A new birthday formula

So first off, my lack of updates recently is largely a function of my temp job ending. Being gainfully unemployed, I can move about this world and entertain myself a bit more than when I was regulated to a desk and a computer.

Anyway, yesterday was my 23rd birthday! The (integer) number of years that I have been alive is now the same as the number on Michael Jordan and Lebron James' jerseys. While I don't know much about sports, I have decided that this is a good reason to be excited about being 23.

Normally birthdays are automatically a "me" day for whoever the celebrant is, and that's a pretty good thing to do once in a while. I started off the day by sleeping in HARD until about noon, and woke up to my lady bringing me a nice sweater and a funny card. Maybe it was receiving a gift so immediately upon waking that sort of clicked something in me about a different way to celebrate. This year would be more about sharing than about receiving. I went out and bought about $80 worth of "holiday-themed* beverages," and invited basically everyone I know to come to my house and help drink them. About 10 of us went to Chipotle first, which is a luxury that always makes me happy, then for the rest of the night people were stopping by and sharing a drink. It's currently the last week of classes for the friends still in school, so people didn't have time for a full-out party on a Tuesday night, but I think the overlapping <1 hour visits made for a fun social mood. Someone commented, "shouldn't people be giving YOU candy and drinks on your birthday?" to which I happily replied that when they had a birthday they could do the same for the people around them. (The "pay it forward" philosophy is what makes impromptu parties possible.) I really enjoyed sitting back and watching different groups of friends sitting around laughing with each other. It felt great to know that my event and my food/drink was bringing people together for a night that really felt like a celebration. The last people left around 1am, and I was really pleased that so many people got involved in the fun of (me) having a birthday.

I finished off by sleeping in again and savoring a breakfast of cold pizza, which is just about the best way to start a day. Unfortunately I couldn't find any blue cheese, as that is the traditional dip for a cold pizza breakfast (at least in Buffalo), but such a small detail was not going to derail a great day.

*I went pretty all-out on the bevvy's. The obvious choices were eggnog and brandy (about 1/2 eggnog and 1/2 milk, to make it more creamy and less "noggy") and Great Lakes Brewing Company Christmas Ale. GLBC is in Cleveland and is starting to seep into other cities nearby, which is good for everyone. Their Christmas Ale is a spicy treat that also packs a subtle 7-12% alcohol content (variable due to batch, gotta love micro-brews). Absolutely check it out if you can. I also impulse-bought a Sam Adams "holiday sampler pack" and some el-cheapo hard cider that was still pretty good. With all the people, we probably only got through about half the drinks, so I guess my birthday will last solidly through the weekend too, which is fine by me.