What A Trip Around The Sun

Goes a song about birthdays and how overrated they are.

This birthday video (kindly sent to me by my 4th cousin, twice removed) congratulated me on completing another trip around the sun today and reminded me that I made it alive. I gave this some thought and agreed that indeed, I didn't die this year and it was quite a tumultuous and interesting trip around the sun for the 26th time.

At this time last year, I was constantly fighting with a boy on the phone, lived at home, had a temporary job, and was sitting in Organic Chemistry lecture AND workshop until 10 pm while the class celebrated someone else's birthday because I hadn't told anyone it was mine, too. Can you say miserable?

Today, I'm soaking up the rays coming through the wide windows in a nice office with a job that throws me quite a few bones and allows me to blog every now and then. I love my UWS studio apartment and am thrilled to have it all to myself. I'm in an amazing graduate program and finished the last class of my first semester last night. I've come to terms with my face and praise my own hair. Can we agree that life is pretty darn good?

Of course, in the Indian tradition, I have completed 26 years and am on my 27th - so from this day onwards, my family will tell everyone I'm 27 and need to get hitched right away. But I can deal. I have nice hair, and bad Indian music sounds great bouncing off the high ceilings of my studio.

Kodak Moment, Biodata In The Making

I wore a blue sari to a wedding reception and had 2 biodata photos taken.

My aunt (one of many) said that it is rare to have a biodata/Kodak moment. So I violently shook my head a few times, then grinned sheepishly, then smiled for the camera. My uncle is already planning a pre-wedding event, the venue for which is his ginormous back lawn.

I don't know if I am insulted that this was one of the few times they were so eager to take my picture and pimp me out or flattered that I managed to impress them.

3 glasses of wine later, I was eyeing the best man (also my cousin's best friend) and contemplating following him around. My other cousin (jeez, why are there so many?) offered to help me out and walk around aimlessly. In the end, we both just ended up getting more wine and dancing with our various uncles since all the young men were having too much fun dancing by themselves.

A pseudo-cousin challenged me to go one month without complaining about all this interest in my love life, potential marriage, and childbearing abilities. In the same breath, he asked why I was single since I am apparently so great.

I think I'm about to vomit and commit myself somewhere but I really have to make it through the next 3 weeks without losing it. Help.