…and with that, my first three decades on this mortal coil are all tied together in a nice little bow. So far as I can tell, it hasn’t been a bad life; not quite a Pulitzer-worthy tale, but if all goes well, it’s far from over.

There’s still a lot I’m trying to come to terms with, wether I know the questions or not. Up until now I’ve been more than content to just experience things as best I can, leave as light a footprint as possible — which really makes the fact that I keep this blog at all quite peculiar, however infrequent my postings are.

The question in front of me now is the one most people deal with when confronted by big round numbers in their age: what’s the next ten years hold for me? Where exactly do I want to stand? While I’m not heading to the retirement home tomorrow, there’s not much room left for “childish” mistakes — time to man up and make the most out of my most productive years. For now, the incremental improvements I’ve been making have been good enough, but I think I need to draft up more of a map than that.

But I’ll start worrying about all that tomorrow. For today, my plans are to sit with my friends relaxation and reflection; tossing back memories and getting drunk on accomplishments.

Update: I finally got around to posting pics from my birthday gathering to Flickr.

Wow, it’s already Easter Sunday, and finally, I’ve risen from the dead — just like Jesus, sans the dying for someone’s sins part. I’ve also managed to stay clear of any rabbits today, which isn’t all that hard considering you don’t see too many of them in Weehawken.

Anyway, since last I wrote, the following has happened (in no particular order):

• Bought myself a real set of luggage — suitcase with wheels and all the rest! Maybe that will help light the fire under my ass to do some more traveling.
• Visited friends in two parts of North Carolina — Wilmington, then Raleigh.
• Played volleyball for the first time since about high school. I’m still finding sand in my wallet from that.
• Had a co-worker die in a rip current while on a company trip to Puerto Rico, which I was not on. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to know him well, since he was from our Indian office.
• Drank more than my fair share of assorted beers, commingled with assorted liquors. To be expected, really, when St. Patty’s day is thrown into the mix.
• Played basketball and managed to not embarrass myself. I even managed to win a game or two.
• Got a parking ticket while grabbing lunch in Jersey City at a place where I thought I knew the rules. That 15 minute trip to get a burger turned into a two and a half hour ordeal and cost me $75 for the boot removal and another $42 for the parking ticket itself. That’s one expensive burger!
• Had relations, but still no relationship. Just getting that one out there….
• Helped one of said North Carolinian friends move from a beach house to a town house. Coincidence had myself and a handful of others from Jersey down there at the same time, and at the same time of the move.
• Slept, ate and slept some more — sometimes all in one day!
• Remembered that to get better at drawing, you should try cracking open a sketchbook from time to time. I still say I need lessons to move up from outright hack to moderate poser.
• Found out just how good lots of warm sake and good sushi can be on a Wednesday evening.
• Shot lots of pictures and videos of my trip, with some odd thoughts that I might make more videos to post. Then I remembered I’m a lazy slacker….
• I find myself 15 days away from turning the big 3-0. A retrospective on my 20′s with musical guest Wham! is not planned.

Exciting, huh? Okay, back to the sweet hum of silence.