My birthday-brother Tim and I lived to see another year, so we decided to celebrate a little early by gathering about 50 of our nearest and dearest in Briones regional park for a weekend of springtime debauchery. 20 of us biked there, the rest rolled up in cars, we climbed the bodacious hills around us, corn-hole was played, and we stayed up into the wee hours grilling and singing songs surrounding the raging fire in the roundhouse. Then another friend who shared our birthday arrived, completing the ultimate trifecta: 666. As good an omen as any.