Bro-thday!

My big brother turns 39 today. Happy birthday!

In order to protect his privacy, I’m going to refrain from using his real name here. I came up with a moniker for him a while back, Captain Awesome. Because he is! (I came up with this before the NBC series “Chuck” gave the same name to Chuck’s future brother-in-law.)

And you know what else? He reads this blog! Which is another testament to his awesomeness.

I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful birthday you can celebrate with Mrs. Awesome and your three awesome girls (ages 9, 6 and 3).   If there’s anything you’d like for your birthday, please let me know.

This is us in 1977.  I’m the one in the front who wants to sell you a used car for $2,000 down.

This was us the next summer — 1978. We were playing a game called “Zim-Zam” — not quite unlike tetherball (but with paddles, a tennis ball and less filthy language). Our Dad had just come back from a business trip to Austin — hence the Longhorns shirts.  I wish I still could fit into those pants…

EDIT: I received this note from Captain Awesome soon after I posted. He must have me in his RSS reader or something…

Dear Shiny:

Wow! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes!  It was wonderful seeing you on your birthday with all of our families together, and I’m happy that you feel comfortable enough sharing this with your readers.  It truly makes me feel, well, awesome. 🙂

In your blog entry, you asked what type of gift I would like. I consider myself extremely blessed with a wonderful family and a fantastic group of friends.  Community is really important to me, Shiny, and, as you already know, I’m thrilled to be instrumental in mine.

I could ask that, for my birthday, I receive a unified, communal understanding between all peoples of the world. Most of the major conflicts are caused by simple miscommunication or, more commonly, non-communication. Perhaps with everyone on an equal playing field involved with uninhibited dialogue, we will be inhabiting a far more peaceful planet.

However, I request a much more valuable gift: The gift of participation in the Shiny Stakeout “Identify the Header Pictures” contest. I mean, for goodness sake, there’s a pocket-kite in the balance! And the contest ends tonight at 11:59pm EDT! You can click here for more information and to enter.

Thanks again, for caring.

Love,

Captain Awesome