My 90^th was like no other. Thanks to clever innovations by younger members of my family, readership exploded here yesterday. The blast unleashed a flood of good wishes and made my sweet day even sweeter.

As most newcomers may have discovered, this blog is unfocused and hard to classify. I don’t stick to classic medical experiments, or travel, or world affairs, or politics, or literature, but I’ve toyed with all of these topics here, and I plan to follow that undisciplined path as we move forward. My rationale? If it interests me, it may interest you. One extraordinary essayist expressed this notion with exquisite clarity.

The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest. He is a fellow who thoroughly enjoys his work, just as people who take bird walks enjoy theirs. Each new excursion of the essayist, each new “attempt,” differs from the last one and takes him into new country. This delights him. Only a person who is congenitally self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays. E. B. White (see here)

Perhaps I’ve exposed myself here most openly in my two-part series titled, My First Year of Blogging, and My Books (see those here, and here). Those reveal a bit of my background, not always exemplary, and also explain why I’ve chosen to post installments of my novel, The Colors of Medicine, on this site.  (Hmmm, is it really partly autobiographical?)  Overall, more than 50 essays have been posted here. Feel free to browse.

To come back to my 90th birthday, last night’s celebration was highlighted by the astonishing appearance at dinner, just before we ordered, of my daughter, Anne, who had secretly flown down from Chicago to surprise me. Another great moment brought about merely by sliding safely into the Big Nine-O. I recommend the process to all. A photo was of course taken.  In order to gather all, the celebration with my son, Greg, and his family was delayed until tonight, so more frolicking is on tap for me. How lucky is that?