Mid 20's

As of 5:24 a.m. (which, in case you were wondering, stands for ante meridiem) yesterday, I have officially been on the earth for 24 years and counting. Although, like most people, I love the adulation that comes with having a birthday party, I chose to keep my 24th rather low key. In fact, I rang in the dawn of my mid 20's at the office.

Of course I've had plenty of birthday moments in my day including, but not limited to: the party in NYC I had with my friend Kate last year, when my cousin who will not be named and an old roommate (the Raucc man) surprised me in the city of hopes and dreams for my 21st, when my 8th grade math teacher thought I blowing off a "find your birthday in pi" assignment, etc.

The celebration (or I guess simply the acknowledgment) of a birthday, at its core, is just a way to mark the passing of time. Birthdays are generally thought of as happy occasions, but they can also be seen as not so pleasant reminders that, whether we like it or not, time is racing ahead.

The sad reality of turning 24, for me, is that I'm now officially in my mid 20's (as I mentioned earlier) yet I still don't feel like a full-fledged adult. By the way, 20-23 is early 20's, 24-26 is mid 20's, and 27-29 is late 20's. You'd think by now that I would have achieved something or that I would have gained some perspective on something, but in reality I haven't.

I mean, I like to think that I have a pretty realistic sense of our world and my participation in it, but in the grand scheme of things I really haven't done a damn thing. In fact, I don't even have much of a plan for what I want to do/accomplish in the future (which can't be a good thing) even though one of my go to quotes is, "The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them." And by "go to" I mean it is one of 14 quotes that I have on a Word document titled "Quotes".

All I really know is that I'm passionate about two things: sports and writing. And if you tear away the broadness, I guess I'm really passionate about competition and self-expression. I think (at least I hope) that knowing this is all that matters. I mean, I still have no clue what I'll be doing in 10 years, but maybe that's a good thing.

I like sports for all the obvious reasons. I like watching them, I like playing them, I like talking about them, I like listening to people talk about them, I like learning and knowing about the people that play them, I like reading about them, I like writing about them, etc.

As many of you know, I currently work in sports. I love my job and would never in my right mind complain about it because I'm incredibly fortunate to be getting a paycheck to do what I do, but sometimes the work is pretty mindless. I'm still relatively low on the totem pole, so hopefully I'll be able to more significantly contribute to the content as I work my way up the corporate ladder, but as it stands right now I rarely get that sense of accomplishment, that apparently I crave, as I leave work.

Writing, or self expression as I called it earler, is sort of a release for me. If you couldn't tell, I'm very opinionated and I need an outlet for the multitude of thoughts that cross my mind. Writing gives me that outlet. The process itself sucks. I mean, sure, I like manipulating words and throwing phrases together, but rarely do I look forward to sitting down and composing my thoughts. Oftentimes it's a taxing, time consuming struggle to get things to sound the way I want them to. I do it because the end result is very rewarding. Almost all of the writing that I do (this blog included) is for my own benefit. I'm literally my number one fan.

Now I'm not quite sure where, if anywhere, writing fits into my current career path, but I do know that in my quest to "do something" I would like to tackle the challenge of writing a book (or 2). I've heard that it's a grueling, agonizing process, but I think that the sense of accomplishment that completing a novel would provide would make all time and effort worthwhile. I actually have some pretty good ideas too. One of which involves this awkward post graduate time period that we are all currently going through (better known in the business as a coming of age novel).

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A post at least loosely tied to my birthday wouldn't be complete without mentioning one of my favorite Seinfeld lines of all time:

From, "The Betrayal" (the episode that goes in reverse)

KRAMER: Hey, FDR wants me to drop dead.

GEORGE: FDR?

KRAMER: Yeah, Franklin Delano Romanowski. I go to his birthday party, and just before he blew out his candles, he gives me this look..

GEORGE: Stink eye?

JERRY: Crook eye?

KRAMER: EVIL eye.

JERRY: Well, everybody's a little cranky on their birthday..

GEORGE: Oh, it's a bad day. Uh, you got everyone in your house, you're thinkin', "These are my friends?!"

JERRY: Everyday is my birthday.

Jerry's line at the end is obviously the punch line and it's funny, but it's only my 3rd favorite line from the scene. My 2nd favorite is when Kramer says, "EVIL eye." If you haven't seen it then it probably doesn't resonate as much with you, but his delivery is impeccable. My favorite line, and one that I use quite often now, is George's, "These are my friends?!"