Happy Birthday Nathan

For those of you that have been following me, that's right, all 10 of ya, I realize that this has been perhaps the most inconsistent period in my writing, what with the emotional death of JD Salinger (for those who are curious, yes I teared up when I heard about it on the el and yes, it was as mortifying as it sounds) as well as personal life changes. As the glory days of college have passed and the reality of, well, the real world is setting in, I feel it's important for me to go through some changes myself, ranging from the more formal to the informal, which is really just me typing how I usually talk, so if you notice a whole bunch of "ya"s and "gotta"s, I beg you to bear with me. It's been an up and down week of emotions and stresses, but please somebody tell me if I start monologue-ing like Valerie Bertinelli in a Lifetime movie...

But it's not about me today. Well, not entirely at least, because it's about a friend of mine so I guess that still is sorta about me... regardless, just about anyone who knows me, knows that it's important for me to have a support system. I mean, isn't that true for just about all of us? But I've never been much of a family man, especially after moving out here on my own to Chicago. I've met a bunch of great people over the years, and I hope these people know who they are, as well as maintaining close friends from back home, and you should definitely know who you folks are. However, lately all my life has been about life after school and while I have great friends to help me through it, there has been one guy who's invaluable to me. This is normally where people think I would name Jesse, who is great and always there for me, but I'd actually like to take the opportunity to thank my friend Nathan.

We both graduated at the same time and although are situations aren't entirely identical, it's been helpful to have someone who's going through all the same panic as me. Of course, for those of you who have read the title, I'm sure you've figured this isn't just a random post, but of course, it's his birthday. So while I feel like I've bordered on the same sappiness and melodrama one would expect from a Melrose Place reunion show, I've still gotta go a little further and wish Nathan a very happy birthday. Your birthday present, as I hope you actually read this, is that I've actual shown emotion in a public forum. Doesn't happen a lot, so don't get used to it, but enjoy it nonetheless. Happy birthday!