Quarter of a Century

As of today I am officially over the hill. Well, over the hill of exciting birthdays at least. When I turned 21 that was by far and away the best birthday ever. Although I had been drinking for years, it was nice to finally be able to stroll right into a bar and order a drink with the full confidence of a man begging to be asked for his ID. Not to mention that as the RA, I had a blowout party on the 4th Floor of Grimes where I made PJ for all of my residents who then played PJ pong in the hallway until 3am. Classic.

Turning 22 was almost as exciting as 21 because it was my senior year in college and it was important for us to maximize our time at the bars considering graduation was only a few precious months away. Unfortunately for me, I had a Financial Accounting I exam on the morning of my birthday. Fortunately for me, I prepared for it ahead of time and spent the remainder of the day eating at Suttons and roaming Franklin St. A year older but still only 365 days removed from 21.

My 23rd birthday came with a little less fanfare than 21 or 22 as I was now in Grad School but was still a spectacular weekend of eating, drinking and UNC basketball with good friends. Since it was to be my last year in Chapel Hill, I tried to spend a good deal of time that week and the following half of the semester enjoying all of my favorite bars I had come to know since turning 21. Only now, at 23, I had to go on a diet to counteract the effects of my birthday and our forthcoming Spring Break trip to Vegas. Still though, a great birthday.

Year 24 rolled in with a more considerable feeling of impending doom as I could by then almost feel the cold deathly grip of 25 bearing down on me. I was in NY now, but of course, I was working and was actually in Sarasota, FL during the week of my birthday. When I returned to NY, I was surprised with dinner/drinks at my favorite downtown bar: Ryan's. When I went to the bathroom they tried to further surprise me with a Junior's cheesecake, but couldn't get all of the candles lit before I returned. I probably should have taken that as a bad omen.

Today I am 25... and despite a great weekend which was highlighted by awesome nachos at Baby Bo's and karaoke with unlimited beer and sake until 3 am... this year's milestone is a far cry from previous years. If all goes well I plan to spend this evening in my apartment drinking scotch alone in the dark. Well, that was the original plan as Barb is going to a Spice Girls concert. Thankfully Jon is in town and is supposed to take me out for dinner. Still, a nearly middle aged man singing karaoke and going out for a nice dinner after work...

That's a far cry from the glory days of hallway PJ pong. Oh how the mighty have fallen. What's the plan for, 30, 40, dare I say... 50? Musical wheelchairs and a morning enema? No thank you, I'll take an order of cyanide please. I think I'm going to start boycotting my birthday. Just ignore it and campaign for no festivities whatsoever and pretend it's not even happening...

But then again, that would require me to forgo cake... FREE cake... mmm... cake. Ok, I'm back in. Can't wait for next year.