It's My BIRTHDAY!!!

Yes, today I turned the big 6-0 at approximately 8:25 this morning.

I've gotten about 37 birthday greetings on Facebook so far.  Thanks to everyone who put a greeting up there who also reads this little old blog.



I stole the graphic above from one of those FB messages.....so cute!

I went and had a look at a list of people I share a Birthday with today.

*  Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, is 6 years older than me and didn't quite make it to his bday this year since he died in 2018.  I at least made it to 2019.

*  Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, Russian Mystic and holy man,  aka the "Mad Monk", born 1869 died Dec. 30, 1916, age 47.

Grigori proves we Jan 21st babies are survivors and we are hard sonsafabitches to kill.  It took a group of Russian nobles, a plate of arsenic laced cakes, three glasses of poisoned Madeira wine, strangling, beating with a dumbbell and 3 shots to the chest and head, after which he was thrown into a frozen river, to finally off Rasputin.

* Thomas Jonathan Jackson 1824-10 May 1863.
Aka Stonewall Jackson.

Stonewall proves we Jan. 21st born are fierce under pressure.  Ok so we may also have eccentricities.....like sucking on lemons even in battle, submerging our heads in frigid water to help our eyesite, believing our body is out of balance and often raising one arm because one side of our body is heavier than the other and the blood needs to flow out to lighten that side of the body....but other than that we are great warriors.

* Alfred Hawthorne Hill
aka "Benny Hill"

1924 to 20 April 1992
One of the comic icons of early British television Benny Hill is known worldwide for his comedy show, The Benny Hill Show.
I came to know of Benny Hill as an adult but my first introduction to him was in movie, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".
He played a relatively benign role of the Toymaker in that film.

One of my favorite scenes from CCBB was this one...........

Known to be a tightwad, even after his net worth was well into the 7 figures he still bought discounted food at the market, walked instead of paying for a taxi(though he could drive he never owned a car)and mended clothing until it could no longer be fixed.
Alfred and I have a lot of things in common the least of which is a wicked sense of humor. ;-)

* Ethan Allen, American Revolutionary War patriot, Founder of Vermont
1738 to 12 February 1789, aged 51.

No genealogical connection with Ethan for me.  He did spend some time in the Wilkes-Barre PA area contesting some land grants that the Connecticut based Susquehanna Company laid claim to that Pennsylvania objected to.  Long story short, Ethan was part of a movement to carve out a new state from the Wyoming Valley area of PA and a chunk of New York, which didn't happen.
Other than occupying the same geographical area(albeit 215 years apart)the only connection I have to Ethan Allen is the brown couch in my living room........

It's an Ethan Allen. ;-)

*  Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish born fashion icon/designer, considered the "King of Fashion"
1895 to 23 March 1972(aged 77)

Balenciaga was the master, one of the few fashion designers who could cut and sew haute couture as well as design it.  Balenciaga, the master who all the greats learned from..Dior, Givenchy, Chanel, Ungaro and De La Renta and others.
Too bad my style run to the tacky rather than the elegant, otherwise we would have been best friends.
*snort*

* Charles the V, King of France  1338 to 16 September 1380(aged 42)
Called Charles the Wise

Charles was physically a contrast to his tall, strong father, King John II(John the Good)....Charles was pale with an ill-formed body. He was highly intelligent however.  He suffered from gout in his right hand and an abscess in his left arm so I can relate. ;-)

Charles V is also my 2nd cousin 21 x removed.  His Great grandfather, Charles Valois, is also my 22nd Grandfather so we share a birthday as well as genetic material(along with a prominent proboscis).

So Happy Birthday to all my fellow January 21st born kin!



Sluggy