Belated birthday post

This is a very belated birthday-related blog post. I started writing about my birthday the day after the fact, but I got sidetracked and never quite managed to finish the post. I need to start blogging again, because I have plenty to say. So we'll begin with my birthday.

I don't celebrate my birthday with a lot of fanfare. However, I also don't sweep it under a rug like the curmudgeon in me is wont to do. I enjoy getting gifts, but that's true regardless of whether it's my birthday! Still, I got some pretty cool gifts from my family members. My dad got some books, as well as a whopping stack of Chapters gift cards, which are like candy you can use to buy books. My brother got me a mug with a stylized police badge that says "Spelling Police," as well as some tea. In particular, he got me a type of South American tea called Yerba Maté; I can't pronounce that name, so I just call it "panther tea," because the box has a panther on it. Incidentally, this is also why my brother selected that tea. In his own words: "Panthers are manly."

I'm 21 now, and it's just weird. I don't feel 21, although if you asked me what age I do feel, I don't think I could attach such a number. It's just weird how quickly time passes. I feel like it was just yesterday that I graduated high school. No, three years have passed. I'm well on my way to completing university degrees and becoming a certified teacher. This is somewhat scary. Soon I could be back in high school, but on the other side. And I've barely two decades under my belt.

Sometimes I feel old. By "old," I don't mean decrepit, or aged, or anything pejorative. I just mean that I've been around longer than I thought I have, and in my short time here, the world has changed quite a bit. I miss television shows from my youth, such as Wishbone or Ghostwriter, which are foreign to younger people today. I wonder if I belong to the last generation that will understand what "shake it like a Polaroid picture" means, except outside of a history class. Five years ago, monitors were bulky. Now we've all flatscreens and phones with Bluetooth (well, most of us--my phone still doesn't have Bluetooth, so I don't have to worry about it conspiring with my WiiMote).

So really, it's just a matter of time before I'm the old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn. See you then!m