Mike hits the Big Five-Oh

My buddy Mike (below, far left, glasses and 'stache—pic taken August 2018), the feared curator of Naked Villainy, turns fifty today. The Big Five-Oh. The ol' half-century.

Mike and I are the open and closed parentheses surrounding the July 20, 1969 moon landing: Mike was born a month before the landing, on June 15, and I was born a month after, on August 31. Mike and I didn't meet until the third grade, but once we met, we got along famously. We've followed different life-paths, but we've always been best friends. Mike's been a history buff since he was a kid; I used to be a science nerd, but I got more into religion and religious studies around college. Neither of us does work that has any relevance to our college degrees: Mike works with his brother-in-law (also a Mike) in property management, and I've worked in the EFL field—first as a teacher, and now as a prole in EFL publishing.* Whereas I remain single and childless (and probably will forever, at this rate), Mike married in 1995 (I was his best man, of course), and he now has three kids: two daughters and a son. His eldest daughter also happens to be my goddaughter. Turns out she's a science nerd; that's what she's doing in college. Her sister, also in college, is a science nerd, too.

Mike's away on a trip this weekend, reliving—according to him—his 10th birthday by road-tripping to historical sites he had visited when he was young. I ordered Mike a birthday present from Amazon before I knew he was going to be away; the package arrived on Friday, after Mike and family had departed, so it'll be waiting for him upon his return. Mike said he's been feeling rather blah lately; maybe it's the mid-century blues, or maybe it's something else. Here's hoping his trip down memory lane proves therapeutic for him. He shouldn't feel too sad: I'll be following him over the Cliffs of Fifty in another couple of months.

Happy Birthday, old friend!

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*In undergrad, I majored in French and went through a certificate program to become a French teacher, which meant taking a slew of courses in linguistics and pedagogy, so in a sense, I do have a background, thanks to my French major, in what I'm currently doing in EFL publishing. But what I now do has nothing to do with my Master's degree, which is in religious studies. Just thought I'd clarify that point.