November 19th, 2007, 4:28 AM – I am suddenly awake. Wide awake, instantly. My roommate’s cat Togar is lying at the foot of my bed, and we are the only ones home. I didn’t get to sleep until around midnight, so I should still be unconscious. I woke up physically tense, and it was like my body or subconscious thought it was urgent that I wake up right away. There was no apparent reason for this. So begins my birthday. I am 27 years old.

I decided to use this as an opportunity to exercise before work. After a trip to Walgreens, I hit the gym in the basement at work. I expected other people to be there, but I was thankfully alone.

It’s been a few months since I’ve really worked out, and out of curiosity, I got on the scale. I’ve been between 160 and 165 lbs for years now. This time, the scale said “173.” I had gained ten full pounds since the last time I worked out. Granted, I had my shoes on and was holding my iPod, but at best, I was at least 170. Then I remembered how, after returning from Seattle last week, I had trouble fitting into a pair of pants that I wore with much less difficulty the week before. I really loaded up on the seafood and beer out there.

I did a half hour on the elliptical, did some weightlifting, and finished with about fifteen minutes of yoga. I had bashed my shin on the stairs two and a half weeks before, and in addition to the lump that’s still at the point of impact, the bruising has been spreading down and around my lower leg. I’m thinking about going to urgent care or Minute Clinic to make sure there isn’t something bad happening. I’m hoping that working out again will help the healing process.

Showered (naked). Drank water and ate a Clif bar for breakfast (clothed). Work was uneventful (surprise!).

Went home for lunch and had leftover Domino’s pizza while reading the script for the staged reading I’d be doing that evening.

Throughout the day, I received a stream of texts, phone calls, and Facebook and MySpace messages wishing me a happy birthday. Thanks, everybody! Facebook and MySpace are effective birthday reminder tools. Brad drew some hilarious graffiti on my Facebook wall: Geordi LaForge playing the piano, singing, “Happy Birthday, Dear Clarence.”

From work, I headed to The Playwrights’ Center for the staged reading of David Goldstein’s swimming in quicksand. I got to see and perform with Matthew Vire again, which was wonderful. My friend Nick came to see the reading. The play is a good one, and the feedback session, while brief and not terribly in-depth, was nice.

Afterwards, a group of us went to Pizza Lucé across the street, because our programs granted us free slices of pizza. Several people opted not to go, but Nick and I were going anyway to have a birthday drink. As it turned out, the playwright and his partner Don were also planning to go, and it was just the four of us. David and Don are great people, and we all chatted theatre, writing, the local theatre scene, etc. It would be nice to see David’s play produced. He’s hoping to accomplish that within the next several years.

I dropped Nick off at his apartment so he wouldn’t have to bus it in the cold, and then I went home, got in an argument with Togar, and was in bed by 11:00 PM.

I made up for the night before by accidentally sleeping until 8:00 AM. I guess I’ll work out after work today.