Basket.

Well, traditional annual post. Happy birthday to me, and my thanks to everyone who has expressed a similar sentiment and/or given me any presents. I really appreciate all your gestures of goodwill.

There are a few constants on this day:

1. It's never commemorated by anyone on a large scale - and this is fine by me.
2. I'm either at work or at school or preparing for an exam of some sort. Some years (like this), both.
3. Cake. Somewhere, someone, with the occasional cake-face. Probably not this year though.
4. Winston calls me OLD.
5. I cheerily remind Winston that's he's less than a month younger so Winston please READ THIS PART and wipe that smug look off your face.

On point number 1, I've never thrown a birthday celebration of my own - planned it, sent out invitations and executed said plan. This could be because I am convinced that events I plan almost invariably take an absurdly disastrous turn at some juncture, but it's actually due to the fact that I lack the energy for strategisation of this sort, and that I have an instinctual dislike for large-scale events anyway. I am really awkward at introducing people to each other.

On point number two, the track record of this day going right back to the first truly important exam - PSLE, of course - is:

1998: Either preparing for PSLE, or one of the papers
1999: Third Language German Paper
2000: Preparing for exams
2001: Preparing for exams, desperately trying not to fail Add Maths
2002: Preparing for O-Levels
2003: Preparing for Promos, desperately trying not to fail C Maths, failing anyway
2004: Preparing for A-Levels
2005: In the office, serving the CO
2006: In the office, serving the CO; in the Orderly Room, serving the Centralised Leave System
2007: Projection of the day ahead includes work in morning, lessons in afternoon and midterm in evening. Going to be a great birthday ahead, I can see. At least good dinner to be had at night.

I believe we can then predict the future:

2008: Mired in academic hell.
2009: "
2010: "
2011: "
2012: "
2013-?: ", but as a job this time.

Look how optimistic I am.

Point number 3: CAKE. Self-explanatory.

Point number 4: YOU ARE NOT YOUNG WINSTON SO THERE.

Well, here's to a good day ahead for me. And for everybody else too, of course.