Author: Jenn Goddu

Jenn Goddu http://www.birthdayarebest.com I am a writer, editor, and writing coach who also blogs about birthdays!

Bollywood Birthday Bummers

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In the birthday news updates I receive daily, there were recently two different Indian film superstars waxing unenthusiastic about birthdays.

Rehka, who turned 62 on October 10, doesn’t celebrate life on Diwali, Eid, Christmas or birthdays. The actress [pictured above] told Bollywood News, “For me every single day is a blessing and a boon. And I want to squeeze every drop of life out of every single day.”

Me, I squeeze extra life out of every single birthday.

However, I agree with her other thoughts on birthdays: “If anything birthdays should be a reminder that there’s so much more in life to explore, and so much magic waiting to happen. I’d rather spend each day of my life trying to correct the mistakes and improving the quality of my existence rather than cutting a cake, and whooping it up.”

Also, in the counter-cake-cutting camp is Amitabh Bachchan. The Bollywood megastar turned 74 telling India TV how he really feels about cake cutting. The station translated his remarks as:

“I have asked to stop the tradition of cake cutting because I do not know why a cake is bought. Why a candle is lit? And after lighting it up, why is it blown off. Then comes a big knife!…After all the ‘theatrics’ another trend is followed…cake is smeared all over the face.”

OK, I see the not wanting cake smeared on your face. Especially at 74 when you wear glasses and have fine facial hair! Yet, his questions about why candle blowing have been answered already in this blog — and the ceremony of smashing a cake at age one has been addressed too.

I’d argue the cake cutting and whooping it up these two stars deride is a lovely tradition. Some traditions are celebrated for you and for others too. After all, even my co-workers who are currently on a sugar fast saved some of my office birthday cake for later. Cake cutting is a tradition that brings people together in song and the excitement of wishing someone well. Even despite the opinions of a few famous Bollywood stars.

 

10 Reasons not to work on a birthday

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Jumping for joy in sunset

Photo credit: Droid Gingerbread via Foter.com / CC BY

October 6 marked the second anniversary of this blog. Yippee.

It also marked the who knows how many anniversary of me not working on my birthday.

As a freelancer, I used to make sure I had no interviews or articles to write on my special day.

When I taught, I would always make sure that my classes had a paper to revise or research that day. Or perhaps I’d assign an online scavenger hunt. But I didn’t go to class and teach.

Now, with a regular office job, I took the day off. Unpaid even as I’m out of vacation days. Even still — it’s worth it.

Why? Here are my 10 ten reasons:

  1. Sleeping in. Even now that I have a kid to get on the bus in the morning, I can still go back to bed afterwards and snooze a little longer.
  2. Getting to read in bed before starting the day in earnest. Always a treat.
  3. No time limit on birthday lunch. It can take as long as I want and be wherever I want. I would love for it to be at Pompeii, my favorite Italian sandwich shop in Chicago, but living in North Carolina makes that more difficult these days.
  4. Flexibility on movie matinee. By going to a movie in the middle of a weekday on my birthday, I can see whatever movie I want without worrying whether or not the person accompanying me will also enjoy it.
  5. Time for a leisurely chai. With a book, outside on a sunny Fall day is even better.
  6. Ability to shop without a child in tow (and parent who enjoys retail therapy gets me there). Plus, there’s the added benefit that buying things on your birthday is really just getting yourself presents and therefore totally legit.
  7. Exercise without a deadline. Since I don’t have to go to the office, I can go on a hike or go for a run or go to a Zumba class (if I am so motivated) without the pressure of getting home and showered and back out again in time for work.
  8. Dinner reservations made easier. Simply book a table at a favorite restaurant without worrying about finishing up a task at work before the appointed time.
  9. Luxury to decide not to do any of the above things and simply hang out on the sofa all day watching HGTV.
  10. Me time. Everyone needs a mental health day every once in a while. I make my birthday a day to do whatever I want to do, without guilt. The only mandate is that I relax and enjoy myself. To me, even as I move into my mid-40s, that is what birthdays are all about.

Well, that and cake…always cake.

melted birthday candles

Photo credit: kevin dooley via Foter.com / CC BY

 

Birthday Games for App Generation

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There’s a new release exciting the gamer population. I too was excited when I saw the title. — Birthdays the Beginning is due out in early 2017. It’s the latest from the developer of Harvest Moon (and apparently that means something big in gamer world).

I’ve checked out the simulation game screen shots and related press. I’m disappointed. The only the reason it’s related to birthdays is because the game sees you birthing an entire ecosystem. One advance blurb summarizes the premise as follows:

A garden game in which players create cube-shaped worlds that give rise to diverse and unique lifeforms. Shape the geography and alter the temperature of each world to create the conditions for life and witness the birth of an entire ecosystem!

Sigh. I don’t see any cupcakes, balloons, or party favors in any of the screenshots. The closest we get is this one in which it could be thought a creature is floating alongside some scorching birthday fireworks (or cakes with too many candles˚).

Birthdays the Beginning game shot

Image source: Steam

I looked online to see what kinds of games exist in the app store related to this special event in all of our lives.

My Birthday Party — The Game lets you choose a birthday boy, girl or pet, bake a virtual cake, set the table, open presents and blow out the candles. All without any cleanup required. No wonder the kids involved have such saucer eyes!

Birthday Party Game App

Toca Birthday Party has the same idea and even lets you shoot fun party poppers. Apparently you also put things away in the dishwasher after party planning goes well, so I guess there’s a lesson in there too.

The Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Party is about a “super-fun party for Brobee’s fourth birthday” and kids help catch falling plates, find matching gifts, swing at a pinata and play party hat shuffle along with their favorite characters from the show.

Baby Panda’s Birthday Party creates “a warm and happy atmosphere” as you help celebrate Kiki’s birthday with cream cakes and donuts waving at you.

You might have noticed all of these games are toddler focused. Boo. I don’t see why an adult can’t enjoy birthday game fun too. My suggestion?

Birthday Balloon Blast. You pop birthday balloons in a Tetris/Candy Crush kind of way, but then once the level is complete you get to unwrap a present with a reward for the next level.

What interactive and fun game might you suggest that could be birthday themed?

Birthday Cards Welcome — Kids and Critters Edition

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Last week I shared some of the more entertaining birthday card examples I found in a great stationary shop in Charlotte, Paper Skyscraper. Go if you have the chance. It’s a fun place to wander for cards, gifts, wrapping paper and books, too.

I didn’t want to overload you, so this week is the kids and critter edition. So much cuteness in this collection. Enjoy.

This juxtaposition makes me smile:

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Oh, I was so this girl:

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(Except there is no way I would have worn yellow shoes. Only did that once, for a play, and felt like I had banana feet).

Here’s for the cat lover:

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And fun for fans of Happy Feet’s penguins:

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But really, I can’t resist returning to the humorous cards that are more my style. This one is for the wine-lovers amongst us:

The favorite of this post is funny one likely targeting the friend you share too many Cosmos with:

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OK, now having seen all of these, don’t you just want to head out to your neighborhood independent shop and actually find a paper, folded, card to sign, stamp and send to a birthday boy or girl?

In the future I plan to share some of the original cards I find in etsy shops. So let me know if you have suggestions. Plus, I’m always happy to check out a cool gift shop, so tell me if there’s one with a great selection of birthday cards that I can peruse and possibly share.

Birthday Cards Welcome

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The trend these days is to post a birthday greeting on a friend or family member’s Facebook page or other social media — and that’s it. Yet there remains a minority of people who reach out in other ways.

I’ve written in the past about:

Today, though, I thought I’d share some of the actual paper birthday cards that I found at a Charlotte shop — Paper Skyscraper — to demonstrate the wide range of options out there if you took that extra step to send birthday mail. Yes, this could be considered a hint as my birthday is less than a month away!

This one is right up my birthday princess alley:

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Then there’s this familiar take from the not-so-humble card sender:

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I also appreciate the humor in this one:

Or this one’s pretty funny too:

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But there is a plethora of even more risque ones that I don’t need on my mantelpiece:

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The sarcasm of this one probably makes it my favorite of this gallery:

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Look forward to the animals and small children collection of cards I’m sharing next week! In the meantime, there’s still time to take my crazy short survey on birthdays which I am using to non-scientifically sample people on my favorite day of the year.

 

Birthday Party Song Disruption

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Those who read The Verge will know the publication regularly covers disruptive technologies and innovations. Much to my surprise, though, there was recently an article on a man seeking to “disrupt the Happy Birthday song.”

Of course, I had to read on. I expected I would want to be sarcastically dismissive (you probably did too if you’re a loyal reader of this blog). Yet, I like Greg May’s idea.

He has recorded thousands upon thousands of versions of a personalized “Happy Birthday” song he wrote. As of this writing, May’s YouTube channel, named 1HappyBirthday, featured over 310,000 videos for 31,479 different names.

The Verge reported: “All of the songs have been individually recorded by only two singers. The first singer quit after two years; the second, a part-time singer, has recorded nearly 20,000 of May’s birthday songs. Which, intentionally or not, makes her one of the most prolific recording artists of all time.”

May started out with his project by looking up the 400 most popular names in America and writing and recording his own birthday songs for those names. Now, though, he’s expanded internationally, and his site claims more than a million people have enjoyed a personalized birthday song.

The site announces: “It’s fun. It’s one of a kind. It’s wild. It’s catchy. It’s 1 personalized Birthday song just for your birthday.”

May himself told Verge: “Some people just hate it and write that the song is out of tune or ridiculous. Others write to me with amazing stories of how important the song was to them or a child or friend. I recognize that the song may not be for everyone [..] If taken too seriously, is just plain weird. But it also features a person’s name 10 times, so hopefully they like at least that part of the song.”

My own name was the most popular girl’s name in 1972, so I didn’t even bother checking the list for that. Instead, I searched for my niece Kiera. The song for the name with that spelling has a different pronunciation. I tried Kiara as well, but it is the Kiira version that suits. Good thing, because the request form actually says no more name can be added to the production list until 2017!

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My niece turned 18 last month! This was her 10 years ago; I didn’t want to get in as much trouble for putting her picture on the blog!

A party for the animals — such cuteness!

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This blog is devoted to the media- and social media-savvy practice of celebrating birthdays at zoos around the world. This, my dear blog readers, is marketing genius. Tell me you don’t want to smile when you see, for instance, this one-year-old panda cub’s chubby birthday face:

In looking at images of this party, I noticed tons of people gathered in Singapore’s National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur to gawk at the panda party! Although in Time’s video Liang Liang is completely uninterested in her cake, the 10-year-old shows more interest in the Wall Street Journal slide show.
Yes, I did just name Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal covering the birthday parties of pandas in Malaysia. Still doubt the animal birthday party’s appeal as good press for global zoos?

The Adelaide zoo also celebrated a double panda birthday party this month:

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A trio of panda cubs devoured frozen cakes made of diluted juice and flowers made of fruit at the National Zoo in DC earlier this month, too.

Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, giant pandas were treated to ice lollies of mushed up apples and water frozen on bamboo sticks.

Don’t worry, it’s not only pandas who enjoy birthday treats at the zoo!

A zoo in Utah this month feted its elephant Zuri’s seventh birthday with a Star Wars-themed birthday….because Zuri must be a big fan of the series and dreams of taking a tusk to the evil Count Dooku. The zoo posted a Facebook live stream too.

Less recent zoo birthday fun includes:

A hippo in Thailand turning 42!

 

Tasmanian Devils at the Australia Zoo!

And as I am a particular fan of the bears at the zoo, I will end with this polar bear birthday party in Munich.polar-bear-twins.jpg

The best part is seeing the images as the traffic cone becomes an interesting toy — maybe like a lampshade at a holiday party?

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Destination Birthday Trend Sounds Great!

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It’s time to fully embrace the destination birthday. I regularly schedule travel around my birthday as I can better justify the expense as a birthday present to me. But only once so far have I embarked on a milestone birthday celebration with a friend — we went to Miami and loved basking in the sun and drinking mojitos.

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The mojitos are looking a little low in the glass there…

Yet “more people are choosing to celebrate their big birthdays and anniversaries far from home—inviting everyone along for a blowout trip,” according to The Wall Street Journal. 

It’s a great idea that I am happy to get on board with.

Milestone birthdays cause anxiety in some (or worse) while others take greater risks and embrace adventure. Clearly, the ones who decide to travel ambitiously are in the latter camp.

A full 75% of adults 45 and over have taken, or plan to take, one of these “celebration vacations,” according to AARP research released this year, cited by the WSJ.

Part of the appeal is that spending quality time with one another somewhere different is more about valuing each other’s company than it is about buying gifts. Of course, the WSJ reporter (who went to Napa to celebrate a birthday) does concede this can be costly.

Still, there are some great ideas shared in the article:

  • A woman invited 15 of her friends (who didn’t all know one another yet) to stay in six-bedroom villa she rented in Jamaica to mark her 50th.
  • A Canadian man joined five buddies from high school on a motorcycling Italian tour for his 50th.
  • Another group of duffers played famous golf courses in Scotland to celebrate 50.
  • A tour operator invited 80 people to join her 50th fete in the Peruvian Andes, complete with an optional cruise up the Amazon.
  • 15 coffee lovers traveled the Colombian countryside for coffee tastings, salsa dancing and a bamboo river-raft float.

The thorough article rounds out with advice for the etiquette of this kind of birthday event — e.g. no gifts needed. But, fair warning if you do invite me along to your destination birthday, I was too busy already imagining where I might travel on my next milestone birthday to read the rules too carefully.

Where would you go? Would you travel with family or friends or both?

P.S. Apologies to anyone who read this already when I inadvertently published it and then made a big mess of it’s url history. Now, for it to appear on the actual blog (not just in people’s email) I am reposting. 

Birthday Bargains or “Bargoons”

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Birthday Free Stuff

Photo credit: JwvanEck via Foter.com / CC BY-NC

It has been a long time coming, but here — at last — is the free stuff on your birthday blog.

I have mentioned in the past my own family’s habit, when I was younger, of going each birthday to Baskin-Robbins for a free scoop of ice cream. Rainbow sherbet for me please! Although now it’s in stiff competition with gold medal ribbon. We would get a postcard in the mail rewarding us as members of the BR birthday club.

I have signed my son up for the online equivalent, but it is not quite a childhood tradition in his mind yet.

He is also part of a Toys R Us membership club that has Geoffrey the Giraffe sending him a bday gift certificate for some nominal amount each year. Since it is only $2 or so, he is unaware of this corporation’s good wishes. I do not want to let him loose in the store and have to make up the difference. I did so once, and he ended up with roller skates. Yes, I can be a sucker.

Nevertheless, part of enjoying the day you are born is taking advantage of marketing ploys to congratulate you on your good fortune in being born.

Here are some of the offerings I found in an online search (though membership in the loyalty club is often the price you must pay since nothing is truly free):

  • Ice cream. Along with 31 flavors, you can also enjoy a scoop at Ben and Jerry’s or Coldstone Creamery.
  • Chai. Or for those who like coffee, you can get a caffeine kick that way too at Starbucks with a free drink on your birthday.
  • Hardware. Yep, loyalty club members get a $5 birthday certificate.
  • Shoes. DSW sends its club members a $5 gift certificate.
  • Appetizers. Restaurants such as Chili’s or Lone Star Steakhouse send you a certificate for a free appetizer.
  • Breakfast. Einstein’s will give club members a free bagel. Denny’s lets birthday celebrants chow down on a free original grand slam of pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

It’s all in the name of marketing, of course. But, it’s your birthday — enjoy! Although I will also remind you, as much as I love a “bargoon,” that your birthday is a good day to treat yourself too.

Baby born against 48M-to-one odds!

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The media often tells us about babies being born “against all odds.” Yet little Libbie Ballingall, born this month in Britain, takes the proverbial cake (birthday cake of course).

The infant girl was born August 1 at 6 pounds, 3 ounces. Yet what makes her particularly unique?

Birthday Baby

Image source: The Mirror

Libbie was born on the same birth date as her Mom and her Dad. Yes, the parents already celebrated a joint birthday. Now, the family will have to spread the joy over all three of them on the same date!

Plus, before you put a damper on this amazing coincidence, the little girl was not induced to come nine days late.

Her Mom told the Mirror, “The day before she arrived I was hoping she would wait, we never thought it would happen though. It is just bizarre.”

The mother also said, “Libbie is the best birthday present we could ever have.” So, obviously, she’s a first-time mother!

The nurses at the birthing hospital were pretty thrilled, too. When they found out, they even provided a cake to commemorate the triple birthday. (Surely a nice treat as opposed to the normal hospital pudding offered to a Mom in the maternity ward).

That the mom and dad are already birthday buddies celebrating the same August 1 birthday was pretty impressive. Yet consider too theirs isn’t even a mid-September birthday — the most popular time worldwide to be born.

A British bookie put the odds of a baby being born on its parents’ birthdays at 48,000,000 to 1. As I know absolutely nothing about probability (having changed my major to avoid statistics), I’ll take his word for it. Even though he goes by the odd name “Paddy Power.”

Now here’s a family that should be playing their birthdates at the lottery!