Today is my birthday. I was born on this very day, 26 years ago, way back in 1976. How about that. This day usually makes me ponder all the stupid and potentially life-threatening, lunk-headed things I've done in the last 26 years. I am lucky enough to be in pretty good health. Although I do think about getting hit by a car or subway train from time to time, usually while entertaining some fantasy about the land of lawsuits and not having to work for quite some time.Anyway, my subconscious gave me an early birthday present last night, with some really fucked up dreams. The most vivid part was a little scene I stumbled upon twice. I was on the F train, with Matt and two girls. They may have been my upstairs neighbors. I had to pee, so I got off the train and started walking down the tunnel. Only the subway tunnel wasn't really a subway tunnel. I ended up in the Indiana Jones-looking cave, where I ran into this guy Eric that I went to college with. So we get out of the tunnel and find ourselves in some sort of public garden. Very flowery and lush, and it was a nice late-spring date. So the first thing I see when I enter this grassy knoll is a seal wearing a Speedo style bathing suit, laying on a towel, sunbathing. I look around and there are two other animals, a dog and something else, also wearing human bathing suits. One was wearing a red bikini. Later on in the dream I came across this scene again. There was a woman there who owned the dog, and at one point she told the dog to attack. But I think it was a playful sort of attack. Other things in the dream were: a peanut butter sandwich restaurant that featured the only available public bathroom; a swarms of gnats, and a transparent cube that held different sorts of animals, depending on which way you turned it. That was weird. At one point, it was filled with frogs, and I remember thinking that there was no air getting in or out of the glass cube. I looked in, and sure enough one of the frogs was dead. I opened the lid a bit, but then all these frogs came pouring out, jumping all over my living room. Just as I wondered how I was going to clear them out and clean, my dog came in and ate most of them. He's really kind of a dumb dog. Anyway, I'm wondering just what the fuck kind of subconsciuos message could possibly be conveyed through dead frogs and marine mammals in bikinis.
Anyway, back in reality, I had a small birthday dinner with the college crew last night. Jen, James, Matt, Jed and I went down to the 12th Street Bar and Grill in Park Slope. The whole evening was Rodzilla's idea. When she pitched the idea, I though it sounded great, but told her she had to organize it. But she had to go to a wedding over the weekend, so I was stuck planning the event. I hate organizing events for my own birthday. It makes me feel kind of dumb. I don't like the attention anyway, and it makes it even worse when I have to ask people to come celebrate, well, me. What made it even more awkward was the fact that Rodzilla had to cancel. Apparently she's been stricken with quite a severe stomach virus. So that was a little disappointing. The evening was fun though. The five of us all hang out together so rarely these days. James found out recently that he's being flown to Holland to play a few shows. Which is exciting news. Particularly because then he'll be able to truthfully say "Yeah, we're big in Holland." The food was good, beer was served, and I bested Matt in a game of darts. Hit the bull's eye twice on my last three throws. James took off to go to a show in Williamsburg, and the rest of us picked up some beer and went back to the apartment. We spent the remainder of the night talking and playing board games; specifically, Balderdash. I really enjoy that game. You basically get read a word like "dragee," or "zarf," and you make up definitions and you have to guess which is right. Anyway, I must say I did play particularly well in both the guessing and writing departments. Somehow, Jen managed to storm back and beat me the first game. It was mostly due to Matt and Jed picking her nonsensical definition for the last word. Dolts. The second game I won handily.
And here I am at work. I'm swamped right now, and this is the last thing I should be working on. But here we are... I don't like work very much at all.Well, I've been 26 for 12 hours now. Not feeling all that different. Tired, a bit frustrated, and unsatisfied. But in general, it somehow combines together in an okay mix. I'm taking tomorrow off, and the plan for the evening is to go out and drink. There will be people accompanying me. Again, I'm uncomfortable having people come out under the auspices of my birthday. I don't really feel like going out with a lot of people either. Five or at the most six would be good for me. We shall see. Anyway, today is also the 100th day of the year. I just found that out a few years ago. I think that's neato.
Oh yeah, here's a little picture Garrick showed me how to make. This, too, is what I might call "neato":
