27

This is me NOT apologizing for not posting more often!

Now that we have that out of the way, hey, how are you? I'm doing well. Getting over my post-holiday blues... although, I cheated... because I have something amazing to look forward to! VACATION! HELL YES! On Monday, Brandon and I are flying to Tampa, Florida and then heading to Clearwater Beach. My parents are already down there for an art show and are going to meet us in Clearwater at a house they rented within spitting distance of the beach! I'm so excited. Don't worry, I'll take the obligatory picture of my toes on the beach. I know that was your first concern.

Another exciting post-holiday blues buster just arrived in the mail yesterday. I purchased a recumbent stationary (is that redundant?) exercise bike. Even though it wasn't that expensive, it still felt like an "adult" purchase. Besides the fact that it represents me taking responsibility for my health, I don't think you can call yourself an adult until you've bought some sort of exercise machine. Speaking of becoming an adult, I recently had a birthday which made me 27. There's nothing too awfully special about turning 27 but when I was a child, I had this idea in my head that 27 was when you became an adult officially. I'm not sure where that came from but I remember it was very important to me. When playing "house" with my friends, if I played the mom, I was 27 years old. However, I can't imagine being a mom right now. It makes my brain melt a little to think that my brother was already 2 years old by the time my mom turned 27. Isn't it strange to think about that? I see real-life examples of how I've grown and matured and changed over the years, but I still feel pretty much the same in my brain. There's no big epiphany that flips a switch to adulthood... at least not so far anyway. TANGENT! WHEW! Anyway, so even though this purchase seems like it was made with the intention of being a responsible adult, I bought it with the intention to play video games while I cycle. Because, I cannot bring myself to exercise for exercise's sake. Did I mention I'm 27 years old?

I didn't plan on talking about myself for three paragraphs but I realized I had more to say than I thought... it may turn into an all-about-me post instead of the reviews I planned. Maybe you'll get two posts! Like you didn't have enough to read on the internet already! I just wanted to say about how thrilled I am about how our book club is going. It just seems like I found another puzzle piece to my life. I am constantly listening to podcasts or watching shows on the internet starring charismatic hosts who talk about their opinions on stuff and things. And I always felt like something was missing from that equation. I wanted to be one of those charismatic hosts talking about how I love or hate stuff and things! And now, I sort of am! Even if we only have a handful of people who watch us and participate, it's still really rewarding. When Megan first suggested live-streaming our meeting, I was SO excited about it, but I didn't want to let on, because I didn't want to seem overly passionate or insane... but now I realize that that's how those cool shows that I love and have millions of viewers are born... A couple of insanely passionate people, doing it out of love for the medium/genre. And the fact that Brittany and Whitney have joined us, and are loving it as well is extremely encouraging. If you haven't already, please check us out. Our next book pick is "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn. I'm already 100 pages in and I'm loving it.

While reading "Gone Girl," I had an epiphany. The narrator was talking about her house in vivid detail and how much she loved it, and since I've been out of college all I can think about is having my very own house and loving it. And so, it struck me, since I can't have my own house yet and we're probably going to be in this rental for at least another 3 years, I need to take steps to make it my home. I have so much leftover hand-me-down furniture from college, and my brother and sis-in-law are simultaneously "storing" and letting us use their furniture that they can't fit into their Brooklyn apartment. So it feels like I'm living in someone else's house... which technically I am... but you know what I mean. The layout of each room is determined by how best to cram as much shit in them as possible, and not functionality or presentation. I aim to change that... as cheaply as possible. When this epiphany hit me, it was the middle of the night, and I shot up in bed and immediately started making a list. And then another epiphany hit me... I really like making lists... So yeah, that's what's swimming around in my brain currently. Another adulty thing. BORING!

But I guess that's what this blog is all about. [cue Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror"]