When I was more active in the JoeUser, Stardock and Wincustomize Communities, posting on my birthday was an annual (Duh!) ritual. It has been a while, so pardon me if I am rusty.

I woke this morning in the manner that passes for normal in my house. I checked the news as I always do. I began with the obituary section. My name wasn't there so I knew that I had to get up. I did receive a wonderful, wonderful present from President Obama and it would be remiss of me if I did not thank him. I am 56 today and this is the first time that I am celebrating without Osama Bin-Laden or Anwar al-Awlaki  in the world. Our President knew just what I wanted. Thank you, sir, you rock. And best of luck in 2012.

This is the first year since 2001, when the World Trade Towers still stood tall in my home town on New York, that I am not going to work (physically or remotely) at Stardock. Instead, I just returned from my first visit to my new employer, GameStop HQ in Dallas. It was just an awesome trip.

I got to meet, only briefly of course, with Tony Bartel, GameStop President. More correctly, I was at a round-table meeting which he also attended. OMG is he a smart and savvy guy. I did get to meet GameStop CEO Paul Raines in person, shook hands and chatted. Another really, really smart guy. In fact, everyone that I met at GameStop was smart and sharp. But the coolest part, for me, was that I got to hang out with all the old crew from the original Stardock Impulse team, or as I like to say "my brothers and sisters."

Really great to hang out with Zargon, Dean and the GreenReaper. Our marketing team needed a fix for how the Impulse Deal of the Day displayed. We walked over to the IT area, explained what we needed to GreenReaper and he explained that it had already been rolled out in that morning's update. Now that, my friends, is what you call being proactive.

As always, I worked most closely with Zoomba and Dash. Those guys continue to rock out, along with their team. The boys, along with their lovely wives, took me out for a pre-birthday bash. Once again, Zoomba brings in a project ahead of schedule. Thank you.

it was a wonderful week, a truly great mix of the old and the new. Tonight my kids, Jon and Lauren, are taking me out for pizza. The heck with that low-salt, low-fat diet. Pizza is the Food of the Gawds.

It has been a truly great year, a year of transition and positive change. I am looking forward to the next year. As I tell everyone in the gaming business, we are the luckiest people in the world. What we do for a living is what most people get fired for doing at work.

Although I am not as active a member as I used to be, I want to thank everyone at Stardock, JoeUser and WinCustomize for all their love and support. Once a Stardockian, always a Stardockian. Thanks for the best decade of my life...so far. Afterall, the future is so bright, I have to wear shades.

Thanks for reading!