Oct. 18, 1985- Oct. 18, 2009, 24.

Birthdays are not the same as they used to be. There was a time when outside of Christmas this was the high light of my year. All of my friends would come over, they would bring me presents. I would have a cake, with my current favorite superhero in the frosting, and pizza. What more could a boy want? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

As I got older birthdays became less of a production. This was mostly because of my choosing and people told me that when your 13 it's not cool to have Batman themed parties anymore. But, still it was a day of celebration. It still revolved around food and interaction. Some of my favorite birthday's have been in the last couple of years when I was in college and right out of college. I did not really have any money and neither did any of my friends but we always were able to put something together for each other. There is something still special about that day and we would try and make a point to make a person feel special.

This year I had all but forgotten the day. Between 1,000 pages of reading a week, 20 hours of Greek study and working 20 hours a week who has time to remember that trip down the birth canal?

This year I spent my birthday morning attending Bryant Temple AME Church. It is an African American church in Downtown LA. It was mandatory for one of my classes I am taking at Fuller. Initially, when I was considering my day the last thing I wanted to do was spend it in a three hour long church service. But little did I know that this place knows how to do church. It was a blast. Hooting and Hollering and enjoying one another. Real interaction as a community as well as a body of believers. I can't think of a better way to spend the beginning of my day.

After the marathon service was over, it was time to eat. My stomach was eating my back to say the least. So Sam and I went to Foo-Chow's. You may remember this restaurant from the first Rush Hour movie. Chris Tucker order Camel's hump from there. (Surprisingly, they do not serve the delicacy). We ate Curry Chicken and Mongolian Beef. Let me tell you, Chinese food has never tasted this good. If all I was able to eat for the rest of life was Foo-Chow's than I would lead a long, happy, content life.

Once we completed maybe one of my top three meals of all time, we braved China-town. Chinatown is everything I wanted it to be. Porcelain Buddha's, Chinatown Snow Globes, and weapons that no one needs but all men want. While exploring this unknown world of Knick Knacks, I stumbled upon one of the greatest discoveries this side of penicillin. A bargain bin of Wooden Japanese Practice Samurai Swords! Sam being the champion combination of roommate and friend, without even hesitating purchased these swords in celebration of my 24 years. You may be wondering what kind of bargain could I be speaking of? Does $7.99 sound like a bargain to you? That's what I thought.

It was a good thing to, because after leaving the store and continuing through Chinatown looking at Asian themed new balances and fireworks, there was something evil around the corner. Ninjas. From every corner, every nook and cranny, ninja's jumped out with only one thing to accomplish. To keep me from seeing my 25th. We fought with the spirit of the tiger and of Foo-chow. There was no way I wouldn't see a quarter century. I mean my insurance will go down and I can rent a car. These are major milestones. I will say we took our licks but we bested them this day. They fell to our swifts hands and agile minds.

So, overall my 24th was a success. And actually, I got my themed birthday celebration. From this point on I will refer to it is the year of the OX. May Foo-Chow live forever.