On the Verge
Well, I’ve done it. Fully entered my forties. It’s the exact moment of my forty-first birthday and I’m sitting at home after being over in Poway for MTV Challenge. Somehow we hooked AMR into playing fantasy with us this season. Cheers to small victories!
A year ago I was celebrating my birthday in New York with a dream karaoke and then dance party. Many of my favorite people were there. The SF crew came out and we rented a gorgeous house in Brooklyn. It was the best! A year later, we can take stock of my fortieth year, in brief.
I guess the biggest immediate change from then was that I was dating someone at the time, and when I returned from that New York trip, I shifted straight into book mode. In a sense that relationship was doomed from then, as I turned all my attention into cranking out a first draft before we headed to Asia in November. I could document the injustices I did -- I think we had three or four conversations over the next six weeks -- or the huge fight we got into before I left in September, but that’s all in the past now.
What followed in December was a mostly good trip to Taiwan and Singapore, and then a quick five-minute breakup mid-trip, right after NYE, that we were both delighted to take part in. Since then we’ve been fine and actually friendly. It wasn't necessarily a mature breakup but it wasn't acrimonious at all, making it the smoothest breakup I've ever experienced.
After returning from that those six weeks in Asia, it was right back to writing, with only one quick run up to LA in February, when P came down as part of her cool new job. Other than that, it was just writing, and the usual San Diego time passing -- gaming, singing, sitting -- until I finished another draft in May. Once freed, I ran up to LA again for a bit of fun and had the greatest stranger karaoke session I've had in awhile.
With a few weeks off from writing, I ran up to SF for a week, mainly for J’s baby shower, where everyone was already gathering so conveniently. It was inarguably the highlight of the year so far, that trip. As always, it’s fun to have friends!
July was back to the writing grindstone, for another two months of writing draft two. Oh did I mention this was the year I finally did drugs? I mean, it was barely a drug, just some Adderall when I was pushed to the end for my drafts. I guess that could count though, even if it wasn’t recreational. Another first: an EDM festival in Tijuana last weekend, with some new friends. I actually could have celebrated this birthday in TJ too, but I’m an adult and have an accountant meeting tomorrow morning.
And now we’re here, another year passed. At this point the rest of my 2019 is mapped out. I need to finish another, ostensibly final, draft of the book — although it’s so awful I feel like another draft is likely after that — and then I’m off to Taiwan and Mexico City in November and December. I have an upcoming trip to Brazil early next year but that’s about it. The rest of 2020 is wide open.
In retrospect, I have to ask if this is how normal life is supposed to feel... Highlights every month or so, with long periods of laxness in-between? I guess I’m not exactly used to this way of being. However, this fortieth year — both in age and 2019 overall — was supposed to be my year to set up the future so I guess that'll be okay.
Overall I'd give being forty a solid B-minus. It wasn’t the most exciting year, but hopefully I'll emerge from it having accomplished a thing or two. And then I’ll be ready to play play play next year. Oh wait, no more playing... I'm forty-one now.
A year ago I was celebrating my birthday in New York with a dream karaoke and then dance party. Many of my favorite people were there. The SF crew came out and we rented a gorgeous house in Brooklyn. It was the best! A year later, we can take stock of my fortieth year, in brief.
I guess the biggest immediate change from then was that I was dating someone at the time, and when I returned from that New York trip, I shifted straight into book mode. In a sense that relationship was doomed from then, as I turned all my attention into cranking out a first draft before we headed to Asia in November. I could document the injustices I did -- I think we had three or four conversations over the next six weeks -- or the huge fight we got into before I left in September, but that’s all in the past now.
What followed in December was a mostly good trip to Taiwan and Singapore, and then a quick five-minute breakup mid-trip, right after NYE, that we were both delighted to take part in. Since then we’ve been fine and actually friendly. It wasn't necessarily a mature breakup but it wasn't acrimonious at all, making it the smoothest breakup I've ever experienced.
After returning from that those six weeks in Asia, it was right back to writing, with only one quick run up to LA in February, when P came down as part of her cool new job. Other than that, it was just writing, and the usual San Diego time passing -- gaming, singing, sitting -- until I finished another draft in May. Once freed, I ran up to LA again for a bit of fun and had the greatest stranger karaoke session I've had in awhile.
With a few weeks off from writing, I ran up to SF for a week, mainly for J’s baby shower, where everyone was already gathering so conveniently. It was inarguably the highlight of the year so far, that trip. As always, it’s fun to have friends!
July was back to the writing grindstone, for another two months of writing draft two. Oh did I mention this was the year I finally did drugs? I mean, it was barely a drug, just some Adderall when I was pushed to the end for my drafts. I guess that could count though, even if it wasn’t recreational. Another first: an EDM festival in Tijuana last weekend, with some new friends. I actually could have celebrated this birthday in TJ too, but I’m an adult and have an accountant meeting tomorrow morning.
And now we’re here, another year passed. At this point the rest of my 2019 is mapped out. I need to finish another, ostensibly final, draft of the book — although it’s so awful I feel like another draft is likely after that — and then I’m off to Taiwan and Mexico City in November and December. I have an upcoming trip to Brazil early next year but that’s about it. The rest of 2020 is wide open.
In retrospect, I have to ask if this is how normal life is supposed to feel... Highlights every month or so, with long periods of laxness in-between? I guess I’m not exactly used to this way of being. However, this fortieth year — both in age and 2019 overall — was supposed to be my year to set up the future so I guess that'll be okay.
Overall I'd give being forty a solid B-minus. It wasn’t the most exciting year, but hopefully I'll emerge from it having accomplished a thing or two. And then I’ll be ready to play play play next year. Oh wait, no more playing... I'm forty-one now.
