For the readers who don't know, yesterday was my birthday. I don't find birthdays to be typically exciting because I'm just another year older (and wiser, I hope) but it's nice to have an excuse to spend time with friends and family and to celebrate. Though I'm not overly materialistic, it's nice to receive gifts, especially if its something that I probably wouldn't be able to afford on my own and that I really want.
While last year's birthday in Thailand was pretty amazing, this weekend was awesome. I played nine holes of golf with my dad and my good friends Tino and Andy, drank some beers and enjoyed myself. I'm not good at golf but I had a great time. To make it even better, the previous night I finished and submitted all of my work for school. It was well timed but I didn't realize just how well timed it was until I arrived at home on Saturday after golf.
On the way back home from Gleneagle golf course, I fell asleep pretty quickly, due to staying up late to finish school work, waking up early for golf and drinking a few beers during and after the golf action. I woke up as we pulled into the driveway, groggily made my way to the front door and walked in to the house, behind Tino. As soon as I walked in, I saw my cousin, who I wasn't expecting to see, then I looked around the room and saw my dad, a large group of my good friends, and my best friend Ben, who was supposed to be in Iraq as far as I knew. Needless to say, I was really surprised seeing so many of my good friends and family waiting for me at the house, decorations, food, drinks, etc. Hanna had somehow coordinated this surprise barbecue party without me having a clue. I spent the rest of the day catching up with friends, eating good food and drinking margaritas. The evening consisted of Mortal Kombat, partying with friends, beer pong and flip cup, then a brief excursion to the bar down the street. We also managed to witness a minivan slam into and knock over a street lamp, run over a utility box and drive into an empty dirt/grass lot, but that's a story for another day.
Hanna and my dad bought me an amazing gift, pretty much the only thing I've wanted for the past few months, a DSLR camera. It's a Nikon D3100, which is supposed to be good for beginning photographers. So far I've really enjoyed playing around with it and learning how to use it. The picture quality is vastly superior to any point and shoot I've ever owned and I'm really excited to learn more about photography, and to be able to take better quality pictures when I am in places like New York City and Kenya soon. I don't really know why but I always said that I didn't want to get into photography because I thought there was just too much to learn, too much competition, and that the equipment was too expensive. I love taking pictures and I always have, but up until the last couple of years, I was never too concerned with the quality. Now that I've seen just how big of a difference having a legit camera makes, I want to learn more. It really makes me wish I would have had such a camera while I was in Mongolia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. No need for regrets though, I just need to move forward and take advantage of what appears to be an emerging new passion. I will definitely post up more pictures as I learn better how to use the camera and hopefully gain a better eye. I have some friends who are pretty impressive photographers so I will definitely be bugging them for advice and resources. Here's a pic of what my camera looks like:
I've got a little over a month before I move to New York City, a couple of months until my trip to Kenya and just under four months before I begin my first semester at NYU. I'm hoping to get a lot of reading done, continue working out regularly, continue learning French, and to learn a lot more about using my camera. Until next time, cheers!
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