January 12, 2021

"There came a moment, around the time I turned 70...."

 

"The situation this country is facing is anything but amusing"/"Oh, who cares? Honestly. One of the few joys of being as old as we both are is it is not our problem."

I just happened to reach Episode 5 of Season 3 of "The Crown" last night, the eve of my own 70th birthday. The episode title is "The Coup."

52 comments:

brylun said...

Happy Birthday! May you have many more! And, thank you for this blog.

Big Mike said...

Happy Seventieth!

BUMBLE BEE said...

You say it's your bithday... happy birthday to you

BUMBLE BEE said...

birthday!

wendybar said...

Happy, Happy!!!

Big Mike said...

@BUMBLE BEE, Wikipedia says Ann Althouse’s DOB is January 12, 1951. Consequently it seems reasonable to accept her assertion that today is her birthday.

brylun said...

The Beatles, Birthday

BUMBLE BEE said...

brylun gets it, so does Ann.

Eleanor said...

Happy Birthday! That was good advice.

Lucien said...

Happy Birthday Ann.

Humperdink said...

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (Psa 90:10)

I will hit three score and ten in two months. Our days are numbered. How many days are we allotted? How we use them? My only two brothers never made it to three score. I think about that regularly.

Clyde said...

Happy birthday, Althouse. And thanks for keeping us entertained and informed over the past couple of decades.

David Begley said...

Happy birthday, Ann.

Where’s the party?

TickTock said...

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.

Happy Birthday

rehajm said...

For your birthday you get tyrannical dictators.

Mazo Jeff said...

Happy Birthday, Ann. My birthday was yesterday 1/11. I turned 72 and I have been saying the exact same thing. The coming challenge/catastrophe is not the circus called Washington but the spending by the clowns. $24 trillion in debt requires interest expense let alone debt service as bonds mature. When interest rates rise to historic norms,the interest payments will consume the federal budget. Good news is we won't be around to worry about it. SO I DON'T CARE!!!!

rehajm said...

When interest rates rise to historic norms,the interest payments will consume the federal budget. Good news is we won't be around to worry about it

Are you planning to die before October?

Temujin said...

Happy 70th Ann!! :) All my best friends are nearing or turning (or passing?) 70 these days. I'd like to count you among them. We're not old. We're becoming refined?

I often wonder how my friends can be 70 when I'm still 23. That one continues to baffle me.

Anyway, wishing you a good year, a peaceful year. Well...one can wish.

AJ Ford said...

Happy Birthday Ann.
Please do not heed the old lady in the bed. The older generation owes the younger its wisdom, even if it is ignored.

mezzrow said...

Happy Birthday, Althouse. Your post reflects the thoughts of the Mezzrow household.

The Mrs. and I watch the world melt down around us and sit through our house arrest, self-imposed as it may be in the Sunshine State. How does one get by? You look at the person you love, and you know this song is what you're living.

The world and all it's capers and how it all will end.
Nothing seems to be lasting, but that isn't our affair.
We've got something permanent, I mean in the way we care...

It's very clear our love is here to stay.
Not for a year, but ever and a day.
The radio and the telephone.
And the movies that we know.
May just be passing fancies and in time may go.
But, oh my dear, our love is here to stay.
Together were going a long, long way.
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they're only made of clay.
But our love is here to stay.


All the best to you and Meade. We'll see what comes next.

Tank said...

Happy Birthday AA !

stevew said...

Happy Birthday. May it be great.

ellie said...

Happy 70th birthday, Ann! Hope your day is blessed with sunshine and goodness. So grateful for your presence in this world.

MayBee said...

Happy Birthday!!! You really are a gift!

Inga said...

Happy Birthday, turning 70 is a milestone, isn’t it? Or is it? You’re only a day older than when you were still 69.

Tommy Duncan said...

Happy Birthday. I know from your intellect and activities that you have aged well. Best wishes for your next 70 years.

Sebastian said...

"One of the few joys of being as old as we both are is it is not our problem."

But I do appreciate that you still act like you care--and of course, that you provide this forum, as long as it lasts.

Enjoy the day.

Howard said...

Happy birthday... 70 is the new 50. That means millennials are still teenagers.

Barry Dauphin said...

Happy Birthday!

Linda said...

Happiest of birthdays Ann!

wild chicken said...

Happy birthday! Going on 72 myself.

Yes it is nice.

Just, when people talk about separation, which side pays my pension, red or blue?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Happy Birthday and many more!

Gulistan said...

That's one of films greatest "who cares?"

HBD, Anne. Thanks for all you do.

Dave Begley said...

If there are not 300 comments here by the end of the day, I'll be sorely disappointed.

Dan said...

Happy Birthday Ann!

Joe Smith said...

"Oh, who cares? Honestly. One of the few joys of being as old as we both are is it is not our problem."

Sounds like a capital/capitol notion.

But some of us have kids in their/there 20s/30s.

And besides, it's the principle/principal of the thing.

Joe Smith said...

"Where’s the party?"

Maybe we can all (like Scott Adams) do a simultaneous sip in her honor.

Something stronger than coffee.

David53 said...

I'm close behind you age wise, how do you feel about hitting 70? When I hit 50 it took a few years for me to mentally accept I wasn't in my forties anymore, same thing when I hit 60. I had a great party but didn't really feel like I was in my 60s until I was about 62. I love your writing, especially your fisking, happy birthday!

Bob Smith said...

I’m 81 and until those Trump supporters died at the Capitol I was trying to see this clobberfork of a government as a giant 24/7 stand up comedy routine. It is pretty funny to us old folks.

tcrosse said...

Welcome to Septuagenarians Anonymous.

virgil xenophon said...

THE BIG 70! Congrats, AA! I'm sure it's a "Happy" Birthday for you as you seem to be someone who's comfortable in your own skin at any age..I always thought I'd never make it past fifty myself considering my hedonistic lifestyle, but here I am at 76, so for me all things considered, each and every day is icing on the cake! :)

PS: You seem like a great all-round gal (tho unfortunately use of the appellation "gal" is viewed as sexist by many these days) And your blog is not exactly half-bad either! :) (Actually damned enjoyable "cough-cough")

FWBuff said...

Happy Birthday, Professor!

dreams said...

Yeah, my oldest brother and only surviving sibling and I both agree that we were lucky to be born in the very best of times, in the forties, and getting to grow up in the fifties. It was such an innocent time and I'm not forgetting that we didn't have indoor plumbing, not much money but it was still a wonderful childhood getting to grow up on a farm located close to our small town and school. Our farm was probably not a good farm for making a good living but it was a great farm for providing recreation with lots of woods and caves. Plus, we had good neighbors with shared backgrounds. We didn't have to lock our doors at night, our old farmhouse doors didn't even have locks. I'm 76 years old too and my retirement has been great, I've had a ball trading shares of stock and making money. I only hope I can avoid mental deterioration and a bad end.

CStanley said...

Happy birthday....great clip!

I’m a bit younger (56) and although I understand the “who cares?” sentiment it’s hard to not worry about your kids. I wonder if it becomes easier to let go of even that over time. If nothing else I guess there’s the acceptance phase as in the Serenity prayer- having the wisdom to know that it’s pointless to worry about the things that aren’t within our power to control.

lavinia said...

Happy Birthday, Ann. So pleased to have made your acquaintance. May you live long and prosper, and thank you.

William said...

Happy birthday. Perhaps this is is the year you should think of getting a small, tasteful tattoo on your right buttocks to show solidarity with the younger generation. Or perhaps, you can go the curmudgeon route and ditch the smart phone. Either path is acceptable when you're old....I'm in my late seventies and suffer from creeping curmudgeonitis. The good thing is that the world is not my problem, but the down side is that I have to live in a world inhabited by strange aliens with weird customs.....This doesn't reflect well on me, but I think it would be kind of cool if Greta turns out to be right and everyone on earth undergoes famines, droughts and horrible deaths a few years after I pass away. Serve the bastards right....I was presently surprised to learn that my time on earth didn't end in a nuclear holocaust. I worried about a much nastier apocalypse than these privileged snots. We all get the apocalypse we deserve.

Rabel said...

Happy Birthday, Althouse.

Rosalyn C. said...

Happy Birthday and many more!

You are older than me, by 2 days.

Thanks for the greatest blog ever!

Deb said...


Yom Huledet Sameach! biz hundert un tsvantsik (until a hundred and twenty!)

Chris N said...

Happy Birthday Ann

stephen cooper said...

Happy Birthday !!!!!
Your parents pulled a winning lottery ticket

Focko Smitherman said...

Happy birthday Althouse. Sherwood Anderson supposedly once described FDR as having a "forested mind." Don't think I agree there, but it's a lovely phrase,and I think it applies to you, Althouse. You have a forested mind.