So I'm officially 44 years old. Almost every blog post on my birthday starts with a discussion of the number itself, and I might as well stick with the pattern. Even numbers are generally less interesting to me, and 44 seems particularly unimpressive. When you break it down to prime factors, it's not all that exciting. I doubt this will have any direct impact on the next year, but I'm wired to think about numbers.
If we wanted to consider signs, omens, and portents, this week has been very colorful. We've had the deaths of Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Yayoi Kusama. The last two hours included the news that Peter Cullen, the original voice of Optimus Prime and many other 80s animated characters, as well as singer Bonnie Tyler, have also died. As much as people are as likely to die today as tomorrow, it does feel a little ominous that so many notable personalities have passed in a short period of time.
Regardless, birthdays are a happy time. Even with very mixed feelings this week, I wanted to be able to celebrate today.
We went to O Bar last night as my birthday salubong celebration of sorts. I told Tobie that I didn't want to bother trying to invite people to join us, but I figured that Tobie would try to pull in closer friends regardless. I was initially bummed that there was no pre-show last night since we only have one member of O2Men active at the bar this week, so I didn't get to sing any of the songs I had prepared to wrap up my birthday month with.
But a few friends did show up, and we had a nice little group despite the relatively limited number of people at the bar. The show was solid but nothing too amazing, which is par for the course for Thursday nights. One queen made sure to include a Kylie Minogue number, which was sweet. Gone are the days when I'd get an entire performance set practically dedicated to me by the queens many years ago. Still, it's the thought that counts.
The real memorable moment was after the show when the O Boys were at our table. They greeted me, and we gave them gifts of our own. There was a story about their planned gift not having made it in time, so I'd have to wait for next week, which was fine. But then they still brought out something and started singing Happy Birthday very badly, as is their way.
The gift is a bunch of our photos together, compiled and mounted on canvas. It was something that they put together on their own, and the result feels like the photos were somehow painted on canvas, even though it's really a high-quality print. It's really lovely, and Tobie and I will have to get supplies to get it properly mounted on our wall. I keep saying that they play a big role in our birthday celebrations every year because they put so much effort into some very thoughtful gifts, time and time again. So we continue to do our best to support them and show our appreciation for all that they do, and they keep trying to pay that energy back in their own way.
For my actual birthday...I slept most of the day. I squeezed in some work upon finally getting up, and our only true plan for today was to order Singaporean food for dinner and enjoy it with Tobie's mom. With the rather gloomy weather, it was just as well that we didn't venture out.
Like I said, it's really meant to be a quieter birthday this year. But if other friends want to make some time to celebrate with us, I guess just reach out and let us know.
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