Birthdays and Bicycles.

As many of you know, the 17th of May is my birthday, and I certainly had an interesting birthday this year. I've been loaned a bicycle for the summer by one of my friends, and I attempted to ride it in to campus this morning to meet with Dr. Takamiya to work out what I'll be doing over the summer. I succeeded in my attempt, barely -- my legs were so rubbery by the time I'd finally pedaled up the hill to campus I could hardly walk. Apparently biking using completely different muscles than walking does. Still, it was faster than walking, and more enjoyable traveling downhill, so I'll probably continue doing it over the summer.

This evening I went to a "fancy party" that one of the graduating astrophysics students had come up with before the end of the semester. She just happened to pick May 17th, and when I mentioned it was my birthday, everyone said it must be that day for sure. It was a very nice party -- most everyone dressed up quite fancy (I wore my best dress pants, shirt, and tie) and we had a delightful evening putting together various kinds of food and socializing. I did something I've never done before, and willingly and knowingly ate a mushroom (I'm not too big on saprophytic fungi as food, in general). I was treated to a delicious Mountain-Dew-flavored birthday cake (it had a nice lime-y flavor to it), and on the whole had a most enjoyable evening.

Oh, and my dear sister surprised me with a recording to Vivaldi's Opus 8, a collection of 12 concerti, the first four of which are the familiar Four Seasons, although this group manages to play them in such a way that, though I've heard parts of them many times before, still comes off as incredibly fresh and new. I'm looking forward to getting to know these beautiful pieces of vivid Baroque music over the weeks to come.

And finally, in case you're wondering (or I forget): I'm 22 today. Or, in Hawaiian, “He iwakāluakūmālua oʻu makahiki.” (My years are twenty-two. “lua” means “2” in Hawaiian) Ke Akua pū, a hui hou kākou!