The 21st Birthday Blog!

Hope everyone is well, haven't been blogging to any great degree this week for quite a number of reasons of which I shall discuss in a short while. But this is the first non-game related blog I've done for at least a year, I don't usually do 'personal blogs' but I thought why not. Afterall many of you fine Giantbomb bloggers often discuss issues not at all related to videogames, for example topics like what's your favourite frozen hamburger? or a forum discussion asking if Lady Gaga is actually a dude. It's posts like this that make me glad to be a part of Giantbomb (seriously). But anyway, I did have a purpose to this latest personal blog entry and it's to discuss birthdays. Now I know many folk love a good birthday, getting presents and a nice tasty cake to enjoy. Yes you have to thank relatives you haven't ever seen in your life, but it's all worth it for that lovely lovely cake. 

Seriously though, I guess your opinions on birthdays depends on the type of person you are. There are those who thrive on being the center of attention and those who do not. I do not, in a big way. Maybe some of this is psychological and maybe I do have a few screws lose, afterall I should adore parties and I should get so drunk that I can't even recall my own name. Though considering I'm on painkillers a lot, that would probably be a very bad idea. But I know I should enjoy them, but I simply don't and I have found myself getting worse over the years. A good friend of mine recently had one of the most over the top 21st birthdays one could see, at least in the United Kingdom. In the US, things change dramatically and understandably so. But he loved every minute of it, I simply felt uncomfortable, maybe it's a confidence thing. 

Now in the United States a 21st birthday is generally a big thing and that's very understandable, if I'm not mistaken it's the age you lot get to drink legally. An 18th birthday is a much bigger deal to us Brits, as it's the age we get to drink and drive (often at the sametime) but even that birthday held little interest for me. Maybe I'm mentally aging faster then I realise, maybe I've already started to totally ignore birthdays like the elder ladies and gentlemen of this world do. I don't know and I probably shouldn't think about it so much, afterall it's just another somewhat worthless birthday. It's just the fact that we are endlessly told how important turning 21 is drives me up the kitchen wall. Why is turning 21 important to us Brits? We can already drink and we can already drive, so what's so special about 21?

Some of you will be reading this and thinking I'm simply a moaning git, for the most part your right (I'm English afterall and moaning is what we do best). But this past week hasn't help my feelings towards tomorrow, though it doesn't help that the pet dog you've known since you were seven dies four days before your 21st birthday. That throws you about a little, losing a pet is always hard but I never realise how much that Yorkshire Terrier had been a part of my life until we had to put her down. So as you can probably already guess, I'm not in the most jolly of moods and I'm dreading tomorrow. I'm a terrible actor (that's why I never got the part as the new Doctor Who) and having to force a smile all day sounds like hell to me. I applaud those who enjoy a good birthday party, I wish I could do the same. But for those like me, and have a personal fear of packed social situations where your the center of attention, please pray for me tomorrow. 

So I think I'll leave it at that for now, I was also going to write up a seperate game related blog post but I'll see how I feel later on. I'm currently considering if to purchase the Fat Princess on PSN or not, hearing a few mixed opinions on it so far. Damn! and here's me thinking this post was going to be totally non-game related, how things change. Anyway, I'd be interested to hear your opinions on birthdays and what you did on your 21st birthday (but keep it clean folks, we don't need to know what you do with that inflatable sheep thank you very much!). But I'm sure many of you have a tale or two to tell. Who knows, maybe the day I turned 21 will be the day the world suddenly makes sense, the day I feel like a normal human being and the day I suddenly understand why people watch Big Brother. Ok, maybe the last one is asking a little to much. 

What do you think about birthday parties and do you have any amusing birthday tales to tell?

Hope everyone is well, haven't been blogging to any great degree this week for quite a number of reasons of which I shall discuss in a short while. But this is the first non-game related blog I've done for at least a year, I don't usually do 'personal blogs' but I thought why not. Afterall many of you fine Giantbomb bloggers often discuss issues not at all related to videogames, for example topics like what's your favourite frozen hamburger? or a forum discussion asking if Lady Gaga is actually a dude. It's posts like this that make me glad to be a part of Giantbomb (seriously). But anyway, I did have a purpose to this latest personal blog entry and it's to discuss birthdays. Now I know many folk love a good birthday, getting presents and a nice tasty cake to enjoy. Yes you have to thank relatives you haven't ever seen in your life, but it's all worth it for that lovely lovely cake. 

Seriously though, I guess your opinions on birthdays depends on the type of person you are. There are those who thrive on being the center of attention and those who do not. I do not, in a big way. Maybe some of this is psychological and maybe I do have a few screws lose, afterall I should adore parties and I should get so drunk that I can't even recall my own name. Though considering I'm on painkillers a lot, that would probably be a very bad idea. But I know I should enjoy them, but I simply don't and I have found myself getting worse over the years. A good friend of mine recently had one of the most over the top 21st birthdays one could see, at least in the United Kingdom. In the US, things change dramatically and understandably so. But he loved every minute of it, I simply felt uncomfortable, maybe it's a confidence thing. 

Now in the United States a 21st birthday is generally a big thing and that's very understandable, if I'm not mistaken it's the age you lot get to drink legally. An 18th birthday is a much bigger deal to us Brits, as it's the age we get to drink and drive (often at the sametime) but even that birthday held little interest for me. Maybe I'm mentally aging faster then I realise, maybe I've already started to totally ignore birthdays like the elder ladies and gentlemen of this world do. I don't know and I probably shouldn't think about it so much, afterall it's just another somewhat worthless birthday. It's just the fact that we are endlessly told how important turning 21 is drives me up the kitchen wall. Why is turning 21 important to us Brits? We can already drink and we can already drive, so what's so special about 21?

Some of you will be reading this and thinking I'm simply a moaning git, for the most part your right (I'm English afterall and moaning is what we do best). But this past week hasn't help my feelings towards tomorrow, though it doesn't help that the pet dog you've known since you were seven dies four days before your 21st birthday. That throws you about a little, losing a pet is always hard but I never realise how much that Yorkshire Terrier had been a part of my life until we had to put her down. So as you can probably already guess, I'm not in the most jolly of moods and I'm dreading tomorrow. I'm a terrible actor (that's why I never got the part as the new Doctor Who) and having to force a smile all day sounds like hell to me. I applaud those who enjoy a good birthday party, I wish I could do the same. But for those like me, and have a personal fear of packed social situations where your the center of attention, please pray for me tomorrow. 

So I think I'll leave it at that for now, I was also going to write up a seperate game related blog post but I'll see how I feel later on. I'm currently considering if to purchase the Fat Princess on PSN or not, hearing a few mixed opinions on it so far. Damn! and here's me thinking this post was going to be totally non-game related, how things change. Anyway, I'd be interested to hear your opinions on birthdays and what you did on your 21st birthday (but keep it clean folks, we don't need to know what you do with that inflatable sheep thank you very much!). But I'm sure many of you have a tale or two to tell. Who knows, maybe the day I turned 21 will be the day the world suddenly makes sense, the day I feel like a normal human being and the day I suddenly understand why people watch Big Brother. Ok, maybe the last one is asking a little to much. 

What do you think about birthday parties and do you have any amusing birthday tales to tell?