Happy I-didn't-die-in-the-last-year Day

I had a birthday. Hooray.

I haven't been big into birthdays for quite a few years. I had birthday parties every year as a kid.  Some great one like with pinatas or build your own tacos or pizzas. As you get to be an adult though, birthdays change.

Gifts, for example, become sort of superfluous. As an adult, you make your own money.  If there is something you really need or want, you'll buy it.  Additionally, the items that you want as an adult are vastly more expensive than what kids want.  This year I am considering a Mariners six game pack of tickets (roughly $180), a backpacking sleeping bag ($100plus), potentially a new high end rain jacket or television. It's hard to ask anyone to spend that much on you.  I don't know about all of you, but I have gotten a little pickier about what I want over the years.  I don't want just any old sleeping bag.  It needs to be under three pounds, pack size less than 7x16, minimum temperature 30 degrees, ideally with a hood and ability to zip to another bag. That's a lot to ask someone to look for, especially if they aren't at all interested in sleeping bags.

Parties are different as well. As a kid my parents (probably mom) arranged everything. The cake, the food, the gifts, the theme.  It feels almost as self-center/egotistical to make my own party as it does to write a blog and assume people read it. The crux of the deal is that I did arrange a get together and was mildly disappointed at the minimal turn out. Out of 17 invites, five people showed up, two leaving after dinner.  That being said, those were the folks I am closer to and would want and expect to show up. This year, dinner, drinks and then a variety show was a great way to celebrate.

I may be jaded or snarky, but it does seem sort of silly to celebrate birthdays because everyone has one.  We are celebrating the fact that you managed not to die between your last birthday and this one.  You didn't bore yourself, your mother gets the credit there.  You didn't accomplish anything to earn your birthday, you didn't have to purchase or claim it. Everyone gets one. I can see celebrating birthdays for senior citizens because, as crass as it may be, hey! they didn't die!! Celebrating birthdays for kids could be pertinent too since in the olden days lots of kids did die. In 2013, in a first world country (I'm ignoring the obvious conversation we could have here about how appalling the state of healthcare and how high the infant mortality rate in the US is), it seems less necessary to have birthdays.

That all said, thank you for the birthday wishes.  It is nice to know someone stopped and thought of you.  I'm not the best about doing the facebook birthday wishes but I do show up for drinks, events, etc.