Blind date

Gentle readers, today marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Today, your humble blogger bids a fond adieu to his 20s as he ushers in the big 3-0. I really don't mind the change one bit. After all, 30 rhymes with "dirty," while 20 either rhymes with "money" or "plenty," but I'm not sure which. Can we get a ruling on this?

I actually remember my 20th birthday quite well, even though several since then have blended together. I was a student worker for Orientation Programs at UCSB, and I worked from about 6:30am that day to 1:00am the next morning. Despite that, I actually had a fun and fulfilling day helping students transition to the university. I still remember one student writing on her evaluation, "Pete was a trooper! He stayed with us all night, even on his birthday!" I'm not sure who ok'd her calling me "Pete," but it was still very nice of her to acknowledge my sacrifice.

Anyway, this may come as a shock to many of you, but today is not just Peter Klein's birthday. I know, I know, but follow me for a second. Other well-known people in pre- through post-historic times have shared June 27th as a day of birth. One such notable person is Helen Keller, which directly leads me to a story.

By a show of hands, how many of you are familiar with the board game "Apples to Apples." Most of you, good. For the others, I'll give a brief synopsis. Everybody playing has around 7 cards in their hands, each with a different noun on it. The noun can be anything from "World War II" to "Firestorms" to "Skydiving" to "My bedroom." Every round, whoever's turn it is places an adjective card out there. The other players each put a noun card in (face down) that they think that person will choose. The guesser then mixes up the cards, reads them aloud, and then chooses one that they like the most. For some, it's a logical thing and they might choose "Violent" with "Hockey Players." Others might see that same adjective card and choose "Gandhi" since it's the opposite of what one might expect. Still others (like me), might think that "Violent" goes best with "Coffee" simply because I like coffee. If the guesser picks your card, you win that round. Sound good?

Since I share a birthday with Helen Keller (and my friends have heard that fact many times), they usually try to hold onto that card until it's my turn. They know that I'll choose that card almost 100% of the time. It has to be a very, very special combination of other cards for me to pass that up. Twice in our game-playing history though, people have rightly used the Helen Keller card before it got to me. I can't decide which is better, and I want your opinions. The adjectives were "Senseless" and "Touchy-Feely." They're both so good, and easily two of the best matches we've ever had. (I'm partial to the "Sweet" and "Baked Potato" match as well, but not everyone finds that one funny.) I think I prefer "Touchy-Feely" since she wasn't completely senseless. I mean, she still had 60% of her senses after all. But at the same time, there's not a better card in the deck to put with "Senseless." But oh, I keep picturing her being all "Touchy-Feely" with her miracle worker of a teacher. Tough call, tough call.

Lo and behold, today is shared as a birthday by other known names throughout history. That's right, none other than H. Ross Perot himself turns 77 today. I was born in '77...oooh. Freaky shit going on right there. I don't remember if Mr. Perot has his own "Apples to Apples" card or not, but he very well might in one of the booster packs. If so, it's hard to say what the best adjective card would be for him. "Giant-sucking-sound-ish?" "Consistently-interrupted-and-must-ask-for-permission-to-complete-his-thoughts?" Maybe "Rich" would be enough.

Lastly, I also share today as a birthday with Bob Keeshan, aka Captain Kangaroo. I think a "Pseudo-military" card would be a good fit there. To recap, that's Helen Keller, Ross Perot, and Captain Kangaroo. Can you think of a more random collection of three real people? Seriously, I'd like to see you try in the comments section. The best I can do is Charlemagne, Ella Fitzgerald, and Kato Kaelin. Try it, it's fun.

Upon looking the date up on Wikipedia, it turns out I have an even more random assortment than I knew. Vera Wang, J.J. Abrams, and Tobey Maguire share the day too, along with some athletes that probably wouldn't interest too many of you. Hmmm, Tobey plays Spiderman whose real name is Peter...I may be onto something here. Anyway, what an eclectic group I'm a part of. I like it.

That's it for today, gentle readers. I look forward to your random trios. If you have any good shared birthday stories or anything else I might be interested in, ptklein@gmail.com is still just a click away. See you back here tomorrow.