[Editor’s note: In celebration of the holidays, we’re counting down the top 12 Flavorwire features of 2012. This post, at #2, was originally published January 8.] Happy Birthday, David Bowie! The ultra-flamboyant king of glam rock turns 65 today, if you can believe it. Though he’s known for his avant-garde attitude, ever-changing persona and incredible style no matter what his incarnation of choice (can you think of anyone else who looks as good in a sharp suit as he does in glitter face paint? We can’t either), he’s also just a normal guy. Sure, we have to try really hard to think about Bowie without conjuring images of the boy from Mars crawling around on the stage, but believe it or not, he is actually a person who has to do his laundry and stuff. So to celebrate Bowie’s 65th birthday and show that we love him no matter what he’s doing, click through to check out our gallery of Bowie doing ordinary things — riding the subway, making coffee, checking his email. You’ll see that even the great David Bowie is mortal, just like us. Except, wait, way better. Sigh.

He rides the subway. [via]

He makes instant coffee. [via]

He goes bowling with friends. [via]

He uses old-timey computers. [via]

And new-timey ones. [via]

He eats airplane food. [via]

He keeps out of the rain. [via]

He calls his mom (or, you know, whomever). [via]

He drives home from work. [via]

He combs his hair. [via]

He eats his peas. [via]

He reads the paper. [via]

And even books from time to time. [via]

He pushes his kid in a stroller. [via]

He plays football… sort of. [via]

He fools around with model planes. [via]

He cuts his birthday cake. [via]

He writes stuff down. [via]

He waits for his flight. [via]

He checks out the museums. [via]

He pours himself a drink. [via]

He shops in Chinatown. [via]

He opens presents. [via]

He does his exercises (even as a kid!). [via]

He takes a break from class. [via]