Big Apple, 3 A.M. (On Being 22)

22 isn't the most pivotal age in the life of an average american person... same story here. ;)

as i'm now a year older, it's weird but oddly familiar not to celebrate it with the folks i've known for a long time. past birthdays... last birthday i spent in bushnell, illinois with my buddy booster, at the cornerstone festival. that was totally amazing. the two birthdays before that (20 and 19) were celebrated as a counselor and basic slave at camp buckner; some of my best and fondest memories dwell there. the two birthdays before even those were celebrated abroad: turned 18 in gateshead, england, and i turned 17 in the sky, on my way to england. i turned 15 on a mission trip in houston... pretty sure it was my first mission experience. i skipped 16, the summer i spent at home. i remember it the more i think about it: summer school (which was hell in high-school), hanging out with friends endlessly, church camp in florida, and a sweet birthday party at the pool by my house (which was in Spring Park, at the time)...

...i am blessed with great family, friends, and memories! i thank God for having such a full and vibrant life after only twenty-two years. i hope there's lots more ahead, and i'm pretty sure there will be, so i smile toward the west, knowing His work isn't done.

new york is good; it's a peculiar place that's always moving and it can get to you if you let it. i really am enjoying it, but every passing week or so lets me know that going home is going to be great. i don't think i'm quite ready to be gone for years at a time. it's good to know that. i'm not homesick or 'i wanna get out of here' or anything, just noting where i stand. everything's incredibly expensive and i'm not using my money in the wisest ways possible, but i feel like i am learning some form of financial responsibility... that will be a good nugget to carry around in my pocket into the future... seeing as how money looks like it's gonna be rare for me in my future :)

if you'd like to see my pictures of nyc life you should mosey on over to facebook and check the photo album of mine called "start spreadin' the news" it has some fun shots in it... i must confess my nyc picture-taking doesn't happen a lot. lo siento!

i finally caught a break in the area of buying music this week: virgin megastore's cds are always 15-17 bucks which is hard on a music enthusiast. however, found the new the devil wears prada cd (which i reviewed earlier on in this here blog) for only ten dolla! holla, baller! still not big on the name but that cd, plagues, is great. upcoming releases from norma jean, living sacrifice, and i think a few others have me pretty excited. woo music!

have a great day and weekend. i'm gonna go to the yankees/mets game and see what happens. i'll likely lug the camera with me, for the thousand screaming fans back home. hahaha <3

~the albatross wishes walking burnt more fat than it does...