Dear Birthday

Dear Birthday,

Hey Birthday. Nice to see you again. I almost forgot you were coming up so quickly a few days ago, but then my trip back home reminded me. And now today's the day. Very exciting.

For all of those out there who don't talk to me for months at a time, but would use this as an opportunity to call me to wish me my you wishes - too late. I just ruined that whole routine for you by putting it into this blog. Although, I suppose those who generally do that probably wouldn't be reading my blog, anyway - so nevermind.

Now, I've never been a particularly big fan of yours, Birthday. Something about you just reeks of some minor form of dishonesty. Being the misanthrope that I am, I've always used you as an excuse to doubt other people. When people wanted to throw me a special you party, I had a hard time believing that it was really for me, and not just an excuse to throw a party. I mean - when was the last time anybody who knows me well considered me as somebody who wanted to go to a party (let alone host one)? And then, of course, was the previously-mentioned factor of people I would only hear from on my birthday (all at once, really, so I wouldn't have time to talk to any of them). And what usually happens is that, since it's my birthday, I am generally out when those calls come in, and when I call those people back, they don't answer. So all they have to do is leave you wishes on my machine without actually having to talk to me. I think that's part of the plan.

However, all this cynicism being laid on the table, I'm coming around a bit, Birthday. For one, I haven't had those phone calls this time, so I don't have to go through the whole doubting routine. Also, I got to do my home celebration a few days back (and from all the blog letters, you know how well that all went for me). And today is going pretty well.

With my day, I chose to celebrate by being alone. I rode my bike downtown and did my favourite thing in Portland - wandering around aimlessly, stopping in at the library to write a little bit and pick up a Chinese-language book, getting some food to eat, and listening to music while I people-watched. I also stopped in at the Caldera office (the camp I work at) and spent some time looking for glow-in-the-dark facepaint with one of my co-Carnies. How perfect is THAT for my you?

And then, as it began to rain again (of course it rains on my birthday here), I put my bike on the bus and just stared out the window and spaced out all the way home. My perfect Portland day.

So what's the plan for my night? Not much, as usual. My roommate (Matt) is putting together some dinner plans with a few friends. To be honest, I'm really appreciating that right now because I hate having to go through the process of choosing a place to go, rallying other people, choosing a time, etc. So having him do all that for me has been wonderful. If only I could have that every other day.

After that, who knows? Nothing big. The Language Arts teacher at school, Andrea, seemed really upset that I didn't have any big partying plans for tonight. She even warned me that I could become a hermit if I don't do things. That, of course, just goes to show that we need to do some more catching up, as I have been a hermit from birth.

And that's that. That's all there is to it. And you know what? It's perfect. Today's going quite well, Birthday. I've already gotten my big gift (the Free Round-Trip Ticket), so what more can I ask for? I enjoyed myself. I'm on vacation, and I'm not going to do anything more than I want to with it.

So thanks, Birthday. You've been good so far.

And to those that haven't called me/written to me yet but were planning to - don't worry about it. Save that call for a later date, so I can actually catch up. I appreciate that a lot more.

A Little Bit Older,
CVT