JUMPING FOR JOY

In the big city daily newspaper we get, there is a little blurb on the People in the News page that is called “Another Year Older.” It lists all the supposedly famous people who are celebrating their birthdays on the date the paper is issued. I usually check it out, just for the heck of it--in fact, I can remember checking it out decades ago when I was younger than most of the names listed.

It’s not that way anymore. And I’m finding that the older I get the fewer so-called celebrities I know. If they’re under 40, I’m usually clueless. Here’s a recent sample: actor-rapper Jerod Mixon (aka: Big Tyme) 28, rock musician Cody Hanson 27 (Is he one of the Hanson brothers? No, that’s Isaac, Zak, and Taylor. Who IS he?), country singer Billy Gillman 21(a cross between Billy Ray Cyrus and Vince Gill?), actor Cayden Boyd 15, actor Corbin Allred, 30, blah, blah, the list goes on and on of these birthday kids who are obscure in my mind. I’m a faithful subscriber/reader of Entertainment Weekly, and I still don’t know who they are.

Now, I'm privileged enough to share my own birthday with one famous person that we ALL know. Mr. Maniac Chair Jumper himself, Tom Cruise (aka: Suri’s Dad). Actually, I’m not too keen on sharing my special day with such a blow-hard. I’ve boycotted his movies ever since he was on "The Today Show" four years ago pontificating about his expert knowledge of post-partum depression and psychiatry. But I digress. I’m going to Google the unknown Cayden Boyd’s name to see what makes him an acting icon at age 15. If he’s anything less than an Academy Award winner, the little snot-nose nobody can forget receiving a birthday present from The Flaming Bore.