No. Not for Long Island wine (the first commercial vines were only two years old at that point). 1975 was a very good year for people…particularly those born in Pittsburgh, PA and who eventually move to Long Island, fall in love with a girl and fall in love with a wine region.

Yes. I turn 31 today. Not nearly as filled with fanfare as the big three-oh from last year, but a birthday nonetheless.

As I mentioned a while ago, Nena and my parents bought me a smoker for my birthday. And last night Ben (yes, our beagle) gave me Bruce Aidells’s Complete Book of Pork and The Bakyard Vintner. I have a suspicious feeling that Nena may have been involved in the purchase.

This Saturday, with some advice from Robert, I’ll be firing up my smoker for the first time. The target meat? Spare ribs.

Beyond that, it promises to be a quiet birthday. Nena has dress rehearsal tonight for her group’s performance of more Aaron Copland Friday night, so it will just be me, Ben and my laptop tonight…which is good because I have a lot of writing projects to get caught up on.

A quiet birthday also means that I’ve successfully avoided the corporate cake/small talk festival that everyone gets here around 3 p.m. Luckily, my friends here at the office know that I dislike such activities and have kept my birthday somewhat on the down low today. I’m thankful.