Thirty Years & Counting…
On the twenty fifth day of the first month of this year, I reached three decades of existence. Yep, 30. THREE-ZERO… read em and weep.
Thirty years sounds a lot. An awful lot. If anything, it doesn’t even seem plausible. I mean, that’s old as Back To The Future examples… If I’m honest with you, it hasn’t really registered yet despite Marty McFly’s best efforts.
I did start to do a mini self-assessment thought. Am I happy with the way life has turned out so far? Have I accomplished things I set out to do by now? Is there anything I would have done differently?.. I guess in general its been pretty unpredictable at times, and there’s been plenty of experiences across the board. Work, travelling, relationships (all the usual answers I guess). What I can say is that without all of that I wouldn’t be who I am now. Even if there were things I initially felt I would go back and change (or even avoid), the knowledge and understanding I gained from them have all been useful and at several times somewhat revelatory.
But enough of that…
To kick things off, I headed up to Leeds the weekend before to catch up & cut loose with a university friend of mine who had also just reached the triple-ten milestone. Rather than empty my bank account for a train ticket, I opted for the more adventurous and significantly cost effective coach journey. (National Express… you gotta do it at least once.) Despite an “interesting” 4.5hr trip & a quick bite to eat, it wasn’t long before the city was painted a glorious shade of crimson. Cue merriment, the frequenting of a myriad of bars and throwing all kinds of (probably uncoordinated) shapes in Mint Club before heading back at 6am to somehow play Split / Second with mild double vision, blare out some Seal (I still don’t know why) and pass out to The American Office… Job well done!
The following day, my friend gave me a tour of Leeds in all its daytime technicolor glory, before we grabbed a few purchases and then went to see Haywire… better than I was expecting; a slightly more light hearted and enjoyable Bourne-esque action thriller with a pretty convincing female agent lead-come-fugitive in the form of Gina Carano. The evening was polished off with Italian food, Unchartered 3 Co-op, More Split / Second and Weird Science - Love that film! My weekend away from the Big Smoke had certainly been somewhat of a small success, and a great way to start the annual frivolities.
On the big day itself, Angela took me out to dinner at Bincho, a neat little Japanese Restaurant on Exmouth Market. Forget the usual Sushi and Bento though, here it’s all about the Skewers. Inspired by modern day “Izakayas” in Japan, the menu is centred around a wide selections of skewered meats, fish and vegetables. We pretty much ate half of the menu! Drinks include traditional imported Shochu, Sake and original cocktails. The food was excellent, and the great looking interior with eye-catching lighting design really helped to set an enjoyable, intimate atmosphere. Thoroughly recommended.
The Saturday after, I managed to scramble over to the British Museum for a Drawing London on Location Meetup. Despite being a bit late, and having to leave early I managed to get a couple of good sketches done, and really got into it. The Museum is a brilliant place to have such an event.. with so much on offer though it took me a while to decide on what to draw. I’ve realised I’m better at still life and small scale than large landscapes and full scenes. It was certainly good to get some more practise… something I dont get enough of.
That evening, Chez Green played host to the Birthday Board & Video Games Night. (Oh yes, that’s how we do it.) About ten of us managed to squeeze into our living room for a rowdy night of Timbrrr, Pictionary Man, Blur, Super Street Fighter IV and lots of Guitar Hero. To top things off, one of my friends brought his N64, which lead to agressive Mario Kart and some hardcore Goldeneye deathmatches! I swear, you can be the closest of friends but that game is serious business for some people.. If it couldn’t get any better, Angela’s amazing Chinese Birthday Cake with Peach was the icing on the.. well… cake. I think we’ll be having a few more of these events in the future!
Finally, the day after (sheesh, not even a lie in!) my parents came to visit, and we took them to Spitalfields Market & Brick Lane. A bit quieter and far more unique than the usual fare of Oxford Street, the sights, sounds and smells combined to create an “interesting” experience for them (their words!), and no trip could have been complete without a classic Salt Beef and Mustard Bagel. In the evening we headed up to Islington and found a small family run Italian restaurant for a delicious family meal of steak, pasta and neopolitan ice cream..
And there you have it. A month of celebration for a milestone of existence. Sadly the next one is 40! Until then, here’s to not acting your age, being young at heart and enjoying life.
