So nobody here at work knows it's my birthday.
Nobody on Facebook knows it's my birthday (except my sister-in-law, who is insidious).
Obviously, nobody on Reddit (or any of its goofy little private communities) know it's my birthday.
For whatever reason, my parents adamantly refused to tell my grandparents aunts and uncles when my birthday was. I was unaware that it was a secret until I was an adult - most of them persisted but my mother's side never knew. I'm still not sure the reason.
My sister's birthday is yesterday. For my sixteenth birthday, my father took my sister, 12, on a shopping spree - an hour drive to Santa Fe, five hours crawling the mall, an hour back, a celebratory dinner. He recalled that he'd missed my birthday the next February.
Suffice it to say my emotional regard of my birthday is conflicted at best - regardless of noteworthy anniversaries.
That said, three people (so far and believe me - THAT'S ENOUGH) on Hubski have wished me happy birthday. The fact that you guys even know says something important, I think.
So, thanks.
(portrait of the artist as a young robot, October 1981)