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		<dateCreated>Sun, 02 May 2010 07:01:06 GMT</dateCreated>
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		<ownerName>Dave Winer (Larry King)</ownerName>
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		<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:01:12 GMT" text="It's my party...">
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:01:17 GMT" text="&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl%27s_Moving_Castle_%28film%29&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.scripting.com/archiveScriptingCom/2010/05/02/grandma.gif&quot; width=&quot;145&quot; height=&quot;121&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;right&quot; hspace=&quot;15&quot; vspace=&quot;5&quot; alt=&quot;A picture named grandma.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;In the early days when I was starting up &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scripting.com/davenet/&quot;&gt;DaveNet&lt;/a&gt;, which led to this blog a few years later, I would write the most self-indulgent essays in the days leading up to my birthday. They were also my best. "></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:02:13 GMT" text="I finally wrote a book proposal this week. I think it's a good one. It's a book I'd like to read, so I'm pretty sure I'll like to write it. My agent said &quot;you know they'll say it's just &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism&quot;&gt;narcissism&lt;/a&gt; and all that,&quot; and I'll say (as I said to him) show me some writing that isn't. "></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:04:24 GMT" text="And if you choose to write on your birthday, that's pure narcissism. &quot;;-&gt;&quot;"></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:04:43 GMT" text="&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_%28mythology%29&quot;&gt;Narcissus&lt;/a&gt;, the Greek, sat by the river and gazed at his reflection, in awe of his beauty, so fixed he froze in place. Why move when you've found perfection?"></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 08:00:19 GMT" text="One nice thing about the far west side of Manhattan. After a hot day the middle of the night cool breeze smells of the ocean. Not just any ocean but the ocean of sleepovers at my grandmother's &lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=beach+146th+st,+neponsit,+ny&amp;sll=40.733373,-74.004711&amp;sspn=0.012861,0.017166&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Beach+146th+St,+Queens,+New+York+11694&amp;ll=40.573438,-73.863624&amp;spn=0.001612,0.002146&amp;t=h&amp;z=19&amp;layer=c&amp;cbll=40.573606,-73.863496&amp;panoid=mO--SvupbX2ShsT6nPCJIQ&amp;cbp=12,43.31,,0,4.55&quot;&gt;Rockaway house&lt;/a&gt;, as a kid, a long long time ago."></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:05:41 GMT" text="In &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl%27s_Moving_Castle_%28film%29&quot;&gt;Howl's Moving Castle&lt;/a&gt;, a movie I saw for the first time a couple of days ago, a teen girl named Sophie has a spell cast on her by a witch. It transforms her into an old woman in an instant. It's exactly the spell that life casts on all of us! (I suspect the author realized this.) "></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:12:18 GMT" text="Sophie quickly learns that being old is harder than it looks. And in some ways more satisfying. &quot;When you're old all you want to do is stare at the sea,&quot; she says. &quot;It's so strange, I've never felt so peaceful before.&quot; I know what she's talking about. I too find I can just sit and watch and feel great. "></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:20:45 GMT" text="On the other hand, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Davis&quot;&gt;Bette Davis&lt;/a&gt; said old age is no place for sissies. My father quoted her often, in his last year, which was a very hard year indeed."></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:07:53 GMT" text="Kurt Vonnegut in his memoir, at 82, refuses blame for the awful state of the world. &quot;It's not my fault,&quot; he protests -- &quot;I just got here!&quot; "></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:08:59 GMT" text="Fifty-five. 55. Not 44, not 33, not 22, not 11. "></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:23:26 GMT" text="55 birthdays. Almost &lt;i&gt;two months&lt;/i&gt; of birthdays. You'd think I'd have it down. Every one is different but in some ways they're all the same. It's the one day when the party is about you. It's all yours. If you get choked up and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsYJyVEUaC4&quot;&gt;cry&lt;/a&gt;, it's okay -- it's your day. All yours. "></outline>
			<outline created="Sun, 02 May 2010 07:15:47 GMT" text="You can call me old for this one day -- I &lt;i&gt;feel&lt;/i&gt; old, in a bittersweet way. But tomorrow it's back to normal, just plain sweet, and if you call me old I'll whack you with the cane I don't have. At least not yet. &quot;;-&gt;&quot;"></outline>
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