4 x 10 = 40
“May all your storms be weathered and all that’s good, get better.
Here’s to life, here’s to love, here’s to you.”
The Thoughts
Praise God! Today, I am 40 and very proud of it. My life has been very blessed and the blessings just keep coming. There will always be unfinished dreams but as long as I keep getting up, there is a brand new day to work at my goals. I am especially thankful for my family and friends and their unconditional love. I am also thankful for the music in my life and hope that it never ends.
The Photos
Special thanks to web guru Gwen for putting together the collage of photos. Here are a little description and commentary on each photo.
Photo #1 (1st row) – Age 10, rockin’ the small ‘fro for the annual school picture at age 10.
Photo #2 – Age 5, looking all dreamy eyed in the kitchen. Go figure! Mom may have been taking my photo for the first day of school.
Photo #3 – Age 38 in front of the beautiful stained glass windows at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Photo #4 – Here I am at about 1 year old on an assisted stroll in the backyard with his ever so capable older brother. You will notice in the background an oil tank in back our house that was used for heating our house.
Photo #5 (2nd row) – Age 4 on Christmas morning with Cuddly Duddly and the rest of the crew. Cuddly had to go away when the stuffing starting falling out. Anyone who was watching Ray Rayner on WGN-TV in Chicago in the 60’s and 70’s knows about Cuddly.
Photo #6 – Age 37 and really enjoying good laugh during a photo shoot.
Photo #7 – New Year’s Eve 2001 at age 38 and I was quite sober, believe it or not.
Photo #8 – Age 9 and another obligatory school photo but what was up with that widow’s peek or Eddie Munster as it was called then. Running home after school to watch Speed Racer and Batman were the joy of my existence.
Photo #9 (3rd row) – Taken last fall with the water, rocks, and waves at El Matador Beach in Malibu, California. It is really pretty there.
So now you have seen me…ha ha!!! Of course, I only picked out the best of the best for the collage. Yeah, I know there are none from my teens and twenties but I do not have any of those pictures scanned so you will not get to see the texturized hair or the skinny ties. You will have to come over to see those gems. I will put on some good music, bake some cookies and then we can go through numerous boxes and tons of photo albums. Hope you enjoyed my birthday fun and as always, enjoy your music!
Today’s Soundtrack
“Total Praise” – Richard Smallwood
“Here’s to Life” – Shirley Horn
“Love Sensation” – Loleatta Holloway
“Lost in the Stars” – Dee Dee Bridgewater
“Seven Years of Good Luck” – Joe Sample
“Faith” – Vanessa Bell Armstrong
“Hope” – The Weather Girls
“Open Your Eye, You Can Fly” – Lizz Wright
“Imagine” – Randy Crawford
“Somewhere” – Aretha Franklin
“Miss Otis Regrets” – Patti Austin
Happy 40th Birthday Jazzy Ho!
Happy Birthday Mac- uh, James!!! 40? Man, what a wonderful age for a wonderful person.
Happy Birthday Brother J! And many, many more.
Many happy returns of the day! (I stole that from Winnie the Pooh) I wish you a truly joyous day!!!
Much peace and love!
happy birthday james!
Happy Birthday to the most fabulously wonderful Uncle! May the years continue to shape the wonderful individual you are and will be! Love you so much and am so glad to have had you for so long!
now you just know i had to trackback this on my website. now, do you also know that i still have a particular stuffed animal given to me 15 years ago? i should have taken a picture of it…
Happy birthday and all the days after too!
Happy Birthday, old man! For some reason, I thought you were much older than I am. Damn.
4 x 10= absolutely fabulous. i got much love and respect for you james. happy berfday!
Happy Birthday, James!!!!!
MWAH!!!!!
Happy happy happy birthday! We June babies gotta stick together, you know.
I hope the next 40+ years are even better than the last 40 have been.
happy birthday to ya, happy birthday to ya, happy birthdaaaay! (sung in my best stevie wonder impression) hope your day was, is, and will be all you want and more. 🙂
Happy Birthday, you old person!
Happy 29th ya jazz coot. Hee!
“texturized hair or the skinny ties.” yowza, yowza, yowza. I want to see, please!
Happy birthday, and here’s to much love and as much music as you can stand to hear, for this year and for always.
Happy 40th! I hope I look that good when I hit those digits. 😉
Happy Birthday James “Big Daddy” (ooh, I feel so like Blanche Devereaux when I say that – – no, I don’t mean an aging slut either)….. enjoy the celebration of another year of like. I’m blessed to know you (smile)….
Now, as for pics you COULD have included… I recall one in a particular pair of shorts from a few years back… hahahahahah.
Happy Birthday James, wishing only the best for you and another 40 years of prosperity. Also “Here’s to Life”, by Shirley Horn is a excellent choice for this weekend.
Happy belated Birthday baby! Hope you had a good one.
ahhh, i missed the party. can Miss Otis Regrets be played one more time?
noticed that you’re smiling on all your pictures. wonderful. happy b-lated.
Happy Belated Birthday to my cousin Jimmy. Come on back to Chicago, where you belong. Now you know how it is to be the big 40. Stay tight and all the family misses you here in the midwest. Just remember that California is soon becoming oceanfront property for Nevada. Take care.
A very happy 40th, James!
SURE, DON’T scan a picture from high school days, when I first knew you!
But that’s okay…I do remember! 🙂
LL&P,
Marlene Z.
okay. your birthday has officially been extended to wednesday, july 2nd this year. lol
can i get one in? good.
happy birthday to the man behind the best music resource in my favorites folder. my cd player adores you almost as much as i do.