII.)<\/font><\/p>\n

The toy and clothes are unwrapped and delighted over, and it was time for a quick breakfast before school. But Mom takes me aside a moment: During the night the nursing home called to say Dad’s mom had passed. Mom strongly suggested I give Dad a big hug and say, “I’m sorry.” I did.<\/font><\/p>\n

I’ve been confused about birthdays since, never got the hang of them.<\/font><\/p>\n

They’re so much like regular days. You have a good meal and conversation, you have an excellent bike ride in unseasonably warm weather, and there went three or four hours (a half day, virtually) of your precious birthday, the annual celebration of oneself, spent. As a grown-up, most years you have to work on your birthday, where with luck, no co-worker remembers so neither you nor they need go through the motions of sincerity. You finally have an extended conversation long-distance with a sibling after too many months, and that is so welcome, yet bittersweet: You’re not children together anymore.<\/font><\/p>\n

Maybe that’s all there is to it. All too soon, it’s the seventh of November. What a relief. -30-<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Monday, November 7, 2005. Now I can understanding the irritating habit of young brides to have everything “perfect” on their wedding day, the heck with the confused groom and the beleaguered parents. Birthdays are like that. At least for me, every year I want my birthday to be perfect, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-body-home-street"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4210,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2013\/04\/regarding-roger-ebert\/","url_meta":{"origin":103,"position":0},"title":"Regarding Roger Ebert","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"April 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Now let's regard Roger Ebert this afternoon. What his passing yesterday, Thursday the 4th of April 2013, can mean. Like any death that strikes your radar, knocking it off the table, you feel a need to inventory yourself. Most of what I could say I chiseled nearly two years ago,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life Lessons"","block_context":{"text":"Life Lessons","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/life-lessons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":185,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2006\/04\/worship-at-the-alter-ego\/","url_meta":{"origin":103,"position":1},"title":"Worship at the alter ego","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"April 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"A new ethical quandary in the news media. Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik used fake names to publish comments on his blog and on those of others. 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When I work for pay, or at least print publication, I not only think hard about clarity of thought in the writing but how to frame the published writing to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technical Difficulties"","block_context":{"text":"Technical Difficulties","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/briefs\/technical-difficulties\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":104,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/11\/really-simple-syndication-isnt\/","url_meta":{"origin":103,"position":3},"title":"Really Simple Syndication Isn’t","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Wednesday, November 2, 2005. There is nothing simple about Really Simple Syndication. RSS makes little sense. I finally understand that with it I can create a personal Internet connection for all of my favorite sites to let me know when they update; I think I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technical Difficulties"","block_context":{"text":"Technical Difficulties","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/briefs\/technical-difficulties\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2712,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2011\/03\/not-going-anywhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":103,"position":4},"title":"Not Going Anywhere","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"March 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The following is my president\u2019s column for the March 2011 edition of the monthly newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists An NSNC friend e-mailed links to farewell pieces that a couple of just-downsized columnists were allowed to publish. That opportunity isn't always granted. Atypically, he didn't add his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Course of Words"","block_context":{"text":"The Course of Words","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/course-of-words\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/12\/excuse-71\/","url_meta":{"origin":103,"position":5},"title":"Excuse 7.1","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"December 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Friday, Dec. 2, 2005. Can you get by with writing or saying whatever you want because you're sick, and you're lightheaded from clogged sinuses or fever or some-such thing? It'd be nice. 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