Latest Happenings

It's been a busy January - I can't believe it's almost over. I remember when I was in high school. It would be Tuesday, and my friends and I would be sitting in the basement, up to no good, thinking about how it will be SO LONG until Friday when the next big social happening was going to take place. Three days that seemed like an eternity. Now, I check my email and see that a message from a friend that I had determined I would respond to after I 'finish this one thing' is now so deep in my inbox, and the date on it has somehow changed to last week. I had an incredible time in high school, but if there was one thing I would want to get back from that time, it wouldn't be the freedom from responsibility, or the joy of doing everything for the first time, but the ability to bottle time - the ability to slow down the day and make it actually last 24 hours, or in some cases seemingly 36. Right now it seems like the day has dwindled down to about 13-14 hours at best. Ah well, all the more reason to truly savor the special moments. That's my rant about getting older.

Speaking of which, good lord, I turned 30, yes, 30.

30.

So, I must say I have taken it well, but it's a big number. When you are young you set these goals for yourself and the 'due date', as it were, for all of them is "by the time I turn 30". Looking back, I really wasn't much of a forward thinker when I was setting all these goals. I would say that I was more concerned with scrounging change so I could buy a 12-pack than I was charting the course for my young adulthood. Despite my rudderless existence, I certainly had some ideas about what I would be doing, how much money I would be making, whether I would be married, how many kids I would have, the places I would have been, etc. I can say happily that despite my lack of real effort towards making these artificial goals a reality, I have come kind of close. When you look at it that way, you can't help but be proud of where you have gotten yourself.

I have a wonderful fiance who takes great care of me. She makes me a better person, and every day that I wake up with her is a wonderful day. I have a small family, but one that I have really started to reconnect with over the past few years, after regrettably allowing them to grow so far apart from me over the years. In addition to the family I was born with, I have a new family that I am marrying into. They have shown me so much love, and treated me like I belong, and in the months after my father passed away, their support was invaluable. I have sort of stumbled into a profession that I really enjoy, that I am pretty good at, and that allows me to live comfortably. I am living a far more healthy existence than I was a few years ago - I have shed pounds and become more active. I feel better waking up as a thirty year old than I ever did as a 20 year old, that's for sure. So I feel good. Things could be so much worse.

We had a party for my 30th. I don't usually celebrate my birthday in any organized fashion - it comes shortly after Christmas, and it's generally pretty anticlimactic. I figured turning 30 called for something. Most of my best friends who are in town made it, and we had a great time. Any excuse to get everyone together is welcome. I have been lucky to be blessed with such a great group of friends. Not many people can look around on their 30th birthday and smile knowing that many of the folks you are sharing the room with have known you almost half your life (or in some cases, more). New friends and old had a great time, especially me:


We drank lots of good beer, ate lots of yummy snacks, and I shotgunned a beer for the second time ever (not sure why). We even got this great group shot of all the old school fools pretending like they can still party:



I obviously couldn't have done it all myself - I had the best hostess with the mostest, and she threw me a great party that I won't forget. I think I'll keep her.


So that's what's new for now. I finished Wikinomics. Not bad, not great. I also finally finished my Herding Cats book. Today I started This Is Your Brain On Music, by Daniel Levitin. As an avid music-lover, and aspiring music player, I am fascinated by the relationship between the human mind and music. I am excited to see how it turns out.