May 10th 2006

So, yeah. It's my birthday.
-smiles-

It's a strange sort of thing for me, sometimes, I think. I generally keep my birthday to myself, though I'm not as secretive about it as some -- if asked, I'll say, but I don't generally proclaim it. And I usually keep it rather quiet and personal. A day for me. I guess it's that latent introvert in me, or something.

I was thinking last night that this could be one of those quirky self-defense sorts of things I find I have without really noticing it. -shrugs-

Lots of things to say, if I took the time, but as it is I'm supposed to be in class. Today, as with most of my birthdays, I don't 'feel' any different -- I've been operating under the assumption that I was 23 for most of this year already. Though, there is an odd quirk in that I can't decide if "twenty-three" sounds old to me or young. I'm leaning toward young -- I'm only twenty-three -- but sometimes... I mean, I have my own apartment, I've been living by my own means more-or-less for years now, but particularly in recent months. My little cousins are turning 14 and 16 and 18, and I remember when I was 14 and 16 and 18. I'm getting a Master's Degree, and I'll have it shortly after I turn 24. But really, that just makes me think I'm too young to have a Master's Degree. My friend Nifer said twenty-three sounded young, but I think that's because it was so close to her age, and she thought I was a bit older. It occured to me that I'll probably still think I'm young when I'm 37, 45, and 52.

My mom was nearly 23, not quite, when she had me. My dad was probably 24 or 25, I guess.

I want to be married, and I want a daughter. But, sometimes, I'm OK with waiting a little bit, too.

I want a kitten.

And, truthfully, I thought I would be a little more sad today than I am. So that's a good thing.

The result amused me.

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead... But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

How Machiavellian Are You?

In twenty-three years...

Through no fault of my own, this was probably the best birthday I've had in a long while. Granted, I haven't the memory to recall very many birthdays before, but in the five years that I've had LiveJournal I've never posted about one so I think that says something.

Aside from all the comments I got here today, I also got a load of text-messages from my brothers and Meghan and such; and several notes on Facebook and MySpace; and a couple phone calls, including a message from my sister saying "I'm not going to sing for you, even though you sang for me; I'm just not that confident" and this conversation with my friend Jenny Parks:

Jenny: Hey, just calling to say 'Happy Birthday.'
Me: Why, thank you.
Jenny: OK, we're done here. I'll see you in a month.

-giggles- Jenny's generally not one to chat on the phone. -smiles-

But the best was my gift from Laurel, My Only Friend In Monterey:
( This is what Laurel did for me )

( And this is what I did for me. )

So, yes. it's been a great day. I only had a couple classes, and the weather was sunny and beautiful, and I went out for a steak dinner which was grand, and i was loved and happy and...
Thank you all. Very much.
-smiles- I'm shutting up now.

End Womens' Suffrage?

I'm not exactly sure what to say about this clip.