Last Thursday marked the passing of my 27th year on this island Earth, and it went down much like any other annual “congrats for being alive” milestone before it: with general fatitude and revelry. What made this birthday weekend more remarkable than recent years was probably that it coincided with the Web Zeroes wrap party, and my youngest brother Kyle coming in town. It made for one exhausting and fun weekend, particularly as I reminisced on the nerdy shows we’ve made. I’m not sure if it was encouraging or a letdown to consider that I began pursuing my creative endeavors when I was 24, but I’m still on the good side of 30 I suppose, with lots of good writing or basket weaving years left in these bones.

Anyway, that nostalgic center of my brain hummed to life with all the reticence of a jet engine over the weekend, causing me to pause and reflect on some of the more pronounced birthday memories that have stuck to my brain like felt over the years. Here are a few of them:

  • The teenage surprise party. Those of you with summer birthdays know that there is a lack of fanfare associated with your birth. I was always jealous of those kids at school who got all of the birthday wishes, as mine generally passed with but a few murmurs. However, when I turned 13, some folks at church put on a surprise party for me, and told me I was a man. They were wrong about that, but it was nice anyway.

  • The near-violent surprise party. For my 23rd birthday, I tried to organize a get together with some of my closest friends at an awesome fajita place here in town. Everybody spurred my advances for friendship, and turned me down. I was fairly upset about this. Little did I know that my wife had planned a party for me in secret. We left to go to the restaurant, and I was convinced nobody was coming to meet us. She then convinced me to turn around to the apartment because “her hair was messed up”, to which I angrily agreed. I found about 20 people waiting in my apartment, and nearly started throwing punches out of sheer surprise. We lived in kind of a shady complex, and I thought I needed to defend myself. Luckily, they were only there to shower gifts and not instances of armed assault and robbery.

  • The dial tone. I can’t remember which birthday was the first one where my dad didn’t call. That probably makes two of us.

  • Number twenty-one. I literally never had a drop of alcohol before I turned 21. That’s not really a pride thing, it’s just the way things went down. I have no feelings one way or the other about it. But I remember my friends coming up to Austin, where I was doing an internship at the time, and buying me some drinks. The taste of alcohol was shocking in its strength to me, and I caught myself asking why people would drown themselves in the stuff. Years later I would still rather have a soda than a beer. But soda with some whiskey is a plus, too.

  • Super heroes. Number 21 was also good because Jen bought me a bunch of rad superhero stuff for that one. The package I received in the mail included a Batman t-shirt, some Smallville seasons and a couple of cheesy letters which I still have saved in a closet. Yes, we’re dorks.

  • Rabid Boy. I doubt he was less rabid and more effed up in the head, but my 9th birthday sleepover turned into a fight for survival when one of my friends started biting the party guests at two in the morning. We eventually pummeled him until he stopped and locked him in the bathroom, where he promptly soaked all of the toilet paper in the sink. Thanks for ruining my birthday, you filthy animal.

    • A couple of other birthday memories that dot the landscape of my recollection, but those are the ones that readily come to mind. There was also the birthday where someone left a Nintendo 64 on my doorstep, and I traded it in for store credit and bought Metal Gear Solid with it. On my 16th, my mom’s police officer boyfriend pulled up behind me in his patrol car the first time I was out driving. He thought it was hilarious. Me, not so much.

    Anyway, it’s funny just how many birthdays a dude can forget. I barely even remember last year’s, though this one was so awesome I doubt that will be the case. A special thanks to everyone who made it that way. I got an awesome new bike, hung out with friends and family, and laughed a whole bunch. Can’t really ask for anything better.

    So what about you guys? Any remarkable birthday celebrations?

Tags: , , , ,