Happy Anniversary

book cover imageYep, there it is again. Long-time readers will recognize this as the book I’ve been hopelessly hyping for the last . . . wait for it . . . two years. That’s right. This book was officially unleashed on the publishing world exactly two years ago today: October 29, 2007.

Happy Anniversary to me!

Well, “happy” is relative. Sure, the book wasn’t what anyone would ever even remotely consider a success. (When total expenses are one order of magnitude larger than total income, one does not generally place a checkmark in the “win” column.) But to be honest, I’m actually not here to complain. I’m here to grumble.

Just kidding. I’m actually here to reflect and get all philosophic on you. Then I’ll grumble.

Just kidding again. About the grumbling. So here’s the agenda for today’s post: philosophical rambling then a scary, scary time-related factoid you’ll be sorry you ever heard.

Let the rambling commence. You’ve been warned.

Ever notice how time just keeps moving faster? Think about summer breaks back when you were in grade school. When that very last school bell of the year rang, you flew out of the building like you were launched from a canon. If you were like me, you landed at home, turned on the TV, and then proceeded to sit there watching badly-dubbed monster flicks for the next three months. Oh, there was probably some sleeping in there and maybe a family vacation along the way but what you did didn’t matter. It just went on and on and on. It was bliss. (Bliss, that is, until you saw those first “Back to School” advertisements and the horrible reality that you still had at least ten more years of school ahead of you slapped you in the face.)

The next year went faster. The year after that, even faster. By the time you left middle school, you were wondering how two hundred and seventy days fit into two weeks. Because that’s what it started feeling like.

Here’s my theory. The human brain is incapable of storing time. It can record memories. You can recall events, dialog, places, and that bucket of ice cream you ate in August. But you can’t store time itself. There’s no way to sit there and think of a two hour movie and actually experience two hours. So your brain doesn’t store time but only stores the notion that time has passed. Most of us don’t feel any different today than we did a week, year, or decade ago. We know we’re older, but we can’t actually sense it. All we know is that it’s never not now, but that the years behind us keep piling up anyway.

So it is that two years for me have now passed in yet another blink and yet somehow October 29, 2011 feels thousands of miles away. I know that it too will be here in a blink, and I’ll forget 98% of the details between now and then, and you may actually read a “Happy Four Year Anniversary” post then. But I’m primary hoping you’ll be reading, “My latest book will be in book stores next week!” instead.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and now for that scary factoid I warned you about. Get this. If the television show Happy Days were to debut this year, it would be set in the year NINETEEN NINETY. No kidding.

I remember watching the show as a kid and looking back on all that “fifties stuff”. I might as well have been watching some Charles Dickens dramatization, it was that far back in human history for me. “The fifties!” I’d tell myself. My parents were kids in the fifties for Pete’s sake. I’m surprised they didn’t have dinosaurs walking around outside Arnold’s Drive-In.

And look at me now. It’s 2009 and a show like Happy Days today would be about 1990. We would see Adam Sandler join Saturday Night Live. We would leave the theaters in awe after watching Dances with Wolves. Half of us would be dancing to Ice, Ice Baby and the other half of us would be asking, Wait a minute, isn’t this that one song by Queen and David Bowie? Windows 3.0 was almost starting to look like a viable computing option. Almost.

I’m telling you: scary stuff.

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far into today’s post, congrats. You’re now eligible to win a copy of a two year old book. Leave a comment below and I’ll pick a random winner by next Thursday. If you’d like to leave a comment but opt-out of the fun, just sign your post, “I already have a copy of your book and/or I’m just not into well-written, humorous writing on the topic of food and weight management.”



25 Responses to “Happy Anniversary”

Loquin said
on
October 29, 2009 at 1:03 am

Uh oh – one isn’t a very random number! (Yeah I know, not a mathematically sound statement)

Kelly, The Glass Dragonfly said
on
October 29, 2009 at 2:46 am

1990?! Yikes.

My daughter was 6 months old. I had an Apple computer. Things have changed, but things don’t FEEL different, not inside, not like I thought they would.

But no matter what I KNOW to be true, the 50’s will always feel like ancient history.

crazylady said
on
October 29, 2009 at 4:57 am

Oh God I am so with you on the time thing…. it’s scary and depressing.

Tonia said
on
October 29, 2009 at 7:19 am

I would like to win a copy of your book. And I agree, time does seem to speed by the older we get. I can see it now in my teenagers eyes. That feeling that this is the only time that exists and it will last forever!

TexasDeb said
on
October 29, 2009 at 8:39 am

Certain afternoons last an eternity. The weeks however, they simply fly by!

I already have your book Charlie boy, but encourage those of you who want one and don’t win one to BUY ONE ALREADY! The easiest way to make sure you get to read a new Charlie Hills book while you still can decipher print smaller than a billboard is to buy enough copies of the WYLDFY book that he’ll see there is no sense in not churning that next book out at TOP SPEED.

Can you tell I want more Charlie Hills books to read? Good! Now go buy that book! Disclaimer: I am not compensated in any way by the Hills family for shilling, er posting comments on this blog. Thank you.

E said
on
October 29, 2009 at 9:15 am

I think you have something there with a 1990s version of Happy Days…I’d watch it…

Becca said
on
October 29, 2009 at 9:21 am

I totally agree with this post, I have really begun to understand my mom when she tells me I was a baby yesterday, even though it was 27 years ago!

Michelle said
on
October 29, 2009 at 10:00 am

The Happy Days comment is funny…since I graduated high school in 1990 – does that mean I’m getting OLD!

No need for the book – I already own it (bought it actually). Keep on writing Charlie- your humor cracks me up when I need a break from engineering work!

cbuffy said
on
October 29, 2009 at 10:25 am

I’m turning FIFTY next month. WHERE oh where did the time go? And I am guilty of procrastinating the purchasing of your book… Naughty me.

Annimal said
on
October 29, 2009 at 11:31 am

my cat walked across my laptop just as I was sending…..so, once more. Great post and oh so true.
I’d love a copy of your book. I always get something out of each person’s story and I hope someday one of those “somethings” will click the on switch in my head.

Vicki said
on
October 29, 2009 at 12:33 pm

I think I like the original Happy Days better. Time does seem to go by more slowly when you’re a kid. You don’t have anything to do but eat, sleep, play and go to school. When you get older you have 293 things to do each day and as we all know, time flies when you’re (not) having fun.

Cynthia said
on
October 29, 2009 at 12:46 pm

I was born in the ’50s… and yeah, time is just WHIZZING by these days!

Well, you know me and books. Books irresistible. Have my nose in two different ones currently! Naturally I’d love to win a copy.

Michelle said
on
October 29, 2009 at 3:13 pm

Yay books! I want a free two year old book! 🙂

Quix said
on
October 29, 2009 at 3:22 pm

I agree – yay books! I hope to hear about your next book soon! I’m taking the plunge and gonna stop whining that I’d like to write and attempt NaNoWriMo this year…

In 1990, I had turned 11, and was probably somewhere between art classes, gymnastics, ice skating, reading, writing, and being a general spaz. I was dreaming about being either a rock star, actress, math teacher, gymnastics coach, famous artist, novelist, or whatever else the flavor of the week was.

I think she’d be ok with how she turned out… 🙂

    Charlie said
    on
    October 29, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    Book update is scheduled for first week of December. Gotta see how November goes first.

Shannon L. said
on
October 29, 2009 at 3:41 pm

There is a bit of a time warp going on as we get older. I’m pretty sure my Easter cards are almost ready to mail out for 2009…

1990 I was dreaming of…. well pretty much the same things I’m dreaming of now. Are you trying to tell me 19 years have passed or something ? Ok, now I’m depressed.

And on the topic of being depressed, can you please tell me why I can’t get your book in Canada ? I just live from one of your blog entries to the blog entry. I’ve even bugged Amazon.ca reminding them that we’re not really all that much further north than the U.S. … a tiny little 1mm (that’d be a really bitty bit of an inch for you) line separates us. I need something to read when I’m trying to keep warm in my igloo this winter !

Maybe I’ll start a petition.

Oh, and thanks for making me feel almost sane most days. And for making a ton of people smile. (that’s a ton of people in numbers, not the weight of said people…)

    Charlie said
    on
    October 29, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    That’s odd, because I’m pretty sure more than one person bought it from Amazon in the UK. So much for NAFTA…

    Luckily, you can buy directly from the publisher (me) who will ship anywhere USPS ships, including New Mexico.

    Oh, and Canada too.

    http://www.lockshire.com/

    Just make sure you click on the Google checkout button from the main page. The details page won’t get you anywhere (the site’s a bit out of date!)

Happy Fun Pants (anne) said
on
October 29, 2009 at 9:51 pm

Happy Anniversary…

and of course, I want a copy of the book. 🙂

    Charlie said
    on
    October 30, 2009 at 7:32 am

    What are smaller fun pants? Is that new?

      Charlie said
      on
      October 30, 2009 at 7:37 am

      Apparently not new. First post: Sunday, October 26, 2008. Guess I missed that one…

MaryBe said
on
October 30, 2009 at 8:51 am

I love your explanation about the brain being incapable of storing time!
I find it amazing that it was just late 1999, and everyone was freaking out that the major power plants would fail, and planes would fall out of the sky etc on New Year’s Eve (when things changed from 1999 to 2000) and here it is almost TEN years later! Yikes!
Happy Anniversary!

Biz said
on
October 30, 2009 at 10:07 am

Happy Book Anniversary – don’t count me in the drawing – being your prettier sister, I already have a copy! 😀

John's Weight Loss Blog said
on
November 1, 2009 at 7:37 am

“Oh, and now for that scary factoid I warned you about. Get this. If the television show Happy Days were to debut this year, it would be set in the year NINETEEN NINETY. No kidding.”

OMG that is so scary but so true. I was thinking about muscle cars the other day, I bought a 1966 Pontiac GTO in 1985 and at that time those cars from the 60s were all the boss. Of course they still are, but for kids looking to buy a cool car these days that would be like buying a 1990 model. Even the Mustangs sucked in 1990.

tuscanystone said
on
November 1, 2009 at 10:11 am

I have your book. I am the ONE in the UK!!! 🙂

I’m sure I bought it last year too? Yeah, time flies!

Tusc 😀

Kristen said
on
November 2, 2009 at 1:31 pm

Happy Anniversary. =)

I went to Kindergarten in 1990, and time for me was still moving veeeeery slowly. I like your reasoning about why time feels like it moves faster the older you get. In my mind, it’s all about perspective. From a 6-year-old’s perspective, the whole entire world has only existed for 6 years- 2191-ish days. From my perspective now, as a 25-year-old, the world has existed for about 9231 days, so each day is a much smaller percentage of my life now than it was when I was 6.

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