A little over a week ago I celebrated my 24th birthday. Now, normally I do not think this is a big deal. People always ask you what you want for your birthday and I come up blanc. Seriously... I don't know. I don't really have any money and a lot of the time I just see things and wish I had them, but when that one moment a year comes I don't know what to say. There is another reason as well. That is that I think people are to materialistic. They always want so much stuff and I can't stand it. Sure, I also wish I had some things. I love reading books and I love watching movies. So if I have the money I would buy it. But it's a whole different thing if you ask other people for it. In a way I think its rude and shallow and basically it makes me uncomfortable and gives me a bad feeling. Like I'm doing something wrong.
But it's not that I'm against presents. I love presents. I just don't really know how to act when I get them. In my previous blog I mentioned that I got a present, or should I say THE PRESENT? It was a Serenity DVD signed by Joss Whedon. I got this present in the train and I gotta tell ya. You wouldn't believe my reaction. I'm pretty sure I turned red and even cried a little. I couldn't stop staring at it and thanking the wonderful man that gave it to me. Because it means so much to me and it sooooo awesome ;-). What I guess matters most to me when I get a present, is that it comes from the heart. Around birthdays it's expected to bring presents. And maybe that's what's wrong with it for me. There's no surprise there. I much rather surprise my Mom or sisters with a present just because I saw it in a store and thought they might like it. The surprised and happy look on their face, that's why I do it. And no, of course it doesn't need to be expensive. Why would anyone even say such a thing? It would only make me uncomfortable, knowing that I'm holding something in my hands that's expensive. And possibly guilty, that someone spend that much money on me. I guess I just don't deal well with it or something.
There are some presents I got that I absolutly LOVE! For instance, in one of my previous blogs I mentioned a trip to a theme park called the EFTELING. This was a birthday present from my sister and her boyfriend for me and mine. It was an awesome day! Yes, I did feel a little bit guilty, because it was expensive. But it was so good and an outing is about the experience instead of something materialistic. I got to spend a day with the people I love in a beautiful place. What's not to love? :-).
Moving on to my actual birthday celebration and the presents. My dear, sweet uncle gave me a book that I have been wanting to read since I started studying Film and Television. It's called Twentieth Century by Albert Robida. Kinda sci-fi about inventions that we would have in the 20th century. So I'm very excited to start reading it. It's the perfect present after waiting such a long time to get my hands on it.
My parents and sister also gave me great presents. A couple of years ago a movie came out with Sarah Michelle Gellar (yes, she plays Buffy) called Veronika Decides to Die. It took forever to come out here. In the meantime I already downloaded it (so sue me, I got impatient!) and bought the book and read it twice. Now I own it on DVD and watched it with my family. I finally got to share it. I really loved the movie the first time I watched it and I love it even more. It's so beautiful and sweet and just ... so GOOD.
There is one more present I like to pay attention to. And that's the book How to Be Death - Yes, my family really thought there might be something going on there, but I don't think of the titles, I just love the work ;-). In October I went to this convention and I got to meet the amazing and wonderful Amber Benson. I know her from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I kept up with what she was doing. She made some great movies, not to mention great books like Death's Daughter. It was supposed the be a series of three books, but at that convention Amber was nice enough to share that there would be two more books. Safe to say that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. It came out in February I believe, but me not having a job or a paycheck... decided to do the smart thing and spend the money on food and rent. So I was very thrilled to get it for my birthday. I just started reading it and I can't wait for what's coming next!!!!! As an added bonus, I posted my happiness with the book on Twitter and shortly after I got a reply. By none other than Miss Benson herself!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D (I have to stop, but seriously, there are not enough smiley faces). She wished me a happy birthday!!!! How awesom is that for a birthday present, right? A very little thing, but it made me jump up in the air. And that really made my birthday. So honestly people, money isn't everything.
Which leeds me to my other thing. To me the most important thing about birthdays or just any special kind of event is to spend it with the people you love. Birthday in itself, not so special. I don't really like the attention. But on my actual birthday me, my sister and my parents, we played games (cards, boardgames and Yathzee) and it was so much fun. In the weekend - the actual celebration - my uncle, boyfriend other sister and her boyfriend came to visit and we talked and had fun. So my perfect birthday would be spending time with family and friends. Just talking, nothing special. Well, maybe some kind of cake or pie. Because I love me some of those ;-).
I feel like there's a lot more I wanted to say about birthdays and presents, but I seemed to have forgotten most of it. So let me end with this:
- Presents? Sure they are nice, but much better when it's not from a list, but given from the heart.
- Attention? Not so much, though spending time with family and friends is definitely the most important to me.
- Aging? Not really a thing for me. Though I have to a admit, I thought around this time I wanted to have a job and maybe some more stability in my life. So maybe that's why I didn't want a whole big thing.
- Cake/Pie? Yeah baby!!!! One of the best things right?
--> Family and friends are what matters most. Without them, what's life even worth.
All in all I had a wonderful time on my birthday, not to mention the past year. Because I finally graduated. Wootwoot! It was fun and I loved the presents I got, not to mention the company I was in. Now I'm still enjoying the books and dvd :-).
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