It’s worth a nickel

a while ago i posted an entry about what i wanted for my birthday. six things on my list, despite the fact that i usually can’t come up with anything, and then my mom yells at me because she doesn’t know what to get.

but this year, with my birthday still over a month away, i’ve already received two of the things i wanted. mama carol, aka paul’s mom, bought paul and me a digital camera for our birthday. please welcome the canon powershot sd450 digital elph into our lives! although jimmy is still trying to get me to take some naked pictures of paul for his vast pornography collection, so far i’ve just been chronicling the painting of the dining room. (and amazon.com totally rocks for delivering it in about half the time they estimated. i don’t care if they’re completely lying about how long it takes to deliver stuff … at the end of the day, i’m just incredibly excited that it got here way before they said it would. that’s called managing expectations, people, and i’m all about it.)

as if that’s not enough, yesterday paul picked up tickets to wicked on broadway. okay, so we’re not going until october. okay, so we’re officially celebrating christmas 2005 with peter, philip, brian and jimmy. but that’s not the point! the point is, i wanted to see the show, and i’m going to see it!

i’ve been told i’m a bit ahead of the game since my birthday is “only just less” than three months away, but i started making a list of the things i want. feel free to sign up for your gift now.

this is abnormal for me because i usually can’t come up with anything that i want, and here i have a list of six items already.

1. tickets to see wicked
2. a cordless screwdriver (being a homeowner changes your priorities)
3. a tattoo (assuming i can decide what on earth i want tattooed on myself, which to date i cannot)
4. a digital camera (make/model tbd, although i am fond of jimmy’s canon elph)
5. a puppy (male pug or boston terrier)
6. a yoga mat

it’s been something of a roller coaster week for me.

it started really well last friday night, with a trip to china rose in rhinecliff for jimmy’s birthday dinner. he’s a trim and fabulous 28! we had yummy food and good times with jimmy, nick shannon from the hospital, peter, paul and me.

this was followed up by good times at griff’s (see my pictures!). we got home very late and got up very early the next morning to let brad the pig man get started cooking for peter’s pig roast. this was a great day too, with good food, good drinks, good friends and great weather. it’s been a six month adventure to make this pig roast a reality but it actually happened and it was flawless. (the highlight of my day may have been to meet brown… see my pictures!)

on sunday, it rained. my mom called to let me know that my aunt barbara, who has been suffering from lung cancer for several years now, lost her battle. i feel the loss acutely, because i think she was one of the classiest ladies i’ve ever known. moreover, when i lost my grandmother earlier this year, aunt barbara said all the right things and told all the great stories she knew of nana, and it helped a lot. paul and i will be attending her viewing tomorrow night and the funeral on friday morning, and i’m just not sure i’m ready to deal with the maudlin grief of my entire family. my therapist reminded me on monday (thanks joe!) that it’s okay for me to express my grief in my own way… but it’s still hard when you have the bevy of catholic hardliners surrounding the there-is-no-afterlife fag, you know?

when it rains, it pours. literally. the remnants of hurricane katrina arrive in new york this afternoon, and i’m worried about getting some water in the basement. isn’t that tragic? countless people have lost their lives, homes, perhaps everything … and i’m worried about water in the basement because of the two inches of rain that are predicted for this area.

and since i’m feeling particularly sensitive this week, i completely lost it yesterday when one of my customers escalated me to my management. instead of just asking me a question, she went ’round behind my back to my manager. ewww! it’s not as if i got in trouble, but it renewed my fervent wish for a new job. i’d love to write more evil things, but people lose their jobs for blogging about work, and i’m not about to be one of them. (ask me for details if you’re so interested!) anyway, thank goodness for the gym. after 40 minutes on the elliptical (working my glutes, thank you very much!) i felt renewed.

so today is my birthday. and even though turning 27 is not the most exciting milestone in a young (yes, young) man’s life, it’s been a nice day so far.

despite having to come to work, i’ve had so many people remind me that they care about me by sending a card, calling, e-mailing, instant messaging, etc., etc. (it’s nice to see that in some cases, technology brings people closer together.)

so having said that, thanks to ralphie, melissa and eric, jimmy, jeff and david, aunt dale, uncle barry, joyce, aunt jackie, mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, mom s., elan, simon, ewan, frank, matt, peter and everybody else for wishing me well on my birthday.

ps i’m also aware that i owe everyone a post-party report from the bounty event this past weekend. it’s forthcoming, i promise.