For my birthday? An ulcer!

Of the strengths I have, one is standardized test taking. I kinda joke about this fact occasionally, but one reason I believe that I do well is because I remain cool under fire. I don't get anxious about stuff very easily... whether it's because I can manage stress well or just have a general indifference is a fair question.

For some reason, though, I get stressed out around my birthday.  Which is funny, not just because I rarely get stressed out, but because I sort of (at least internally) mock those who get more emotional around certain times: the holidays, weddings, menstrual cycles.

It's absolutely emerged in my consciousness, however, that I get more stressed out around my birthday than I should.

Two years ago I was supposed to meet people at Ozzie's for a semi-party and the night had a stressful pre-semi-party set of circumstances that led to me going home early and pissing off at least one friend who was kind enough to come with the intention of hanging out with me.

Last year was more serene, I think, but this year I had another little hiccup that threw me off and almost resulted in me hang out alone on my birthday evening. Which would not have been the end of the world, perhaps (although perhaps it would have been; fortunately we'll never know) but it would have been a bit of a waste, too.

Thinking about why I get stressed makes me more stressed, and I think I'm going to leave that as an off-blog topic of self-examination/recrimination. Instead, I will live you with this image: