"SING YOUR LIFE"

May 20th almost always sticks out for me. It's my paternal grandmother's yartzeit to begin with, so the day usually has me thinking of her. So, that usually bleeds over to a day or two before and after. And, for whatever reason, the funniest/weirdest things have historically happened around me every year on this day. (Maybe because today is also Bronson Pinchot and Busta Rhymes' birthday, there is a special magic in the air, har.)

Take the past few years that I've blogged, par example. Two years ago today, my cousin got married (he planned a wedding on the same day our grandmother peeled; way to go, dude) which involved: the cake tipping, the best toast ever, my brother getting stitches and a concusion, my mother sliding down a fire pole and somehow some homemade Greek moonshine showing up. Nice.

Last year, the whole week was memorable. Highlights you might recall from this week last year include seeing Morrissey in Indianapolis, witnessing that really gross four-part decapitation on the highway after a leg of book touring, toying with the idea of packing it in and setting up as an organic farmer, I thought my eyeball was going to explode, and my grandparents and I had a nice giggle together about dropping f-bombs on my blog and my fondness for tattoos.

Also, a year ago today, the Fixx Reading Series was two days away from existing. Which led to Pilcrow in ways I can't even begin to explain to you. None of it even existed a year ago. What a difference a year makes. It's hard for me to measure my own life, especially where professional sort of milestones are concerned, because here I am looking through the same eyes day in and day out and seeing mostly the details and blah blah blah. But, when I step out once in a while and put my life in the context of things I did a month , a year, a decade ago, well, that makes me feel pretty okay.

UPDATE, May 20, 2011: And to continue the historically odd goings-on in the life of Guth on and around May 20th, this May 20th was (a) ushered in with a foul mood that led to a conversation that led to a great day and (b) Twitter was devoted almost entirely to speculating about the Rapture, which has been predicted for tomorrow. So it goes.