-Ned Flanders
I spent most of my August 15th this year with my favorite person (in this hemisphere, at least): myself. I just moved into a new house in Orem, so I spent the day getting settled in, then ran some errands. Running errands and paying bills slowly turned into me showering myself with birthday presents, in a manner so thrifty that only I could call it extravagant.
I've reached an age where if I don't spoil myself, who else will? For me, buying nice things isn't so much spoiling myself as it is making up for 364 days of self-deprivation. And half the stuff I bought myself was from the Pawn Shop (yes, the same Pawn Shop where I reclaimed my stolen guitar). I treated myself to an acoustic guitar, and TV/DVD combo, all thanks to The Pawn Shop: robbing the poor who rob from the rich.
Since I moved to the suburban wasteland that is Orem, this was the first time I got to experience the serene feeling Dan Leach told me about when you hang out in downtown Provo after not living near there. Me walking down Center St. on my birthday, without a care in the world, could have doubled as the music video for my new song, Pyscho-So-Manual. I hit up the used bookstore, checked my P.O. Box (those free magazines from FYE finally came!) and broke in the new pair of Vans I just bought from my semi-annual trip to the mall (I spent just enough time there to not have a panic attack).
After that I ran into my friends Al, Kelsey, and Erin, at Sammy's Cafe, which I've decided is Provo's closest equivalent to Monk's, the coffee shop on Seinfeld. Then I went to go play music with Donnie Bonnelli & The Kites, and we went hot-tubbing afterwards. My birthday brother, Neil, and I went and did a late-night Denny's run. I experienced all of the elements of a perfect day. Best Birthday Ever.
