june 21

Session 1 of uni ended recently, and for many, the exams have begun. With the exception of June 21 last year, when I was in the middle of a year of industrial training, all of my recent birthdays have prodominantly involved sitting in front of uni notes and/or textbooks. I would celebrate my birthday by studying less than I usually would during the exam period.

The gifts I recieved this year were nice. My grandmother gave me a little wooden carving shaped like a bunch of lotus buds. The carving has a pleasant, intimate feel about it. It wasn't churned out en masse by a machine. From my parents, I recieved a 1kg tub of "bulk & muscle formula" protein powder, and the birthday card they gave me had a drawing of a pig sitting on a beach chair...

A special shout-out to the following people, who were also born on the 21st of June:

Martha Washington - US First Lady of George Washington

Ray Davies - Singer, songwriter

Jean-Paul Sartre - French novelist and philosopher

Reinhold Niebuhr - Theologian

Mary McCarthy - Writer

Juliette Lewis - Actress

Prince William - Royal