Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday, and while 22 is not supposed to be exciting, I have to say I think this was the best birthday I've had in a good long while. I spent the day exploring the Eastern Market with a couple of girlfriends and I'm pretty sure we could not have had more of a blast. What an exciting place to entertain the senses. My favorite purchase was a bottle of pure Michigan maple syrup. I spent some solid time talking to the vendor about his syrups and the grading system they use to differentiate them, or the color/darkness of the syrup, which is based on what time of year the syrup was collected and how long it sat before being bottled up. The man knows his syrup, that is for sure! The man in the wine shop knew one of the friends I was with and gave me a free mini bottle of champagne for my birthday! The guy in the liquor shop also gave me a free shot of vodka, haha. We toured the produce stands and the meat markets, got an "Old World Sandwich", went into several shops and made a few friends along the way. Afterwards, we went back to my apartment and were joined by more friends for a night of games, drinks, and eats. This morning, I made chocolate chip pancakes and smoky links for b'fast and then my friends and I walked 2 blocks up to the public library to hear Obama speak! Totally didn't know he was going to be in town for my birthday - he should have called. I got badly sunburned, but I have to say I'm ok with that. Afterwards, I returned to my apartment to meet up with my fam and we went out for a fantastic dinner just a few blocks down the street in the other direction, after which Dad drove us around to help me get my bearings in the city. I have to say, not only was it a fantastic birthday weekend, I am really starting to like living in the city. There are so many things I look forward to doing!

Walls

The shower is my favorite place to think.

Problems at work, problems at school, problems with relationships, everything, spiraling down the drain.

Bosses, coworkers, classmates, friends and foes, washing away.

Tissue samples, chemical reagents, protocols, microcentrifuge tubes, excel spreadsheets, cycloalkanes, alkyl halides, text books, dollars, bill payments splashing down from my head, dripping through my hair, running down my arms, chest, stomach, legs, feet, rushing toward the drain.

She has to know she could do so much better than him. What does she see in him anyway. I hope she gets her life together. Why didn't he call? Why hasn't he answered me back? I wonder if I'll ever see him again. What am I going to do next year? When are applications due? Do I even qualify for that program? When did these decisions get so hard to make? I miss my friends. I wonder if my check went through. When will I get paid again? Did I pay the electric bill yet this month? I can't wait to see my friends again. What will I do for my birthday? Why haven't I heard from him? What am I going to make for dinner tomorrow? I need to start studying for that exam.

Each thought, each stressor, each worry, clinging to my body for dear life until each soap molecule comes along and carries them away, coaxing them down, one by one, soap and stressor hand in hand, sucked down the drain, off to the water treatment plant where my thoughts, my stressors, and my worries will all be purified and my made anew.

A Baptism. A purifying experience. Purification of thought and character. Cleansing. Pure.

A sigh of relief. I can do another day. I turn the water off, throw back the curtain and grab my towel from the rack. Dry the face first, then the hair, arms, stomach, legs, feet, back. Step out of the tub. Flip my hair over and twist the towel into a turban. Feeling good.

A familiar sound. The squeaking and splashing of a body lifting itself up out of the tub. I hear the drain open from the other side of the wall from exactly where I had just unloaded my stress. I hear the water rush down from the 5th floor, deep down into the earth, carrying with it someone elses' thoughts, stressors and worries. My stressors and my neighbor's s stressors intertwine as they pool together in the belly of the city along with those of the 952,000 other residents of Detroit. This is huge.

When I go to sleep tonight, I won't be able to help but wonder if my neighbor lays his head on the other side of the wall from where I lay mine, and whether or not our hopes, our dreams, our inspirations and aspirations will meet on some otherworldly plane tonight as our tired, aching bodies rest, lying head to head with only a wall between us.

I feel like blogging again.