25 Cometh

Yup, the Quarterpiece is gonna be a quarter-century old...

Even though I'm not big on astrology & stuff, I do kinda have a thing about numbers. Actually it's more of an OCD thing than anything else... But anyway, five (and it's multiples) always seem to pop up in important things or during big events in my life. I won't go into details cuz I refuse to let y'all think I'm crazy! LOL But that being said, my twenty-fifth birthday is something like a big deal to me. So much so that I felt like I should do a commemorative post or something. You may want to do a screen print with a timestamp so that when I'm famous you can show your kids that you e-knew me when I was relatively unknown. (Yes this post is full of hubris. If you can't deal, get out now!) Since I couldn't pin down just one thing I wanted to talk about, I figured I'd do it all!

Five things I thought would be different at this point
Up until recently (and not so recently for some of these) I thought that by the age of 25 I:
1. Would be looong gone from Mississippi
2. Would be married
3. Would be at least contemplating kids... Okay, Imma scratch this one but leave it in because I am, but it's not in totally serious mode yet cuz my last name hasn't changed...
4. Thought I'd be doing something creative... Fashion design, writing, photography, music... Never thought I'd be sitting behind a government desk doing busy work
5. Assumed that I'd still be "thick as thieves" with some of my childhood friends. Not so, but I'm closer to some other friends than I would've ever imagined.

Five things to do within the next 25 years
1. Travel to the five other inhabitable continents (no way I'm going to Antarctica)
2. Start my nonprofit organizations
3. Become a broker & have other real estate agents working for me
4. Get married. I refuse to be in the 98% of black women that the media says is gonna die alone with twenty cats! LOL
5. Retire! Ambitious, I know, but I want to be able to retire and travel while I'm still young enough to enjoy it! (Maybe too ambitious... Perhaps I should aim for 30 years with this one)
Five ideal ways to spend a birthday
1. In bed, butt naked with a boo or a boo-substitute
2. Shopping on 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive
3. A day full of kiddie fun with my friends & fam: go-carts, mini golf, paintball, laser tag
4. A cruise! (I tried so hard to make a cruise happen this weekend, but to no avail. Oh well, at least I have CousinsCruise2010 in June!)
5. Being completely pampered: spa, mani-pedi, being served and chauffeured around, full princess treatment.


Five things I've learned so far
1. You will outgrow some people, whether they be friends or lovers. It's the natural way. As the saying goes, "We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person." You have to learn to completely let go & just be happy for the good times that once were.
2. Everyone, at one point or another, has a piece of advice, wisdom or knowledge that you should adhere to. Regardless of that person's status, whether or not you like them, whatever. There is something that you can learn from even "the least of these." Don't be so high-minded that you can't learn.
3. Not everyone that calls themselves friends are actually in your corner. Some are just waiting for your downfall; others are actively trying to make it happen. Keep your eyes open, don't be naive. And don't take your real friends for granted. They are few and far between, but when they are real it feels like an army is on your side.
4. Accept yourself for who you are. You'll never fit everyone's ideal mold, physically, spiritually, intellectually... And that's more than okay! The only folks that need to be totally pleased with you are God and you yourself. And if you're Atheist then I guess you only have to worry about yourself... Moral of the story: I've learned to be the Tori that Tori is happiest with, regardless of what changes others want of me.
5. There is no Superwoman. Or, if there is, I'm not her. I can't handle everything alone and probably shouldn't try to. That doesn't really keep me from trying, but I'm getting a little better at it! So yay for progress :)

Five gifts that you can give me!

You still have 5 days to fulfill my wish list, so get to it! (and if you're wondering, yes, I was born on 5/15/85 at 5:23 pm. Coincidence???)

1. The complete Marvin Gaye collection. I don't even know if there is a full collection of his work, but I want it! Bonus points if you can get it in MP3 format so I don't have to go through burning a bunch of CDs!

2. This one isn't nearly as sexy: a 16gb mini disk & an aux cord (so I can use my BB as an mp3 player). I have a little 1 gig memory card in there but it's just not enough! And I wanna be able to use it in the car, since I don't even buy CDs that often anymore.

3. This beautiful Tiffany ring. This style comes with several different stones. I'd love any of the following:

And to get all six would only set you back about $60,000. What a deal! ^_^

4. This royal blue Hello Kitty hat. Apparently I'm like a year late on this. New Era brought this out like early last year, but I only recently saw this pic. Now everyone that knows me knows that I'm a Hello Kitty fanatic, and the fact that this hat is royal blue and white... PERFECTION! However, I haven't been able to find it. *le pout* I have, however, seen it in black and purple. Those are okay too, I guess. But if you could find this royal blue one, you would be like the most special person ever for like two days. If you find it somewhere, email me for my hat size. I refuse to let y'all know how big my head is for naught!

5. CASH. Eff all those manners and etiquette books & sites that say money is impersonal. I GOT BILLS!