Me, Ray Rice, and DJ Jazzy Jeff

You may be wondering what I have in common with Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Besides breathtaking athletic ability and incredible musical talent, we also share a birthday. That birthday also happens to be today, and at the ripe old age of 27, I find myself thinking a lot about the past and the future.

Aging certainly has its pluses. You can, um...well, actually...aging sucks. There's nothing good about getting older. You see friends less, you work more, you gain weight, and you lose your hair. It's baffling to me why anyone would actually want to celebrate their birthday. If I had my druthers, I'd simply let it pass with no acknowledgment at all.

Now, maybe I'm being overly negative because the stress of work and planning a wedding are making me borderline insane (if sales were dating, you could say I'm in an A.C. Green type slump). But in reality, I just long for the birthdays of my youth, where eating a piece of pizza didn't add five pounds and drinking a beer didn't leave me hungover in the morning. The days where you didn't go to class "because it's my birthday, dude" and you got all types of cards, cash, and presents from family and friends. The years when you were finally old enough to drive a car or smoke a cigarette. At one point in my life, I looked forward to turning 65, so I could retire with a pension and collect Social Security. Based on my current income and investment plan, I'll have enough money to retire at 94. And that's only if I die at 95.

There are still a lot of things to look forward to: kids, mounting debt, prostate exams, etc. Everyday I wake up thankful for another one though, and trust me, I know things could be a whole lot worse. And if DJ Pauly D can still beat up the beat at age 30, then I can still rock out with my cock out at 27. Let's party (at 5pm, when I get off work)!