Martin's Musings

Among MOTs, the number 18 has great significance.

The word for “life” in Hebrew is “chai” (pronounced more like “hi” than like the kind of tea). The two Hebrew letters that make up the word “chai” have the numerical values of 8 and 10, so “chai” equals 18.

As a result, on special occasions like weddings and bar/bat bitzvahs, many Jews like to give gifts in denominations of 18.

In keeping with that idea, today, on my 36th birthday, I’m celebrating double chai — or in English, my double life.

No, I’m not outing myself here as a secret agent or a superhero, or revealing some deep, dark secret about myself. I’m just saying that lately, I’ve felt like I’ve been living a bit of a double life.

Some days I’m happy as a clam, stress-free, and optimistic. A joker. A guy who likes to have a good time and make other people smile. That’s the Martin that most people see, and that I’d prefer people know me as.

But in true Gemini style, I’ve also got another side of my personality that’s, well, not those things. And too often this year I’ve felt bored, frustrated, lonely, annoyed, and just plain old down. Continue reading →

It wasn’t me who coined the phrase “The Day of All Days,” but whatever you call it, the day is here again.

Today is my birthday — number 35.

Jeez, I’m getting old.

Thankfully, I don’t feel 35. And of course, I don’t act like I’m 35.

Today especially, where I’m all about attention and celebrating, just like I was when I was seven. Continue reading →

So believe it or not, my birthday seems to have snuck up on me this year. Not that I didn’t know it was coming or anything, but I just kind of let it arrive for a change, rather than hype it up and make it another Day of All Days. And that’s fine. It’s been an exciting last couple months with lots and lots of other good stuff to celebrate — buying a condo and becoming an uncle, for example — so I thought it’d be alright, for a change, to just kind of ease into my birthday this year, and not make too big of a deal about it.

Which, of course, does not mean that I won’t be doing my birthday up right. I mean, please. I’m still me. I don’t fear the birthday and I embrace more celebration. There’s a big dinner tonight, and tomorrow there’s brunch, followed by some miniature golf and ice cream, for example. And there’ll be some kind of daredevil activity at some point this summer, of course (I’m thinking whitewater rafting). Plus, the weather’s beautiful today, so that’s good too. All things considered, I think this is going to be a really nice birthday — and even more importantly, I predict good things in the year ahead. Happy 34th to me!

Thought I’d share what Andrew (he of the Miami bachelor party fame) and his fiancee did for me today. At around 10:30 this morning, I was told by our receptionist that I had a visitor, and when I went to the front desk there was a guy in a gorilla suit who proceeded to sing and dance his birthday wishes to me. Suffice it to say, it made an already happy birthday even happier — and it drew a lot of laughs from my coworkers. I said I wanted attention on my birthday, and Andrew sure made good on that. Nice work, my friend, but know that you’ve raised the stakes and one day I will reciprocate. The rhythm is gonna get you, too!