Happy Birthday to Me

I don’t celebrate my birthdays. I don’t see the point of marking one more year closer to the grave. I prefer to celebrate myself every day. And I do, oh I do.

But today, my 41st birthday, is a time for a little bit of reflection. There is a belief that people cannot change as they age, especially when they are well into adulthood. I think that is poppycock. Like pretty much everything else in life, the only true barrier is discipline and will power, and I’ve certainly striven to make discipline a large part of my life (with varying degrees of success).

For the past 10 years I’ve been an avowed carnivore with caveman appetites. If it once nuzzled its young with human-like compassion, I used to argue, then I wanted to kill it and eat it. I’ve been a vegetarian for almost 2 months now (with an exception made for fish, which are essentially moving vegetables) and I don’t see any reason to stop the veggie train. My bowels love me!

For the past 4 years, I’ve been lifting heavy weights, building as much upper body muscle as my girlish frame can handle. But 4 months ago I switched to light dumbbells and reduced my lifting frequency to twice a week, rather than 5 times a week.

For the past 7 years, I would run 5km 4 times a week, being sure to sprint the final 300 metres. I think that’s still a good exercise option; but to spare my knees for my old age, I’ve reduced it to 2km 6 times a week.

The result is that this morning, using my chiropractor’s well calibrated scale, I weighed in at under 151 lbs, a good 40 lbs lighter than I was 6 months ago, and easily the lightest I’ve been in 20 years.

I’ve been an avowed tea drinker all my life. (It’s a Guyanese thing, an Indian thing, a Caribbean thing and a thing amongst people in the Commonwealth). Last year, fell headfirst into the coffee melee. I love coffee so much that I even now have an espresso maker. Gotta get back on the tea wagon soon, though.

Other things are falling apart (lower back, knees, etc), and I fully expect to gain some back soon, but the lesson for me is that dramatic change in behaviour and outcome is indeed possible in one’s 40s. Mind you, this morning I emerged onto the street ready for my morning run… only to discover that I was only wearing my underwear. I’d forgotten to put on shorts. Yes, that too is the curse of old age. I’m sure the police station across the street was amused at my “brief” appearance.

To celebrate my birthday, today I give you some random images scavenged from the Interwebs:

We begin with one that is close to my heart…. and other parts:

Deonandia is both entertaining and educational… and a bit pervy. Nothing satisfies all those requirements quite as well as this summary:

What’s a birthday without a little healthy racism? (My East Asian friends are invited to submit their favourite South Asian derogatory images in response):

This one submitted by The Other Ray:

This one kind of makes me sick. It really summarizes the politicized nature of the American Christian Right:

And while we’re offending people, how about some Sassy Jesus:

Yes, I still eat eggs.

It ain’t a party without boobies.

Remember my plan to pitch the game “Sitar Hero”? S.M. alerts us to the fact that someone else has already thought of it:

In Other News…

My favourite Dr Who episode from last year, “Blink“, has won a Hugo award! Yayyy!

And Brother Bhash sends us this article about a study of ancient infections in Qumran. See, I once fantastized about founding a new science: “archaeoepidemiology” – the study of historical epidemics. Seems others had the same idea.