Two years until I’m too old

That phrase is a bit more entertaining when spoken than read. Oh well.

I made that rather stupid joke a time or two in reference to my birthday, since I’m now 28, or two years out from 30, which I worry will feel too old for, well, anything that I enjoy now. Really though, it’s just a dumb joke to mask fears of aging with humor. Anyhow, let’s move on.

My birthday was on February 1st, and while I’ve been good in years past, this year I just, y’know, took forever to come around to talking about it. I basically got a good deal of cash from people, and an awesome Xbox 360 from Lisa. The day itself was otherwise fairly uneventful.

When she originally got the 360 for me, I was somewhat afraid that I’d regret it — I mean, I have a Wii and a PS2 already, plus I spend easily over half of my gaming time on World of Warcraft, so would it really get use? So far, the answer has been an astounding “Yes”. Between the awesomeness that is Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (which is admittedly available for other platforms), content from Xbox Live Arcade (specifically Worms so far, although TMNT Arcade hit today), the ability to download demos, and the impending Guitar Hero II (with ten exclusive tracks and theoretically more eventual downloadable content than any game to date, so they say), I’m enjoying having one a lot more than I’d have even thought.

That Saturday (February 3rd), I had another one of the gaming-type parties that I’ve thrown in the past, using the birthday as an excuse to get people over. However, unlike a couple of the past gaming parties, people actually showed up! At one point, there were like 12 people there, which is easily a record. I am sincerely grateful for everyone who came, because it was an absolute blast. I was gaming basically from around noon to midnight, and it was all with friends, which is truly awesome indeed. I even got to see people I don’t see often, like Adam and Hunter. I’d like to organize another party again soon, because that one was really just that great.

I had thought about doing an overall life catchup, but really, there’s only been a couple of big events, and they really deserve their own posts. I’ll be reading back over things and trying to remember what I missed, but I know for sure I’ll be talking about an event that will appear in newsstands across town soon. More later!