Happy birthday, Mr Brilliant

I don't know. Have I mentioned once or twice or a thousand times that I love Mr Brilliant? Not just for the spectacular ways in which he thinks and the marvelous crazy wonderful gifts and the James Joyce glasses and the fact that he calls up the White House chef to find out how to make gingerbread icing instead of googling it and the way he smells or the fact that he tapes burning candles to his head just to make us laugh.

You're tired of hearing it, but I'm so not tired of saying it, and today is a special day in our household--Mr Brilliant Has A Birthday! Evidently, according to Tess' rakish decoration of his vegan red velvet heart cake, he turned 25 in spectacular form today. I imagine when you're 4 years old, 25 might seem just as old as 52.

And so, Mr Brilliant, happy birthday. Here's to many, many, many more, so many that we become completely insufferable old codgers together, our teeth in a jar and our veins pumped full of celery juice and doughnut holes, bothering our children with our reminiscences about the good old days way back when Andy Pettitte wasn't a snitch, when people still knew who Harmon Killebrew was, when Chuck Knoblauch could still throw from second to first, when Johnny Unitas was wearing high tops, and when pasta was just plain spaghetti.

Love. Big. MMB (that's a secret Patti to Johnny message, yep, yep it is).

Comments

[Marilyn]

Happy Birthday to your Mr. Brilliant!

[Kim]

Awwwwh. "Here's to...so many that we become completely insufferable old codgers together..." I love that sentiment.

A "toast" from Robert Browining -
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made;

Many, many happy returns to Mr. Brilliant!

[Andy]

Happy birthday to John from Deanna and Andy, especially Andy who does not take for granted all the encouragement and charity demonstrated when Andy was aimless and confused (not that anything's changed, Ha!). Remember that time we jumped out of airplanes?

[yolanda]

Hope Mr. Brilliant has a wonderful birthday.

[yolanda]

Hope Mr. Brilliant has a wonderful birthday.

[Dharmamama]

A poem from one of *my* favorites, Anthony Abbott (who lives in Davidson, NC!) to be read out loud to your Mr. Brilliant - then he gets to do the same for you on yours!

CARROT COLORED WORDS
(for Kappa and Jay)

The dialogue goes something like this:
"I love you," I say, it being the end
of our conversation. "I love you,"
you sigh weakly after long silence.

I challenge your desultory reply.
"It's the word," you say. "It's been
overused. We need to find a better."
I accept the task. For nights I search

for carrot-colored words, for words
with tails and purple horns and long
red sashes round their middles. I scream
for green words with yellow spotted stomachs.

My doctor friend tells me how patients
miss medical terms. A woman in Georgia
spoke of suffering from "Smiling Mighty
Jesus," meaning spinal meningitis.

Another had "Fireballs of the Eucharist,"
in reality fibroids of the uterus. If I
could choose, I'd take Jesus too. And those
fireballs beat fibroids all to hell.

That's the kind of word I want. I fireball
you. I smiling mighty Jesus you. It's cute
and satisfies your need for something new
but it's not exactly what I mean to say.

What I mean to say is -- if I was dying
and I could choose one person in the world
to sit and hold my hand and hear whatever
words I had to say -- it would be you

and I know no better term for that
than love. If I find one, I'll let you know.

[Joy K]

Happy Birthday, Mr. Brilliant!! And may the love you and Patti share grow more brightly than the candles on your vegan red velvet heart cake! Also, that you've had countless hits on your intellectual, thought-provoking blog . . .=D

[Julie]

Happy Birthday, Mr. Brilliant!
I emailed you as well but wanted you to know right away that I received my bracelet and totally LOVE it. The calendar too!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[brandi]

*sniff* this is just adorable. I love that he turned '25' :-)

[Miss G. Marshall]

This link is for you:
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/yousayits.htm