Another Trip Around The Sun

Happy Birthday To Me!

Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

I’ve made fifty-three trips around the sun (and counting). But who’s keeping track? Some trips I never want to forget. Some trips I would rather not relive or remember. And yet, I’m still here, damn it—still learning, still loving, still creating both big magic and big messes along the way.

To me, there’s something quietly powerful about getting older—not just aging, but honoring every year of my life: the good, the bad, and the downright ugh-ly.

There’s a freedom that comes with being old and wise enough to stop chasing perfection, stop trying to impress, and stop feeling the need to prove my worth.

There’s a strange freedom in realizing that time doesn't wait…or lie. It tells me what truly matters. Who truly matters. Whether I like the truth or not.

At 53, I’m no longer chasing some picture-perfect fantasy of how life is supposed to look. Instead, I’ve been slowly—often accidentally and clumsily—building something far more real: a chosen family made up of dears, nears, and queers. People who truly get me. People who show up with humor, compassion, and snacks. (Because chosen family knows that snacks are my love language.)

I’ve known love in all its many forms—platonic and romantic, fleeting and lasting, complicated and effortless. I’ve known grief and loss too. Those aches never fully disappear, but over time, they soften into something that almost feels like gratitude. Like, “Damn, I’m lucky I got to feel that at all.”

Life has given me gifts I didn’t ask for—and honestly, I would’ve happily returned a few of those gifts if there were a receipt.

But there have also been unexpected blessings: small, quiet miracles that arrived disguised as detours, breakdowns, or boring Tuesdays. Gifts that came in the form of kind words, late-night phone calls, new beginnings, and long-awaited goodbyes.

So, here's to another trip around the sun.

• To every lesson I didn’t know I needed.

• To the people who stayed.

• To the ones who left.

• To the ones I have yet to meet.

Thank you for being part of my orbit.

Here's to turning 53 and whatever adventures and misadventures come next.

Keep calm and eat cake…
Clint 🌈✌️

P.S. Happy Birthday to my dear/near/queer friend Drew too! He’s the Nomi Malone to my Cristal Connors. Let’s show ‘em how us Showgirls do this!!! 👯🪩🤪

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ON THIS DAY = JULY 23

BIRTHDAYS

• 1614 = Bonaventura Peeters the Elder = Flemish painter

• 1816 = Charlotte Cushman = American actor 🌈

• 1864 = F. Holland Day = American photographer 🌈

• 1888 = Raymond Chandler = American crime novelist and screenwriter

• 1892 = Haile Selassie = Ethiopian emperor

• 1899 = Ruth Ellis = American activist and centenarian 🌈

• 1909 = Samuel Steward = American tattoo artist and pornographer 🌈

• 1924 = Gavin Lambert = British-American writer 🌈

• 1925 = Gloria DeHaven = American actor and singer

• 1933 = Bert Convy = American actor, singer, and game show host

• 1961 = Martin Gore = English singer-songwriter

• 1961 = Woody Harrelson = American actor and activist

• 1962 = Eriq La Salle = American actor, director, and producer

• 1965 = Slash = English-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer

• 1967 = Philip Seymour Hoffman = American actor, director, and producer

• 1971 = Alison Krauss = American singer-songwriter

• 1971 = Joel Stein = American journalist

• 1972 = Marlon Wayans = American actor and filmmaker

• 1973 = Kathryn Hahn = American actor

• 1979 = Michelle Williams = American singer-songwriter

• 1989 = Daniel Radcliffe = English actor

EVENTS

• 1829 = In the United States, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.

• 1903 = The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.

• 1926 = Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.

• 1927 – The first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company goes on the air.

• 1962 = Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

• 1962 = Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite.

• 1986 = Bon Jovi release “You Give Love a Bad Name” as a single.

• 1993 = Coneheads is released in theaters.

• 1993 = Poetic Justice is released in theaters.

• 1999 = Drop Dead Gorgeous is released in theaters.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• Gorgeous Grandma Day

• National Lemon Day

• Vanilla Ice Cream Day

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PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY

“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. ”
Raymond Chandler