Live not a life of imitation; twenty-one years of living off the deep end
Twenty-one years old; my kitty, God rest his soul, woke me up yesterday morning to let me know. Froggie and Feathers (a.k.a. Beau and Jill) "helped" by jumping on me before my alarm went off.
Yesterday was a good day to turn twenty-one. I felt, and still feel, really invigorated. Like life is great, even - or especially - when it's perfectly ordinary. I'm not a boy wizard defying destiny and the most dangerous Dark wizard of an age, or a farm boy battling his father to save the galaxy, or a princess of Kimlasca learning that I should never have been born. I'm an ordinary girl in The World, but I feel like I can reshape my world however I want to, if I should need to. Right now, everything's going right; I don't want to reshape the world. I want to keep shaping it the way it's developing.
As excited as I am about life these days, I haven't done anything terribly exciting. But I don't believe you have to do something wild or uncontrollable to be fired up about what and who you love, and about embracing and creating your own destiny. So.
On my birthday itself, I had four drinks, which proved to be my limit; it was probably smart that I'd given myself a low limit like that. I had a Cuba Libre, a tequila shot (good tequila, not straight Cuervo or anything rubbish like that), a bottle of Kirin, and an ass-whooping peach saketini. I'm not sure what all kinds of liquor were in the saketini, but I know it was more than just sake - and I know it was what tipped me over. It turned out to be lucky that I brought Ash/momo with me as my date/designated driver. She cut me off, took my keys, and drove me home without much incident. I say "much" because I did have to throw up after drinking so much; I had water in between my drinks, and I ate rice and tried to absorb some of the alcohol, but the truth is I've never had more than the equivalent of two shots in one sitting, and I'm a lightweight. So my stomach wasn't entirely settled, but after I lost my guts, I didn't feel nearly so pissed. I didn't feel pissed to begin with, just past tipsy; I still remember everything and did nothing that I regret. It makes for a fun story, anyway. I had a fantastic time with my Sakaki-sama. ♥ In a perverse, horrible way, I can't wait till she turns twenty-one in March.
The running joke about me drinking for the first time is my constant chatter about Obi-Wan Kenobi. I remember telling Ash that Obi-Wan is an awesome Jedi who'd never get drunk or lose control, and I remember talking about how I shouldn't be drinking if I'm supposed to be Obi-Wan. And of course she made fun of me, and of course I deserve it.
Well, paragon of virtue I am not, but I pride myself on knowing that I was responsible enough to have a designated driver with me, and my mom, brother, and some backups lined up in case I couldn't get Mom and Todd to come get me, or in case Ash didn't want to drive. When I got to my mom's house, I had vitamin C, more glasses of water than I could count, an orange, and I got in pajamas and made Todd read Harry Potter aloud to me some more. It must've worked, 'cause I wasn't hung over this morning!
Mom and Todd took me out to dinner tonight for my birthday, and we went to a pub where I had one beer. It was good, but since I was starting to feel flushed after just the one beer, I know I'll never be a heavy drinker. That's fine with me. I'm happier being the designated driver, anyway. I'd rather watch other people make poor choices. But I'm not totally against having one or two drinks every now and then. I just never want to be well, truly, and tremendously pissed. I joked with Zelly that there's no way I was drunk on my birthday because I could still give Ash directions and speed limits to drive home, and I can remember everything I said, as well as being able to recite the alphabet backwards, touch my fingers to my nose, and walk a straight line (my mom made me do all those things when I got to her house). I think I was somewhere between tipsy and drunk.
It was a great twenty-first birthday! I had friends and family, I had fun, and I had an awful kitty and four awful dogs to harass me. Three kitties, if you count Whitney's cat when I was at Ash, Whit, and Momo's house, and Felix when I was at Mom's. Animals galore. Oh, and you have to count Ash herself. She's quite the animal. ^_~ My little rappig, Colonel Jade!
All things considered, it was so much fun and I have no regrets. I feel filled to the brim with gratitude for my friends and family, and with a feeling of being able to take on the world. There's no such thing as a no-win scenario; I refuse to believe in them. I'm going to take the world by storm. Being an ordinary person doesn't mean I can't storm my own castle walls, surpass my own expectations, and get past the obstacles I present to myself. I intend to be the best friend, sister, daughter, granddaughter, writer, cosplayer, barista, student, student teacher, nutjob, porn addict, Jedi, Gundam pilot, sky pirate, Nobody, Emperor of Malkuth, whatever that I can be. Four years? I'll do it in three. Captain of a ship for twelve minutes? I'll be captain for the rest of my life. Whether or not I ever get promoted to Admiral, I'll be in control of my own destiny. There is no coincidence; there is only my decision to be myself, and to stay true to that. Look out, world; here's Father Atoli Irvy!
"Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."
Yesterday was a good day to turn twenty-one. I felt, and still feel, really invigorated. Like life is great, even - or especially - when it's perfectly ordinary. I'm not a boy wizard defying destiny and the most dangerous Dark wizard of an age, or a farm boy battling his father to save the galaxy, or a princess of Kimlasca learning that I should never have been born. I'm an ordinary girl in The World, but I feel like I can reshape my world however I want to, if I should need to. Right now, everything's going right; I don't want to reshape the world. I want to keep shaping it the way it's developing.
As excited as I am about life these days, I haven't done anything terribly exciting. But I don't believe you have to do something wild or uncontrollable to be fired up about what and who you love, and about embracing and creating your own destiny. So.
On my birthday itself, I had four drinks, which proved to be my limit; it was probably smart that I'd given myself a low limit like that. I had a Cuba Libre, a tequila shot (good tequila, not straight Cuervo or anything rubbish like that), a bottle of Kirin, and an ass-whooping peach saketini. I'm not sure what all kinds of liquor were in the saketini, but I know it was more than just sake - and I know it was what tipped me over. It turned out to be lucky that I brought Ash/momo with me as my date/designated driver. She cut me off, took my keys, and drove me home without much incident. I say "much" because I did have to throw up after drinking so much; I had water in between my drinks, and I ate rice and tried to absorb some of the alcohol, but the truth is I've never had more than the equivalent of two shots in one sitting, and I'm a lightweight. So my stomach wasn't entirely settled, but after I lost my guts, I didn't feel nearly so pissed. I didn't feel pissed to begin with, just past tipsy; I still remember everything and did nothing that I regret. It makes for a fun story, anyway. I had a fantastic time with my Sakaki-sama. ♥ In a perverse, horrible way, I can't wait till she turns twenty-one in March.
The running joke about me drinking for the first time is my constant chatter about Obi-Wan Kenobi. I remember telling Ash that Obi-Wan is an awesome Jedi who'd never get drunk or lose control, and I remember talking about how I shouldn't be drinking if I'm supposed to be Obi-Wan. And of course she made fun of me, and of course I deserve it.
Well, paragon of virtue I am not, but I pride myself on knowing that I was responsible enough to have a designated driver with me, and my mom, brother, and some backups lined up in case I couldn't get Mom and Todd to come get me, or in case Ash didn't want to drive. When I got to my mom's house, I had vitamin C, more glasses of water than I could count, an orange, and I got in pajamas and made Todd read Harry Potter aloud to me some more. It must've worked, 'cause I wasn't hung over this morning!
Mom and Todd took me out to dinner tonight for my birthday, and we went to a pub where I had one beer. It was good, but since I was starting to feel flushed after just the one beer, I know I'll never be a heavy drinker. That's fine with me. I'm happier being the designated driver, anyway. I'd rather watch other people make poor choices. But I'm not totally against having one or two drinks every now and then. I just never want to be well, truly, and tremendously pissed. I joked with Zelly that there's no way I was drunk on my birthday because I could still give Ash directions and speed limits to drive home, and I can remember everything I said, as well as being able to recite the alphabet backwards, touch my fingers to my nose, and walk a straight line (my mom made me do all those things when I got to her house). I think I was somewhere between tipsy and drunk.
It was a great twenty-first birthday! I had friends and family, I had fun, and I had an awful kitty and four awful dogs to harass me. Three kitties, if you count Whitney's cat when I was at Ash, Whit, and Momo's house, and Felix when I was at Mom's. Animals galore. Oh, and you have to count Ash herself. She's quite the animal. ^_~ My little rappig, Colonel Jade!
All things considered, it was so much fun and I have no regrets. I feel filled to the brim with gratitude for my friends and family, and with a feeling of being able to take on the world. There's no such thing as a no-win scenario; I refuse to believe in them. I'm going to take the world by storm. Being an ordinary person doesn't mean I can't storm my own castle walls, surpass my own expectations, and get past the obstacles I present to myself. I intend to be the best friend, sister, daughter, granddaughter, writer, cosplayer, barista, student, student teacher, nutjob, porn addict, Jedi, Gundam pilot, sky pirate, Nobody, Emperor of Malkuth, whatever that I can be. Four years? I'll do it in three. Captain of a ship for twelve minutes? I'll be captain for the rest of my life. Whether or not I ever get promoted to Admiral, I'll be in control of my own destiny. There is no coincidence; there is only my decision to be myself, and to stay true to that. Look out, world; here's Father Atoli Irvy!
"Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."