funny...i don't feel old.

well, it's happened. i'm officially 27 (by almost exactly three hours).

how am i celebrating? well, i'm at work.......all day. however, working at the radio station means i can play last year's birthday serenade from my sister again....which i just did. you can listen to it here: sister_bday
i'm also spending the day demanding that would-be requests be prefaced by "happy birthday, duff". (yes- that noise you just heard was yours truly cracking her whip.)

while we're at it, if you're really lucky, i'll put up my biggest fan's birthday wishes from last year. (when he called today, not only did he forget to wish me a happy birthday, but he also called to tell me that if i hear from a particular listener, i am to tell her that he saw her on t.v. when she was 8 or 10, and thought she looked very pretty.)

radiofan_bday

anyway, back to me.

in honor of my birthday, i'm starting a new blog. it's going to take me a little while to perfect it, but if you'd like, you can sneak a peek at it here.

i don't know about you, but my birthday tends to depress me a little. if i sit still too long, i start pondering my own mortality and dwelling on my (lack of) accomplishments.

so, instead, this year i'll try to focus for a moment (or two or three) on what i've accomplished thus far. (i'm allowed to toot my own horn on my birthday, right? right?)

1. i was born on 17 july 1978 at 5:28 a.m. (or was it 5:22? i can't remember...feel free to correct me mama- after all, you were there.) since so many things could've gone wrong between conception and my debut, i consider being born my first accomplishment.

2. a tornado tore through our neighborhood (in a denver suburb) when i was three. obviously, i survived. (i thought it was a train and kept heading toward the window for a better look.)

3. despite my underachiever tendencies, i scored high enough on the ACT to earn a scholarship.

4. i was voted "class clown" my senior year of high school.

5. i've been to mardi gras.....sober.

6. i made it through college in four years...with three BAs.

7. shortly after college, i moved halfway across the country- by myself. i pulled into columbia, sc, five years ago today with a carload of my worldly possessions and directions to keith and rhonda's house. (on a side note, when i called each of my parents to let them know i'd arrived, both of them forgot that it was my birthday. i was crushed.)

8. i've had a paying job in radio since i was 21. (an NPR affiliate in college, followed by classic rock and modern rock stations upon my arrival in south carolina, and i've been on the air at wnok for over 3 1/2 years.) i was on full time briefly at one point.....i'd like to get back to that sometime in the next two years.

9. i've hiked to the bottom of the grand canyon.....and made it back out again under my own power.

10. i've kayaked on the colorado river.

11. i've been to every state except washington, oregon, idaho, montana, utah, texas (i don't count airports), alaska, and hawaii. i've also been to spain twice (madrid on one trip, barcelona on the other), france (mostly paris), mexico (twice...once in a stroller, and the second time this past april), and canada (manitoba, quebec, new brunswick, nova scotia, prince edward island).

12. as of this coming wednesday night, i will have seen three out of my four favorite bands in concert...twice each. (inxs in april 1994 and september 1997, depeche mode during the devotional and exciter tours, duran duran in november 2003 and on wednesday night, and u2 during their popmart tour.)

okay....so i suppose i've got a couple of entries for my life resume. over the next year, i'd like to add the following:

1. visit three new places. (i've got two planned- just need to work on a third.)

2. eat 100 tacos (no problem there)

3. find an intact conch shell at the beach. (this seems to be the holy grail of shells for me....i can find broken ones, but an intact shell seems to be just out of my reach for some reason.)

4. get in a position (financially) where i can afford to work less and play more. (actually, i may need a couple of years for that one.....)

5. take a picture every day...and remember to post them on my new blog.

oh- and don't think that just because i'm 27 now i'm going to start acting like a grown up. maybe i'll consider it by forty...though i doubt it.