Today is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world's birthdays. He is fun and talented and one of the few people on the planet in front of whom I can let my hair down and relax.

Well, relax as much as is humanly possible for me.

Anyhow, in honor of the Flash's birthday, I would like to list all of the best things to do on one's birthday, so that he won't even have to think about what to do (except that he's an adult and it's a weekday, so I'm guessing some of these things will be impossible).

1.  Sleep in as late as you want. Personally, I stayed in bed until the late, late hour of 7:30 a.m. last year, so you know what kind of a party animal you're dealing with here.

2.  Eat whatever you want for breakfast. WHATEVER. If that means having a G & T with your cornflakes, rock on.

3.  Drink wine all morning while watching cartoons. Wine makes Scooby-Doo even more profound and insightful. Seriously.

4.  Drink lots of water after all of that wine, because if you don't, you'll have a headache. Again, seriously.

5.  Go out to lunch with all of your friends (except the ones who live nine billion miles away, in which case you should probably move home). They have to pay for you, because of the whole birthday thing.

6.  Order dessert after launch. Don't skip this one, it's miraculous. We should always have dessert, after each meal. Totally the best part, there.

7.  Here's a conundrum:  Nap or Go Shopping? This one really depends on how much wine you drank during the cartoons. Go with your gut. Or you can take a short nap, and then go shopping. Make sure to wear a party hat or something so everyone in every store knows it's your birthday. That way, they may give you a discount.

8.  Go to the movies. Some theaters offer free shows on your birthday, so take advantage of that. The only thing that's more fun than a movie is a free movie. Plus, there's a new James Bond one out right now, and he's pretty awesome. Rawr.

9.  Make your friends take you out to dinner. Preferably at Benihana or some other place where you can all sit at a big table and get a show and drink a festive birthday drink out of a glass that's shaped like Buddha. Do it. It's insanely good.

10.  At this point, your friends should be surprising you with a limo-driven trip to a club or concert or some other such fun place that all the kids are going to. If you're old, like me, this is the point where it's getting to be like 8 p.m., and I have to get home to take my medicine. But you kids go out and have fun, now, and be safe.

So I guess the whole point of this is, have a super fantastic day, be safe, and I miss your face, Flash.

For everyone else, if you follow the steps above, you can turn any day into a birthday. I might try it sometime, but I think I could possibly break a hip by the time I get to step 10, so I'll have to pick and choose. 

Happy Friday!