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In 1963, when Lesley Gore's Song "It's My Party, and I Can Cry If I Want To" topped the charts for two weeks [^], this miscreant youth (age 19~20) had run away from the parents, and Duke University, and the "WASP hi-so lifestyle engineering" he was being programmed with ... towards the end of ending up some kind of executive somewhere with a strained marriage, too many rugrats (kids), house full of the latest electric appliances, hemorrhoids, mortgage, heart problems ... burning his bridges behind him, and started work as an editorial assistant for the Journal of Geophysical Research.
All that seems about as significant as this fly that just landed on my notebook, and took off.
Well: what is significant, then ?
This moment ! ... ?
But, "this moment" just passed, never to return.
Selah, Om Shanti, İnşallah, Amen, Tat Tvam Asi, Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha ... etc., etc.
cheers, Bill
p.s Thanks to CodeProject for helping make every year (of the last twelve I've been a member) a year of finding knowledge, inspiration, education, comradeship, challenge, laughter, friendships, and, even wisdom !
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
modified 3-Sep-14 1:33am.
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Bill,
Not too far behind me. "It's My Party" - I remember it well. Happy birthday!
Dave.
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Thanks, Dave !
It is good to be a "sober survivor," with the mind quite clear, memory excellent, the imagination still hyperactive, and the body still quite powerful without any major problems, and imbued with a bottomless curiosity about life, people, programming, literature. And, perhaps, even a bit of topless curiosity as well 
I hope you share your equivalent version of my "strangely happy state."
cheers, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
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Sorry to hear about your hemorrhoids  . Oh, right. Happy Birthday Bill 
Soren Madsen
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
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My sincere thanks, Soren, for your birthday greets !
As for itching: it's all in my head, these daze.
cheers, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
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Happy birthday!
Did you reconnect with your parents?
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Jörgen Andersson wrote: Did you reconnect with your parents?
Jorgen, thanks for you birthday greetings !
Ah, the "reconnection" with the parental-unit gene donors: that is a long story (as in twelve years long), and does not have a happy ending. Probably best it inspire my attempts at writing fiction, but not be recounted.
cheers, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
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I wish you felicitations, as opposed to congratulations, on the (quite reasonable) grounds that the latter imply some sort of effort on your behalf in staying alive these many moons, while the former (in my eyes, at least) include more of a wish for happiness.
As someone once said...
ไม่ได้อาศัยอยู่ในอดีตที่ผ่านมาไม่ได้ฝันของอนาคตสมาธิจิตใจในขณะปัจจุบัน
And, what the heck, have a happy birthday too.
PooperPig - Coming Soon
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Thanks, _Maxxx_, for your birthday greeting !
ไม่ได้อาศัยอยู่ในอดีตที่ผ่านมาไม่ได้ฝันของอนาคตสมาธิจิตใจในขณะปัจจุบัน That's a lovely thought from (or, at least, possibly, inspired by verse 348 in) the Dhammapada. An excellent discussion of the emergence of that quote, attributed to the historical Gautama Buddha, in modern times, and its (possibly altered) meaning, can be found here: [^].
If only I could truly live by the profound truth embodied in such teachings !
cheers, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
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As one who has had the privilege of a personal, one-on-one exchange of messages with Bill, I feel Congratulations is in order as well.
Soren Madsen
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
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Wish u a very Happy Birthday Bill!!!
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Your choice of Namaste, Namaskaram, or Vannakkum, Dinesh-ji,
Thanks you for your kind thoughts !
yours, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
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Your choice of words have surprised me!!Nice to see them being used appropriately!!!
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Quote: May God bless you and guard you. May God make His face shed light upon you and be gracious unto you. May God lift up His face unto you and give you peace.
Best wishes...![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)
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I appreciate your birthday message very much.
Shalom, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
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"A man is not old until his regrets take the place of dreams"
--- John Barrymore
My most heartfelt congratulations, felicitations, and enthusiastic contrafibularities of the day!
You looking for sympathy?
You'll find it in the dictionary, between sympathomimetic and sympatric
(Page 1788, if it helps)
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Thanks, OriginalGriff, you know you are one of the people I really look up to here on CP, since I am closer to the Equator which, I am told, is south of Wales. I take comfort you are out there, even if far over my horizon.
cheers, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
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BillWoodruff wrote: I Can Cry If I Want To
Actually you can't help it. You get more emotional when getting old. 
PS: What I actually meant to say: Happy Birthday! Cheers ![Beer | [beer]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/beer.gif)
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V. wrote: Actually you can't help it. You get more emotional when getting old.
Well, Dear V, I appreciate the birthday greets ! But, I must confess that, in my case, I am much less emotional the older I get.
Oh Yeah, in my twenties I was a virtual professional emoter, specializing in poetic pathos, wistful angst, "the road not taken" flavor of self-indulgence.
However, I was told by many people ... some of them friends ... that I was a very amusing fool.
cheers, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
modified 5-Sep-14 1:53am.
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"Happy birthday, happy birthday"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCqKMJiFj8A[^]
-Altered Images.
Soon to become an import only, due to 'altered states'.
Whatever will England do without them? Oh well. I expect we'll muddle through. 
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Félicitations, Bill.
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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Yes, I can relate to all of that, I was at a similar juncture in 1965. And nice to know there's at least one CPian older than me.
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Happy birthday Bill!
I'm a fan of your 'signature' long posts everytime. In this post you have mentioned everything briefly but still I feel the big length.
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Happy birthday.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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