March 6, 2006
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Birthday. Day of birth. 24 years ago I went through a tragic ordeal that involved things so gruesome that nature has rendered me incapable of remembering them. My mom said I looked into her eyes moments after birth and knew her from another life. I don’t even know if my dad was there. He hates doctors. And babies. The day of birth involves both.
I’m scared of my birthday this year. I have a weird feeling that it will be a bad day. I took some preemptive strikes last night to ensure a smooth morning: I ironed my pants, prepared the coffee maker, made my lunch, all things that I usually do in the morning. Except for days that make me nervous. I prepare for those the night before.
I’ve never felt weird about my birthday before, even on the birthday that I planned my first slumber party for and then promptly had to cancel when my body covered itself in chicken pox. Usually my birthday is my favorite holiday. So much do I like it that I’ve thrown some massive, fantastic parties for the occasion. I wear my cutest outfit and I walk around feeling like a rock star all day. A very smiley rock star. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I’ll be wearing khakis and a dress shirt to work on a Monday morning that sucks the life out of the affair. I am wearing my birthday earrings, though.
Plans tonight should be fun. I’m not yet decided as to what we’ll be doing. I just may want to make the new flatbread recipe that I’ve wanted to try and watch the M-I5 DVD that came in the mail through Netflicks. But my cousin and her super nice people are visiting, so I wouldn’t want to bore them with my boringness. I’ll think of something.
*A special shout out to my mom for making birthdays possible. And special thanks to Jujie for the most excellent artwork featured in this post. Dig the symmetry and the movement in this drawing. Quite fantastic. My family is so cool. ::smile::
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Ever been inexplicably ambivalent about your birthday?
Comments (11)
Well, first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! and I hope nothing bad happens. In fact, I hope only good and happy things happen.
This year I was amivalent about my birthday. It was mostly just another day and was pleasant enough and I thought, “hm, a perfectly adequate birthday.” Then it turned into “the day I got engaged” which put a slightly different spin on the day. Usually, though, birthdays are no big thing to me.
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a good day and get to do whatever makes you happy.
P.S. That’s some awesome birthday artwork you’ve got there.
Since I hit the 3-0 mark, ambivalence has been a regular guest. Our standard procedure is to go to Greene’s Ale House (currently our #2 hangout since The Raven came along) that gives out a free pint glass for the birthday boy or girl. We have a few drinks, maybe play pool, collect the free glass and go home at a tame hour. Oh well. At least my friends attend regularly, and that’s the important thing.
PS: I forgot. Have a Truly happy birthday!
Espero que pases un feliz cumpleano!!!!!!!!!! I hope you have a very happy birthday!!!
Happy birthday, Truly.
All I can say about ambivalence is that the older you get, the weirder you get about birthdays. I used to feel like a rock star, too. Now, I just want people to treat me nicely and not mention the number.
Lynn
Happy birthday! I hope it went better than you thought it would. You of all people deserve a good one.
RYC: Wow, I am so glad I happened across your site. I am no fan of capitalism myself. It’s funny because I’ve never identified myself as a socialist, but I might be one. I’ll have to do some reading on the subject. That essay sounds fabulous and I will try to track it down. I agree with the inherent fault of a system where environmentalism basically becomes a privilege for the elite who can afford it. Part of the problem there is that organics should really be cheaper than their conventional counterparts, because there are massive externalities (pollution, health, everything having to do with workers, subsidies, etc.) that we end up paying for one way or another – monetarily or otherwise – that are not included in the price of conventional products. This is true of many things, not just food – disposable items, packaging and so much of the junk most of tend to buy. My dad is actually writing a book right now that he calls a post-apocalyptic utopian novel. He wants it to be as realistic as possible. The most important part of the book is how does society get rebuilt, how can we make it work? It’s starting with a mostly clean slate, but then what do you do? I’m so excited about it and we talk about it often. I try to be his inspiration or to find things to inspire him to continue with it, as he has a habit of not completing projects or achieving goals, but this time I think he has something really wonderful going on and he just has to stick with it. It’s really incredible and heart-warming to see my dad do almost a 180 over the last few years. He used to tease me about my beliefs and interests, whereas now he is just about as fired up about the same things. He despises capitalism. The funny part is that my parents identified themselves as Republicans and conservatives when I was a child, but they were pretty damned liberal for those labels. Okay, that’s probably enough for one comment.
Mos Def is not only talented, but beautiful to boot. My very close friend is working for the annual Harmony festival here in Sonoma County and it looks as though they have him booked to play, which is going to be so exciting – especially since I get to hang out backstage. ;D
Look for interesting topics to come on my site. I’ve been watching some amazingly cool stuff on TV since I’ve been home. There’s this independent channel called WorldLink or LinkTV that doesn’t take any money from either government (CPB, etc.) or corporate sponsors. It is fully viewer supported and has some of the best and most honest programming I’ve ever seen.
I’m so glad you like the photos also. Thanks for your kind words.
I have been inexplicably ambivalent about my birthday. My last birthday, actually.
Re: a comment you made on my site about a month ago, in response to my post on ultimate frisbee. I think you thought I was talking about disk golf (aka frisbee golf), which is a different sport entirely from ultimate frisbee. Ultimate is more like a soccer/basketball combo. Just wanted to clear that up.