annum

I realize that after the initial spurt of posts there was a protracted dry spell that left some disappointed. Now I find myself just past the new year while also approaching the anniversary of this blog, my birthday, and my fifth wedding anniversary. Coincidence? Yes. Still, potentially interesting, so here we are.

I used to espouse the annoying redditoid point that New Years was arbitrary, but I was being stupid. Years exist in that Earth really does complete an orbit of the Sun. January is as good a place as any for marking this occasion. I suppose that is definitionally arbitrary but so what? Sometimes you have to pick an arbitrary point for something. We all know this. Pointing out that something is arbitrary doesn’t make you sound smart unless you’re totally blowing up someone’s logic chain. Even then you’re probably being an asshole. This all points to why I was being a redditoid about New Years, which is that I never had fun at New Years Eve parties because I was too busy being stoned and self important to ever get laid.

When you’re a kid birthdays are exciting because you get presents, cake, a party, and getting older is cool. After age 21 there aren’t any big milestones to look forward to. You have an excuse to get hammer-drunk at your party, but other than that you’re just getting older. Meanwhile you’re still the same curmudgeon eager to stave off future disappointment by manufacturing premature disappointment so as to not be disappointed. Maybe your birthday won’t be that exciting, but try to have fun anyway guy, jeez.

Wedding anniversaries are played up in pop culture in a similar way as New Years and birthdays. To my great pleasure, it turns out my wife is largely disinterested in the occasion. She is more focused on the date of our first meeting, and she has a point, it does seem to be the more auspicious day to remember. I should probably still take her out to dinner.

Resolutions are another thing I’ve been largely curmudgeonly about in the past, but if I have any this year, it’s my continuing resolution to lighten up generally. It seems from my perspective I’ve been successfully doing just that over the past decade or so, but there’s always room for improvement.