30 minus 1

Today is my 29th birthday. The old axiom says "Age is just a number", but it seems too soon to be this close to 30. Maybe the problem is me. I already think as though I'm already 30 and I think of 30 as being over the hill. Must be a gay thing. Or the fact my friends constantly make jokes about my age. Jerks.

There have been some changes in the last year, the most obvious being that I bought a house. Owning a home seems to convey a certain level of accomplishment and responsibility that earning a college degree or holding a job don't. Such accolades are ill-fitting for a guy who really just wanted a nice place to keep his stuff. People also tend to assume you're in the business of "settling down". Someone from my hometown even I asked if it was a precursor to finding a wife (hah!).

I'm also forced to deal with these creatures known as 'neighbors'. Previously I rented a room in a house, allowing the owner/roommate to negotiate dealings with their kind. It's a tribute to my antisocial nature that I lived on the same street 4 1/2 years and only knew the names of two other people on the street. The ideal relationship would be one of casual indifference where one would call the cops if they saw my house being robbed, but generally leave me to my own devices otherwise.

So here's to year 30.