“I can’t believe they ****ing forgot my birthday.” Samantha Baker in Sixteen Candles

33. The age Christ was when he was crucified. The age of the retarded brother in Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. The same age as my fellow Year of the Rat children. The number Jose Canseco wore when he was an Oakland A. The speed of vinyl records. While my mom laments this age, my father tells me I’m still young. And I am simply glad to be here.

It has been a year of transition. The return to grad school has resulted in a new job and career change. I have reentered the world of dating with mixed results. I was forced to close down my blog. But I have been truly free and independent.

So I sometimes lament the fact I don’t look like Maria from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle(which I bought myself as an early birthday present: score!). So my weight has yo-yo’d back and forth. I’m fabulous.