so it’s my birthday

the 25th year of my life is over. That is just fine with me. You may recall the almost birthday disaster from last year. Kaka and I got to Hansen’s in Denver where I had reserved the party room and they had my party booked for March 19th, not February 19th and there was another party booked (some local celebrity to boot—try competing with that!) Anyway, Kaka took control and was like “So what are you going to do about it?” She fixed it. And then we waited around for like an hour and half until anyone showed up. It turned out to be pretty fun in the end.

so when did people start celebrating birthday’s anyway? Is this just another Hallmark thing?
I have forgotten my birthday before. See I am not so much a morning person, so it has been lunch time before I realized what day it was. When I taught English in Namibia, I was in the break room with the teachers and it occurred to me that is was my birthday. I was like, “Oh, hey guys, it’s my birthday!” They looked at me puzzled—how could you forget? I don’t know. I guess my mind was elsewhere.

there’s really nothing special going on today. Well, that’s not true. One of my housemates is cooking meatloaf and mashed potatoes (you can prolly guess which housemate that is).
The weekend was decent. I was invited to go to church with a friend who has not yet received a nickname here. I am pretty traditional as far as church goes, so anything with powerpoint involved in the sermon isn’t really my thing. It’s cool if that works for you, but since I think powerpoint is a bad idea even in business environments, it’s not going to do it for me at church.

(speaking of powerpoint--why do i hate it so much? cause most of you people SUCK at it. it has taken over some organizations--people don't work, they make (bad) powerpoint presentations. usually, they put way too much text in them and just read them, and to me, this is offensive. hello!? i can read! the other thing people do is use all of those freaking animation features that to me totally detract from the content of the presentation.
stick with bullet points, graphs, and pictures when necessary, please.)

i randomly heard from someone last night who i hadn't talked to in a long time. it was a huge surprise, a shock actually. it was uncomfortable, it was hard, it was sad. but you know what? it also provded a milestone for me. i thought about everything that has happened and all the ways i have grown since i had seen or talked to them. so out of left field (sorry to copy you on accident, la canadienne) once again, the heartland surprises you.

i did something rash. i asked a girl out who has a boyfriend. LJ was like, that is so disrespectful. well, shoot, it's just her boyfriend--i don't see any ring on her finger. but maybe i am a total scuzz ball. i just want a date. i don't remember even the last time i was on a date. and this girl is nice, cute, intelligent, so i was like, wtf why not!?

but i think you can prolly guess that amischwab is not so much a scuzz ball. or at least i hope so!

i guess my birthday for me is anticlimatic because my birth itself was. i was born a month late (no big deal) and had kind of a rough start from the get go. the nurse who took my blood didn't wear gloves, so i got a staph infection. so according to my neurologist, this staph infection is what caused some brain damage on my right temporal lobe, which is why i had the seizures during the past year. so you see, this birthday in some ways has particular meaning, because drawing blood on my actual birthday set this all into motion.

but here i am. i didn't die then. and iowhat hasn't killed me either.

so LJ and i finally got to talk last night. and she asked me what i was giving up for lent. oh, uh, i dunno. "ash wednesday is this week!" she exlaimed. so i have decided to try and give up pop again (or soda or whatever it is called). i am addicted to the fizz--that is really what it is. last year i tried and failed. rachel (who is jewish, btw) pointed out to me that tonic water as in gin and tonic, was technically pop, since it has sugar in it and fizz. thanks. so i cheated a little with that. then i got to washington and was under a lot of stress herding cats around i.e. 25 grad students and i just had to have a freaking coke. so i am going to give it another try. it may seem like a lame thing to give up, but i drink a lot of that stuff. i have a fresca when i wake up, a coke at about 10, a coke zero at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and then some kind of diet something at dinner. it will be hard, but it ain't dying on the cross.

so that's all for today.