Yesterday was my 18th birthday.
This means I can now…
- vote.
- get married.
- gamble.
- smoke.
- get a credit card.
- go skydiving.
- buy things from infomercials.
… and generally do whatever the heck I want all the time. Right? That’s how this adulthood stuff works, right, Mom and Dad? 
In all seriousness, it is blowing my mind a little bit that I am actually eighteen. Being eighteen was one of those things—you know the ones—that is always in the future and will never actually happen. But here it is. I can’t argue with the date on my birth certificate.
I was very close to—don’t laugh!—getting my nose pierced yesterday. There’s a tattoo parlor in Eugene that gives free piercings on one’s eighteenth birthday. I had actually been planning on doing this for a year or more… but I realized, as the day approached, that I actually did not really want my nose pierced. What I wanted was to feel eighteen. I wanted a tangible mark upon myself that would make me feel older and more capable of handling the world, I guess. But I didn’t really want my nose pierced.
… So I decided to start smoking instead.
Just kidding! Actually, I gave myself the gift of an eighteenth birthday portrait sitting. It may not have left a mark on my face to let others know that I am now “an adult,” but it did seem like a fitting way to comemmorate the day. I’m still me—it’s (sadly) not like I’ve changed into a magically more competent person overnight—but I have reached a milestone of sorts, and I think that’s worth remembering.
My dear friend Natalie indulged me in this endeavor and performed the role of photographer, using my camera. Unfortunately, because I am quickly being swallowed whole by the gaping maw that is “Gutenberg/all the stuff I need to get done before Gutenberg starts ON MONDAY” I have not been able to edit the portrait shoot yet.
Instead, here is a picture my brother took of the evening cake festivities:
So. Growing up, moving on, becoming a college student.
Yikes.
September 14th, 2006 at 12:28 am
Happy birthday again, Erin. Do whatever you want to do…. NOW! At 48, the things that I want are either too expensive, too absurd or have too much salt in them for my good!
Cheers!
PS - By the way, did you get my mail?
September 14th, 2006 at 3:28 am
Happy Birthday Erin!
You’re right - you don’t need to have anything tabgible to show that you’re 18 now - just the feeling that you’re now much freer that you were the day before
September 14th, 2006 at 3:57 am
Yeah, tangible is overrated. I felt that too, so on my lunch break from Blockbuster video I went across the street to the salon and cut of three feet of hair. It had been previously permed months before but was in that nappy stage before the curls totally fall out, so you can imagine the mess it made of my hair to cut it.
Congrats on the milestone. I’d give you some appropriately mentor-y advice, but it sounds like you’re already doing anything I’d tell you to do, like have fun, enjoy the moments, take a picture of yourself with your cake… you’ve got it down.
September 14th, 2006 at 5:20 am
Many congrats to you. I hope it was a great day and I hope for many many more in your future.
September 14th, 2006 at 5:37 am
Just think, only 7 more years and you can rent a car!
September 14th, 2006 at 7:08 am
happy birthday! i celebrated my second 18th bday last year and it was almost as cool as my first.
you sound like such a responsible kid that i doubt you’ll notice any great changes with this milestone bday. but changing your life drastically (aka, college) may help offset that.
big days for you! enjoy yourself.
September 14th, 2006 at 8:55 am
Wow! You are officially OLD!
September 14th, 2006 at 9:39 am
Congrats & happy birthday!!
Welcom in the dinosaurs world ;o)
September 14th, 2006 at 10:41 am
When I wanted something tangible I decided to have a third arm attached… turns out it wasn’t a great idea: it kept hitting people as I walked by. The moral of this story: tangible expressions are definitely over rated.
:)
Really though, happy birthday, glad it was a good one. Have fun with all your new infomercial purchases.
September 14th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Sadly, you have to wait 3 more years for booze…
September 15th, 2006 at 12:47 am
Yep, you can make one of the biggest decisions of your life (mariage), gamble all your money away through, smoke yourself to death, create bad credit to haunt you, and don’t forget the absolute favoriate, die for your country, and yet you can’t go out and have a fine glass of wine or a drink over a great conversation with friends or a game of pool…
September 15th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Thank you all for your birthday wishes! I really appreciate it.
Neeraj - Yes, I did, and thank you for it! hopefully I will get around to responding to it soon. I’ve been a little bit crazy busy.
Natalie - Lol. Sounds like you felt just the same way I did—like you needed something drastic to make you feel eighteen. But at least your drastic change grew out again.
Laurie - … second eighteenth birthday? *is confused * Please explain.
Kiwiqueen & Ghislain - gosh, thanks.
Matt - Lol.
Ian & Phil - You guys crack me up too.
September 17th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Sorry, I’m a little late. Congratulations from the other side of the planet. Here are a few lines by Eugen Roth (if that name isn’t miraculously connected to you;-), who wrote this visionary poem about your birthday cake:
Die Torte
Ein Mensch kriegt eine schöne Torte.
Drauf stehn in Zuckerguss die Worte:
„Zum heutgen Geburtstag Glück!“
Der Mensch isst selber nicht ein Stück,
Doch muss er in gewaltgen Keilen
Das Wunderwerk ringsum verteilen.
Das „Glück“, das „heu“,
der „Tag“ verschwindet,
Und als er nachts die Torte findet,
Da ist der Text nur mehr ganz kurz.
Er lautet nämlich nur noch: … „burts“ …
Der Mensch, zur Freude jäh entschlossen,
Hat diesen Rest vergnügt genossen.
Eugen Roth
September 17th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
OH erin, i finally checked out this lylium you speak of… and oh my in deed! I’m very excited about your NEW college life, even if it’s means i never see u at work ;(
I most also say I absolutely love and am astounded with your wonderful writing talents.
keep me posted about ur puter. happy first day tomorrow lady, u wearing ur new big buttoned birthday sweater?
September 17th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
…love this picture!
September 27th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
The happiest of birthdays, dear Erin. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young…
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