Birthday Fun

Yesterday was CZ's birthday, and as I'd been needing a mental-health day off work anyway I figured that would be the perfect time to take a long, slow day together. After lazing about the house all morning, roommate Wil treated us to lunch at the best Italian place I've ever been to. I gave CZ the Smokey and the Bandit DVD (which he saw so many times in the theater when it came out, to this day he can remember Every Single Line... explains a lot about the man, really it does.) And to top it all off we went to the Improv to see Tommy Chong. I think we were the third group seated, and as a result our table was right against the stage. (Seriously. I mean CZ got to rest his elbow on it for the entire show.) At the meet and greet after the show, he was able to get some of his Cheech and Chong albums autographed, along with a t-shirt and Polaroid of the two of 'em standing there together.

Let me just take a moment to say that, for someone pushing 70, Tommy Chong has a great head of hair, an incredibly beautiful wife (who's funny! She opened the show for him!) and is far different from his stoner character in the movies and That 70's Show.

But that wasn't the end of it. This afternoon we hit Borders to pick up Chong's newest book, written while he was in prison. The line to get it autographed wasn't too long, and luckily we were near the front. (He autographed it to both of us, despite it really being for CZ's birthday.)

I have no idea what can top this next year, but I've got plenty of time to figure that one out.


ETA: *overheard at the book-signing by two young kids, probably too young to appreciate Cheech and Chong anyway*

"Tommy Chong! Tommy Chong! Oh man, this is gonna be great!"

"Hey man, which one is he, anyway? The Hippie or the Mexican?"

"I don't know... does it matter?"