I'mma be...

[Vesnic]

It's good that I have some time; I'd hate to hit 30 and not be a little further along.

I'm not sure exactly how you mean "further along", whether you're referring to your worldly success, your relationships and status or your inner space. My friends and I had all sorts of wacky ideas about what we'd be doing when we turned 30. We all assumed we'd be married, established in our careers and if not already in the possession of a spawn or two, then right on the cusp of baby-making. This changed in our teenage years when a couple of the rebel goth chicks said they didn't want to propagate the disgusting human race. Then it changed again a few years later when we all discovered the joys of partying and casual sex and realized we were living in a world where quaint milestones were quickly becoming outdated. I'm very conflicted on how to think about it all. On the one hand, I think it behooves everyone to take certain opportunities to look back, reflect, and recollect themselves. Yet for those of us who are always reflecting, what more insight could a single day offer us? Maybe nothing. But then again, maybe there's a certain alchemy that happens when we and the people we know all agree upon one moment in time as being a special one and a pivotal one, and suddenly there are possibilities again.

No matter what I'm doing, I take the day off on Easter, find somewhere cool and quiet and aesthetically pleasant, and just reflect and exist for awhile.

That's an intriguingly attractive personal practice. I agree that Easter has a universal appeal to people of all faiths, or of no faith. The mundane becomes divine. Hope springs from the ruins. Without the essential concepts of Easter, we would be a different species entirely. It's my favorite holiday too and I tend to celebrate it in a low-key fashion with the added elements of Catholicism and the anniversary of my life-saving surgery.

There are a few other days like that - days that mark occasions - not official holidays, but I do take something from them, even the ones that don't mark something pleasant. There's something solemn and beautiful and right about them. They enshrine something that holds so much raw meaning you can't bring yourself to forget.

I know just what you mean. I wish there were more of these in the calendar year which were widely known and acknowledged, despite their lack of marketing value. Sometimes I find it interesting to take a cheesy federal or even religious holiday and look up which Saints Day it is. Without literally celebrating that particular saint, it can be an interesting exercise to reflect on the larger concepts represented by that individual. In the same vein, I sometimes like to observe the Liturgy of the Hours, which compiles different prayers and hymns and readings and is specific to the unique meanings of each day.

[Vesnic]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POOPYFACE!

May you drink a thousand beers
May you live a million years
May you get plastered, you bastard
Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!
You belong in a zoo
You look like a monkey
And you smell like one too!

[donteatpoop]

Why thank you Vesipoo.

[Usoki]

Jesus, how many end-of-June birthdays do we have around here?

[Vesnic]

Oh shit it's yours too. I'm sorry I'm sorry, I forgot! I'm going to tell you happy birthday now really quickly and just because it might not be as cool as Poop's greeting doesn't mean I like you any less. Douche-canoe is brilliant by the way. It's been awhile since I was impressed by a good insult. Well done on ya!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USOKI!!!

[donteatpoop]

It's your birthday too, Sucky? Happy birthday. *Birthday high five*

[Usoki]

Well, not until the 30th... but still. Late June, holy hell.

[donteatpoop]

And today, I believe is Vesnic's.

[End Master]

I know Ves doesn't want any cake due to the anorexia and all so I decide to give her something that's sort of old and been around a while, but it is always reliable in keeping you one step ahead of the fat pants.

The Gift that keeps on giving!

[BatCountry]

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY VESNIC! STAY BEAUTIFUL!

[donteatpoop]

And finally Happy Birthday to Usucky. Nice way to bring the month to a close. Hope it doesn't suck too much, dude. Or if it does suck, hope you are on the receiving end.

[Vesnic]

Haha! Thanks guys. I feel really, um, special now, like I've officially defeated some sort of ravening monster called Foolhardy Youth who was hoping I'd skateboard over a cliff or pass out drunk at the wheel or just otherwise be fatally young, dumb and full of ... fun. The fact that my 20's did not in fact kill me is really pretty remarkable so yes, I did feel a unique sense of achievement in finally walking through the door into 30's Land.

[Vesnic]

I never forget my fellow Cancerous Growths. Happy Birthday, DEP!