I recently turned 33, or the 'triple-trey' as I call it, and the event was celebrated in style by my friends and I at Woodbine Racetrack in Rexdale. I hadn't been to the horseraces in ages, and having just read and abso-frigging-lutely loved Seabiscuit, Suzanne, in her wisdom, thought it would be fun to put some pennies on the ponies.

And fun it was. I plopped down a fiver on the longshot (to place) in the first race and she (or he) promptly romped home to a $38-winning second-place finish! That almost paid my betting for the remainder of the races and carried me through the next 8 winless contests. I won another $20 on the 9th, my number 4 narrowly pipping Fraser's 7, which sent him into a froth. But hey - you wins some, you loses some.

So if that was the low-brow (and by God I loved it) part of the birthday, Suzanne also arranged the high.

Backing up slightly, I decided fairly recently that I am finished with popular music. I haven't bought (or downloaded) any music to speak of lately, and the morning drives to work have cemented my utter loathing for the only passable radio station available. The 'morning show' is one dick joke after another, and it drives me completely batty.

So one day - maybe, 4 months ago? - I turned on the CBC, and I haven't turned it back. I happily discovered that I really enjoy classical music now. Maybe 33 is the magic age when one realizes that all that long-hair music is for hippies, and if there's no part for a bassoon it's not really music.

Nah, it's not really like that - I still consider Morrissey a true genius - but I'm glad to have an entire history of music to learn and explore now. And I'm really glad to have Tom Allen as my guide along the way. I sincerely believe that he could get anyone into classical music. His onomatopeiac descriptions of the upcoming or preceding music - played in short sections - really let you in and see what's going on.

I especially enjoy little piano things by Schubert and the violin-ing of Itzhak Perlman.

A few weeks ago, jumping back to the present, when I looked up the season's schedule for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and saw that the Perlman was conducting, I told Suzanne that tickets would be a great birthday present from her mom, also a CBC-in-the-morning fan.

But didn't the sly girl go and buy them herself?

So on May 23rd, we go to Roy Thomson Hall to watch one of the greats (apparently) conduct his pupil and his daughter and the members of the assembled TSO, as they perform a Beethoven concerto and Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony. There will be no betting, but it'll be great.

Once again, Suzanne comes through in style on my birthday. She truly is a marvel.