You GOT to be startin’ somethin’. Sing it like Michael Jackson sang it (obviously I don’t remember all the words!) Half the year is over today, so really you got to be starting something.

Tonight is the night before my birthday, and all through the blog not a creature was stirring . . . not even a whale (well, since it’s summer I figured I should pick a creature that swims).

But anyway, it’s June 30th, so let’s talk about whether YOU got to be starting something. Are you where you thought you’d be with all your New Year’s resolutions? If not, then you’ve got half a year left to make them happen.

So let’s all think about startin’ somethin’ . . . ya ya . . . Oh, wait, that’s actually the Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood (a movie, not a song). Anyway, sing Michael’s song today and let’s move on to today’s blog topic — which happens to be about singing your life.

People are always asking me how I’m in such a good mood all of the time. I’m always in a good mood. I feel good from the second I wake up until the second I fall asleep.

How do I do it? I spend my entire day singing through life.

I’m not necessarily walking around singing a song all day long. To me, though, life is literally like a song. I’m basically singing all day long.

When I wake up, I’m always feeling really goofy. I’ll wake up with some ridiculous song in my head, like “Bicycle” by Queen. I’ll be making breakfast in the kitchen and in my head I’ll be singing the lyrics “Bicycle, bicycle… I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike…”

I don’t even know all the words, but by doing that I start laughing and cracking myself up. I begin to have a good time.

That is what life is all about. Life is all about having a good time. You should always be singing.

So really think about having different soundtracks going through your head all of the time. Perhaps you get a song stuck in your head that you hear while you’re driving. Sing that song to yourself.

Let yourself go! Most of us walk around like we have a stick so far up our ass. Now what kind of song do you think that would inspire?

Just let it go! Don’t be so serious. Sing the day away.

If you can sing your day away, people will want to be with you. It’s like you’re creating your own concert and the rest of the world is your giant mosh pit. All they will want to do is carry you around all day long.

Start singing!

I bowled a 205!

I know what you’re thinking right now. I have a herniated disc. Is that what it takes to bowl a 205 — to herniate your disc and be put on steroids?

Before you think I spent last night at a bowling alley drinking beer and hanging out in a room full of guys wearing wifebeaters, let me set you straight. I was bowling on a Nintendo Wii.

It was the first time I’d used it. My girlfriend got it for me for Christmas, and it took me six months to get it set up.

According to her, I apparently said sometime I didn’t want that present (although I don’t remember ever saying that). So with my birthday coming up in a few weeks, I figured I’d better get the Christmas present set up before the birthday presents arrived.

Last night my girlfriend thought I didn’t want my birthday surprise, because when we had been walking by a jewelry store I said I didn’t want a money clip we saw in the window. I had the wrong surprise, though, and so now I am walking around all day saying “I want the money clip! I want the money clip!”

Also, before I forget, I need to thank Todd from the blog for the iPhone. Todd and I made a trade. Todd is giving me his old iPhone and I hooked him up with some great stuff.

I still, however, need one more iPhone . . . because it wouldn’t be fair if Daphne didn’t have one too. So I need one. I am willing to do potentially a lot to get it, except switch to AT&T. I really don’t need any rollover minutes; I prefer to roll over in bed.

So here’s the deal. If you have an old iPhone, let’s make a deal! I will be posting the fact that I need an iPhone on the blog until I get one. Need a date? Let’s make a deal. Maybe I’ll let you borrow Daphne for a month to serve as your constant prop and girl-attracting conversation starter. You never know . . . let’s make a deal!

Today’s blog stemmed from something I was thinking about as I was on the beach the morning with Daphne. I got up at 7:45 am this morning because one of Sonja’s instructors at her studio didn’t show up and she had to go fill in and teach the class.

So I got up this Saturday June morning with a Boom Boom in my eye (oops, that’s The Sopranos). As I stood on the beach with summer just about here, I decided to talk about something that is really going to make you think.

It’s going to be short and to the point. I’m going to get you to think about whether you suffer from weekend expectations . . . and, specifically, summer weekend expectations.

Now that it’s summer, are you putting all your eggs in one beach basket? Do you have summer weekend expectations?

Summer is about 90 days long. Are you one of those people who worked really hard to take off a few pounds so that you would look good for the summer? Did you do that because you thought that summer was the season you’d be able to meet someone?

Do you think that every summer occasion is a potential watershed moment in your dating life? Every barbecue, beach party and picnic is potentially THE one you are going to have that life-transforming moment? Do you make summer vacation plans with the same thoughts in your head?

The truth is that summer does not change your mindset. You were brainwashed as a kid. Summer would start, signaling the end of multiplication tables and the beginning of playing kick the can until 9:00 every night. Some of us spoiled kids got to go to summer camp and play with other spoiled kids all day and all night.

Really, though, summer is not like when we were kids. It’s no longer about the expectation of our first kiss and playing day and night, because as kids we didn’t have all the adult fears and excuses.

I’m not trying to poo-poo your summer. I’m trying to give you a little reality here.

Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean your belief system has changed. It’s not like the thermometer automatically warms up your mindset or your attitude. You still have your same shit. It doesn’t just “go away” with the changing of the seasons.

So if you think that summer is going to magically change how you look at things and how things are done, then you need to look at the inside instead of the outside. The beliefs you hold are all on the inside, and they come with you to every barbecue, beach party and picnic.
 
Personally I miss summer as a kid. I had my first girlfriend in the summer. She was one of my first crushes. She had the coolest name too: Summer. I dated Summer in the summer. I called her “my Double Summer.”

Back to the present and it’s “June Gloom” time of the year here in Los Angeles. I live on a beach and can’t swim in the ocean because it’s polluted.

Do you know what though? It’s always summer in my mind, and I’m always enjoying my life. I don’t need a five day forecast or to be invited to the coolest barbecue, because the party is always going on in my mind and life is always amazing.

Have a great June Saturday!

Oh, and one more thing. The new iPhones come out any day now. So remember to get in touch with me if you want to part with your old one!

I really don’t like mine, due to the fact that I always have the attitude that it is just another day. When it comes to making birthdays special for someone you love, however, that’s when the fun starts.

You get to shop for some presents and scatter them around the house, so they will have things to open all day long. You get to plan a fun dinner, and plan some great birthday surprises for after dinner.

I like doing the surprising better than being the one surprised. So today I will be laying out the surprises.

As one of my first surprises for her, I’d like to write a little note here to Sonja…

Sonja — As you know this whole day was and is about spoiling you. So, look at this as my birthday blog to you. As you know, I never write a blog as an open letter to any one person, but how would it look if I did not wish the woman I love huge birthday wishes on my blog?

Now, let’s not get all crazy. I am not making this into a “Tom Cruise jumps on Oprah’s couch” moment . . . but then again that moment gave him a ton of press publicity, so maybe I should give Oprah a ring and ask if I can jump on her couch and wish Sonja a happy birthday.

For now (and until I am able to arrange my couch jumping Oprah appearance), what I want to hear from all of you today is how you feel about birthdays.

Do you like your birthday, or do you just treat it like any other day?
What was your favorite birthday, and what did you do to celebrate it?
Which birthday made you think about something really deep and profound?

So Happy Birthday to Sonja, and to anyone else who shares a May 30th birthday with my girl!