December 20, 2002
Great birthday yesterday. Deena and Kathy took me to lunch at the Cracked Crab, then came back to the office and Carole had cooked up a birthday deal and Robert Ray’s mom made a rum concoction (very good). The staff got me a 1918 7 jewel Waltham pocket watch (maybe as a hint to be on time occasionally). Very sweet.

Came home at five and Kathy and kids were in the house making chicken fried steak (Texas style) with green beans and mashed potatoes. Thomas made me a CD half full of some of my favorite rock tunes and half full of his. We went up to Dairy Queen after dinner with the boys in the front and the women in the back, and as “Stray Cat Blues” by the Stones blasted out of the speakers with T. Bell and I playing air drums (while I drove!), I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the girls trying to breath through all the testosterone. They didn’t complain (as a guy you gotta love that). The CD also has “I Hate to Say I Told You So,” by the Hives, and “Hello Operator” by the White Stripes (opening for the Stones on their current tour). Led Zep’s “Good Times, Bad Times” (which has the single most amazing drum playing in the the history of Rock—triplets on the footpedal!). From there it was all downhill with “That’s What I Like About You” by the Romantics, and “You Shook Me” by AC/DC. You can just imagine how badly the girls wanted to get out of that car. Thomas and I didn’t even go into Dairy Queen. We just sat there and punched around, listening to snippets. He included “Gin & Juice” a hillbilly parody of a rap song that is just hilariously fantastic.

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”
—Hunter S. Thompson