What I'm Reading

Stardust by Joseph Kanon
Coming out in the fall, the next novel by the author of The Good German. It's so good I kinda want to lick the pages.

Friday, March 7, 2008

You Say It's Your Birthday

Yes, it's true. I turned 33 last weekend. Polly keeps telling me that it officially makes me a grown-up hobbit. But I like to refer to it as my "Jesus year." (For those of you not versed in Christian history, the Bible says Jesus was 33 when he was crucified.) I can never come close when it comes to influence or importance. But I am hoping my year ends better than his did. Execution for a crime I didn't commit is so not on my to-do list.

That said, I had a fabulous birthday. I stopped at the bookstore on my way home from work on Friday and bought myself some purely indulgent, mindless reads. And then I spent most of the weekend reading like it was my job. I made it through two and a half books by the time I went back to work on Monday. One of them was poking out of my bag on Saturday (Bookgirl fashion rule #22: when taking the subway by yourself on your way to a night out, always carry the sequined purse that's big enough to hold a paperback) and my friend Mary asked me, "Is that one of your trashy romance novels?" My response? "Even better. Vampire romance."

I was showered with attention all day: phone calls and singing and emails and texts and one very special "Happy Birfday" message from the girl. A small group of my closest friends took me out to dinner for my birthday, and I was reminded all over again of why they're my best friends. One of the boys nonchalantly text messaged me from the other side of the table during dinner. The message said "You look adorable." I'm pretty positive there were hearts coming out of my eyes like Pepe le Peu in those old cartoons. I swear I'd fight his boyfriend for him if I thought I could win.

And let's not forget the Venti skim toffee nut latte from Starbucks. Oh, the latte. See, every year for Lent I give up the same thing--chocolate. It's the hardest thing I can give up and still stick to. (One year I gave up potatoes AND pasta, and chocolate was still tougher.) But since I've been giving up chocolate since junior high, I started giving something else up along with it. This year it was lattes. I couldn't give up coffee entirely, because that just wasn't fair to the people who have to be around me every day. (To my coworkers, you're welcome.) For me, lattes are the good stuff. Coffee is just utilitarian.

After Lent began, a Starbucks opened up in my neighborhood. Two blocks from my apartment. I've lived in this neighborhood for 10 years. That's a full decade of serving hard time, waiting for Jackson Heights to finally get a Starbucks. And once we finally did, I couldn't go. Heartbreaking. But I have one caveat to my Lenten sacrifices, and it's this: they don't count on my birthday. No, Jesus did not come out of the desert for my birthday, but without this rule I would have never in my entire life had a birthday cake worth eating. And I just don't believe a just God would want that to happen in his name. So I got the biggest latte they sell at Starbucks, a medium-sized bag of Cadbury mini eggs, and went. to. town.

The night before my birthday I was a little sad (also a little tipsy, thus the sad), thinking that I was starting a new year with all the same issues I always swear I'm going to change about myself. I'm still broke, still overweight, still not entirely sure what's next for me. But when I woke up the next morning, that was all gone. I was just utterly grateful. Maybe I'll never be rich or thin or have it all together, but I'm loved. Utterly, completely loved. And what else do I really need?


p.s. For those of you thinking, "I thought Bookgirl was going to blog more often now that she has the new laptop??" all I can say is, so did I. But every night this week, I would put on the laptop and the television, intending to write while I was cleaning out the DVR. And it turns out that while I'm an ace multitasker, and there are a zillion things I can do while watching television, being creative and witty is NOT one of them. Lesson learned.

8 comments:

Working Mom said...

Happy Birthday to you! Ahh...I remember 33 fondly. Well, actually, 22 was much more fun, but when we hit the mid-30s we have to start lying to ourselves more and more about how great it is to NOT be in our 20s anymore (a crock of shit if you ask me).

Bookgirl said...

Working Mom, This so rarely happens, but I have to disagree with you here. There's not enough money in the world to get me to go back to 22 again. That first year out of college, yes, had a lot of fun times, but with those times came that horrible uncertainty--leaving home for the first time without the safety net of college, having to survive in New York on a salary that hovered around the poverty line, trying to build a career from the bottom up, having everything feel so new and so terrifying. No thank you.

Diosa said...

Happy Birthday! I do love a good vampire romance. And 22 was not one of my better years either. I'm one of those people who is quite satisfied with where she is at the moment, thank you. Even if 33 is staring me in the face.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to you my current travel read is a paranormal romance: werewolves. It's not my usual thing, and I'm not even sure I'd be able to enjoy it if it weren't for the fact that every time there's a certain style of zinger I automatically channel an image of you giggling.

Anonymous said...

You are loved...lots!!!! I am glad you know it! =) Enjoy the year ahead just as you are!

Bookgirl said...

Di, I agree completely. I asked my mom once what part of her life she had liked best--when they were first married, when they had little kids, now... and she told me she just enjoyed wherever in her life she was. I strive for that kind of simplicity.

Polly, yes, those zingers make me giggle every time. Which one are you reading??

Anon, Whoever you are, I love you too.

Anonymous said...

Happy Belated Birthday Bookgirl!

Good for you for settling in with mini cadbury eggs - those are my favorite!!!

PS - I so called you last week - I was bored and wanted to chat. Did you get my message?

Anonymous said...

Happy Very Belated Birthday. I have been MIA, but am glad you're finding 33 to your liking. As a 31 year old, that gives me hope. Actually, I would never go back to my twenties now that I escaped them, either.