So six days ago, I turned 28. In the ICU. It was a horrible end to 27, but yet…I have to look at it as a good start to 28. I get to start 28 without my aneurysm. That’s definitely something to be thankful for. The last 16 days of 27 were pretty rough, but ultimately I think (I’m not 100% sure, but I think) I was happy during 27. The highlights:
First Nationals game
I might have been officially 26 when this happened, but it was for my birthday. This is when I first became truly friends with Sasha. It was my first week of work, I was totally alone in my office, and I was clearly sad. Sasha comes in and introduces himself, we chat, and somehow the subject of my birthday comes up. I confess to him that I have ZERO B-day plans, and he believes this to be unacceptable: “You can’t do nothing for your birthday! Do you want to go to a Nationals game?” It was so strange. I didn’t know this guy. I had been in the city for like 3 days…and here is this guy asking me to a baseball game. What did I have to lose? So I totally went. I later found out that I was crashing a guy’s night out, and that he didn’t think I would accept his invitation…But it didn’t matter. That was the beginning of one of the greatest friendships of 27. I thank God for that rained out Nat’s game, the sketch Ben’s Chili Bowl, and endless jokes.
Welcome to Miami
I had never been to South Beach before, but I was there for Valerie’s 27th birthday in September. It was ridiculously fun. This was my first TRUE foray into beach life. Note: I used to think I hated the beach. This is due to the fact that I cannot swim.
–Pause—I did a quick Google on “why black people can’t swim” and stumbled upon a hilarious Jimmy Kimmel clip--updated 8/4/10 clip became private...if you didn't watch it...you missed out--
I would like to say that if you asked me why black people couldn’t swim, I would have said because of the Middle Passage (educate yourself). Many slave deaths were drowning/water-related which, in my opinion, creates a socialized fear of water. Add to that the Jim Crow segregation laws which resulted in the lack of pools in black communities, and our inability to swim in the pools located in the white community; swimming was something we just couldn’t do. And in true prideful form, when there is something you can’t do it is coped with by becoming something you don’t want to do. Add to that the fact that other swimming takes place at the beach, which is avoided because we—black folk—don’t like to get tans. This is the formula for “black people can’t swim” in my opinion –Unpause—
All that notwithstanding, I had an awesome time in Miami, chilling on the beach, the nightlife, the margaritas…it was awesome. I thank God for my first (not even the last) South Beach trip.
Slapsgiving:
My first non-family Thanksgiving. It took 27 years, but I had a Friends-like Thanksgiving, kind of a la How I Met Your Mother (because we called in Slapsgiving—click here for the awesome youtube video of the song). But it was awesome. That was the debut of my apple pie, and how I learned that Jews like HoneyBaked Ham (in moderation). I thank God for the first non-family Thanksgiving!
Church:
Perhaps you will recall my earlier blogs about my search for a church in the DC Metro Area. Well, I found one that I liked, and have met some VERY awesome people (Checkers included) and that has been a really positive force in my life. I’m a people person. People make me happy, so I’ve been happy to meet people. I definitely thank God for the people I’ve met, and the Christian fellowship that has ensued. Awesome!
There were other awesome things that happened during my 27th year, honorable mentions:
- Corporate Christmas Party – I crashed the WRONG party, checked my coat and wandered around looking for my friends for 45 minutes.
- LOST Weekend – that actually should have been up top, but in May I celebrated the end of LOST at Lake Anna with good friends. It was definitely a new experience, and the perfect way to say Bon Voyage to a great show.
- Ingrid Michaelson – I went to an Ingrid concert at 26, and I went to one at 27. I think she’ll be seeing me soon…however, I fell in love ALL over again with the live version of The Chain, and I hung out with my friend Cons who came to visit before leaving to live in Singapore. We did DC right: Arlington Cemetery, Smithsonian, Holocaust Museum, restaurants and Ingrid! Side note: Ingrid has been bringing random girls on stage to sing the song with her. That didn’t happen in DC or Chicago; if it had I would have beaten a path to the stage…bulldozing smaller women (as if they exist) as I went!
- The trip to Baltimore to see Norah Jones - Check out my post Chasing Pirates...on the Next Episode of the Wire.
That ham is wack! (ooooh)
ReplyDeleteYou brought so much of it.
That ham is wack! (wohohohoho)
And honey-glazed, my friend.
You bought a pile of ham
And it was baked, then wrapped
Yea, it was awesome
The way that the ham got hacked.
Until next Slapsgiving.