My good friend Chris, aka "Big Daddy", is 30 today, on the 30th. That makes this his "golden" birthday. It also means I can now officially start calling him "old." Oh, how long I have waited for this day! But first, a mini-retrospective on what our friendship has meant to me:

Chris and I met on New Year's Eve, 1997. What I learned from this experience is that you should always meet new people on holidays, because then it's much easier to remember when you met them. The other advantage is there's usually booze free-flowing on these occasions, so everyone seems a lot more attractive and amusing. And oh, how the booze did flow during our times together.

But our friendship was so much more than drunken revelries. Over the years, Chris was always there for me, even when times were tough and I was low on cash. Granted, he did make me work for it.

Chris even supported me when I decided to give up my material aspirations and join a harem.

Of course, this was before I explained that he wasn't going to be in the harem, too.

Me and the Big D had many adventures and wacky hijinx with our bestest pal Eric. Alas, the police won't release any pictures of the 3 of us together, but here's a nice shot of (from right to left) Chris, Eric, and the charming and talented Scott.

Times have changed and I don't see much of Chris anymore...not since the restraining order. But come what may, he'll always be my extra-special super-friend. Happy Birthday, Big D! Dude, you are OLD. :)