As indicated by the title, this post will be regarding my best birthday ever, namely the one which occurred yesterday at whatever time I was born 21 years ago. It will be difficult to write this post because my typical blog voice doesn't allow for any genuine emotion. I usually cast my experiences in such a way that I can deal with them from a standpoint of amused skepticism and flesh out the irony in my experiences. But since I really do think this was the best birthday ever, I am forced to alter my speaking voice for this post, so please don't be surprised if I write honestly and directly, instead of my typical style of circuitous cynicism.
This weekend, I went backpacking as a guide for my outdoor adventure group, SCOutfitters. We went to a mountain called San Gorgonio, the highest peak in Soutern California at 11-something. At least I think it's the highest. I guess it depends on what you consider Southern California. Anyway, it's not important. It was a mountain. Laurenne was planning to come visit, so on Friday night I drove to Union Station to pick her up. I called her and told her where I was, and as she walked over I got out of the car and gave her a big hug. We loaded her stuff into my trusty red truck and were about to leave when she pointed to a guy nearby wearing a hat, a big pair of sunglasses and a scarf pulled up over his face. I agreed he was a funny-looking guy, and got in the car, ready to go, as the guy walked slowly over towards me and stopped in front of me. I was apprehensive as I stared at him. In a moment I don't clearly remember, I reached up towards the scarf and pulled it down to see Nick's grizzled face smiling at me. I immediately jumped up and gave him a big hug, laughing and shaking my head as they explained that Nick decided to come down from the Bay Area for the weekend to come backpacking and help celebrate my birthday. I could not have been happier to see him, and will remember that happy, blurred moment of recognition for a long time.
I brought them back to my apartment and invited a few friends over for a small birthday gathering. It was a really spectacular night; I have a lot of very good friends here at USC. We splashed in the pool and played video games and had general good times. At one point I believe I climbed up on the roof. Near the end of the night, Jeff, Louie, Michael, Brian and I decided we needed some donuts from Spudnuts, a shop nearby. But I had a problem: Laurenne and Nick had already gone to bed in my room, and I didn't have any shoes. (It was a pretty weak argument. I'm pretty sure they weren't asleep. And my shoes might have been in the living room, I don't think I actually looked.) Nevertheless, no shoes. And so, in an act of fraternal love rarely seen outside of the Greek system, Jeff and the others offered to carry me the two blocks to Spudnuts on their backs. The trip there went pretty smoothly, though Jeff told me he has bruises on his body from carrying my heavy, pointy frame. We got to the donut shop, bought some donuts (pretty typical thing to do at a donut shop, actually) and continued on our way. Brian took a turn right off the bat, and I fed him some donut because I was very appreciative of his hard work, and then I was on Jeff's shoulders, and the details are a little bit blurry but I don't think it takes much of an imagination to figure out what happened next. That's right. A homeless man jumped out of the dumpster, grabbed my donut and ran off down the alley with an alacrity which, at the time, struck us as profoundly remarkable and rare to see from a dumpster-living man. No, that didn't happen, that's ridiculous. I fell off of Jeff's shoulders in the alley behind our apartment and scraped up my elbow. It's not fair to blame it on Jeff, I think I probably wanted to fall, or else I was too mentally weak to resist the obvious, captivating danger. Either way, I was bleeding on the ground in a filthy alley, laughing my head off and wielding a half-eaten donut, which miraculously endured the fall unscathed. Good night.
The backpacking trip was an experience. My good friends Louie and Emma signed up for the trip as participants. With them, Laurenne and Nick, the other two guides Simon and Warren, and Simon's girlfriend, I knew seven of the eleven other people on the trip. Obviously this contributed to my enjoyment of the trip, but I certainly don't think I was the only one who had a good time. Every person on the trip had a positive, upbeat attitude. It seems to me that people who like the outdoors tend to like each other. This has certainly been my experience with SCOutfitters thus far, and this trip was no exception. We had tentatively planned to summit the mountain, but for a few different reasons, this didn't happen. Instead we stayed up late playing Taboo and speaking truths in a very cramped tent late into the night, taking a nap in the morning after breakfast, and enjoying a leisurely hike down the mountain on Sunday. I don't think anyone had a problem with the situation, we were all just happy to be outdoors. Everyone got along really well and we were a tight-knit group. I'm proud to be part of the group which enables this to happen, and I hope to continue bringing this to USC in the future.
I forged new friendships with Ben, Hans, Chelsea and Christine, all of whom are very cool people I was glad to meet on the trip. I definitely strengthened my friendships with Louie and Emma during the night we spent together in a hot, steamy tent. Emma told us before we went to bed that she gets very cold and was willing to permit mild molestation in the night if it kept her warm. At one point Emma climbed in my sleeping bag and whispered "Happy Birthday," which holds a spot in my top five birthday presents, though I suspect she was more motivated by the cold than rampant sexual attraction. It must have been about two hours before dawn when we all realized none of us had slept more than twenty minutes the whole night, each staring at the roof of the tent thinking the others were asleep. It would have been funny if our neural receptors for humor weren't frosted over. We spooned for the rest of the night, periodically rotating to keep an even heat. And we promised nothing which happened that night would ever leave the tent (but I think there was a clause at the end about detailed blog entries being 'ok').
During this trip it once again became clear to me how special are my friendships with Nick and Laurenne. They are both astounding people; I feel lucky to know them. Their presence, their energy, was infectious for the whole group. I felt we were very attuned to each other, in our thoughts and in our actions. It is very rare to find such good friends. At times during their stay we were all involved in complex arguments about the nature of self and reality, and at other times we were throwing temper tantrums, or tackling each other. Their visit was unspeakably enjoyable, and relaxing, and just plain wonderful. Thanks, guys.
When I got back yesterday from the camping trip and reconnected with the world, I found I had an absurd amount of birthday greetings and I'm very lucky to have so many caring people in my life. I've gotten birthday cards in this godforsaken hellhole of a city (just kidding) from many members of my extended family, each of whom devoted time to making sure I had a good birthday and to let me know they were thinking of me. The quality and quantity of relationships in my life is truly astounding, and I am sincerely grateful to everyone who took some time out of their day to wish me happy birthday. I don't like to speak so honestly, so you better appreciate my thanks. I'm most thankful to my family, each of whom called me to check up and see how things were going. I had good conversations with all of them and am very lucky to have such a supportive family. My grandparents and Aunt Maxine all got in touch and let me know they were thinking of me. All in all, there was a lot of love thrown in my general direction, and I'm all covered in it now, and it feels nice.
Whew! That was quite a blog post. Very long. Very touchy-feely. Especially the part about Louie and Emma. Lots of touching and feeling. I need to do some work now. I'll try to write again soon.
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