I also did this last year.

Yesterday would’ve been my father’s 56th birthday, were he still alive. He’s still in my thoughts. He passed away a little over 13 years ago.

Things about my dad at 32, to the best of my memory. The year was 1977. I think it was the first time we saw Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, and dad liked close encounters of the 3rd kind more than star wars. (we thought he was crazy…) He had two boys, age 8 and 4, recently celebrating 10th wedding anniversary, his wife a hairdresser, studying to be a RN, he an engineer. Two cars, the green chevy duster and the canary corvette stingray… the tinker car was gone, replaced by a motorcycle, a harley of some sort. I remember riding on the gas tank. We still went fishing or had some other ‘boys time’. once a month, and every Sunday was family day. No hairy pets because of the littlest boy’s asthma… any pets had to be reptiles or of an outdoor variety. His TV interests, aside from Fernwood Tonight (which bored me to tears) was War or Nature Documentaries… but Grizzly Adams and Hardy Boys were shows we kids were watching. There was a great mall near where we lived… two levels, and it had a really neat bookstore and a good five and dime to buy toys. He had medium/short hair and a mustache, at this point. Smoked cigarettes (only outside)… was transitioning to a pipe. we had moved from the four-bedroom to a three-bedroom apartment, rear Sally and Bill Brunot’s place… nice folks, both artists, I have no idea what they did for money. I think Bill was some sort of architect, and worked with my Dad on a few projects. He went with us on guy’s days out, more often than not. I can’t remember where we vacationed that year…I seem to remember it as a lean time, even though we were doing ok…maybe we didn’t go anywhere, aside from a fun little trip to King’s Dominion. Oh, wait! we went up north for Thanksgiving in MA, with family. Christmas was spent at home, mostly. He had 10 years left to live. I wonder what he’d have done differently if he knew.

Things about me at 32, to the best of my memory. The year is 2001. Justice League and Samauri Jack are the premier cartoons…Have seen far fewer movies this year than in the last 5 or so… reality tv is popular, as is millionaire… both styles I’m not really interested in…who knows what’ll be memorable in another few years. I’ve been in a serious relationship for well over a year now, no children, but am raising a healthy little fur-son pretty well, I think. He’s 2, raised happily from three weeks. Living in a one bedroom apartment, a nicer place than this time last year. I’ve been trying to spend some time on sunday’s with my brother, but his work schedule makes it less than doable every weekend. We do talk on the phone very frequently, though. He’s still allergic to animals. Best movie I’ve seen this year is probably Memento… Jay and Silent Bob Strike back was cute, as a silly film. The average TV I’m watching is Nature / Forensic Documentaries or cartoons playing in the background. There’s a dead mall near where I live, with little of value in it, but there are a few bookstore/coffee shops is just up the street that’s just fantastic, for both old and new books. I’ve currently got my goatee, and hair reaches well down my back. I don’t think I remember dad having more than 3 or 4 days growth of beard, and that was when he was off for the week, and in super slack-mode. before my goatee, I had a full beard. My big guy-pals are Dave and Dan, both of whom I don’t get to see very often, as Dave’s a soon to be father (remodelling his place) and Dan’s a teacher (pretty hectic until Holiday Break). I’ve worked with Dave on a project or two, as he’s a web-head, also, more into graphics than programming. This year, I really haven’t gone anyplace for an extended vacation. I’m overdue for a camping trip or *something*. I really hope I have more than a decade left. Different styles, plus my health is good. barring accidents, I don’t see why I can’t go for another 3 or 4, at least. What would I do differently, if I knew I only had a decade left? I don’t know… I’m glad I don’t know one way or the other.

Similar lives but different. Maybe more similar than I thought.

I’ll clean this up later, but it’s good to get all the basics out.