there aren't very many things the family celebrates. we do lunar new year celebrations, the mid-autumn moon festival, called tet trung thu for vietfolk (moon cake! yum!), and the anniversaries of ancestors' deaths. we sometimes partake in the spirit of christmas, i.e., the gift-giving part, but not consistently every year.
but for sure, we do do birthdays.
-- wait, no, i take that back. we don't for sure do birthdays. and i am only thinking of my own birthday earlier this year when absolutely nobody remembered or wished me a happy birthday except my best friend, who text-messaged me birthday wishes.
*sigh* the middle kid is always the forgotten one.
:(
;)
anyhow, i've already gotten birthday gifts for my mom and younger sister, even though their birthdays don't arrive until the latter half of december. they are quite easy to please, and with them, it's (mostly) the thought that matters.
but finding gifts for my older sister is always harder.
as i think about my older sister's birthday, i realize, "good gosh. she's turning thirty!"
and so i am caught in a perplexing dilemma: what do you get for the birthday of an older sister who has high-end designer taste and tends to like couture-ish gifts while you're on a budget?
damned if i know! she is really hard to please. but i s'pose i'll think of something. . . .
my older sister is prettier than me by far.
all while growing up, my mom would often tell people stories about how adorably cute her first child was. she would get attention even when she was just sitting in her stroller. "just like a china doll," my mom would say. "and when we went out, strangers would stop in their tracks just to say, 'oh, what a beautiful child!'"
there are no such stories about me. at least not that i know of.
:-P
;)
but that's okay. i guess i'd rather be considered more of "the brains" out of my sisters and me, and i generally am -- only 'cause i seem so nerdy. the older sister is "the beauty," and my younger sister is, as she always is, "the baby," a.k.a., "spoiled brat."
the three "b"s, i guess you could say.
:-D
my older sister, as beautiful as she is, is currently undergoing an "i'm-about-to-turn-fucking-thirty!" crisis.
she's been telling me these past few months that she really wants to get a tattoo before her thirtieth birthday.
a few years ago, i mentioned to her that i wanted to get a tattoo myself. she gave me this look of such utter contempt and loathing that i'd even want to permanently mar my body that i resolved that i would never mention such a yen to her again.
so imagine my surprise when she told me that she wanted to get a tattoo herself just a few months ago.
she's running with the wrong crowd. what can i say? her b.f.f. sports a really bad ankle tattoo, and the b.f.f.'s brother also has a couple of bad ones as well. the b.f.f. was interested in hooking me up with her brother earlier this year, which made me raise a quizzical brow. and when i actually had the opportunity to meet the brother, i was a bit disgusted. like, dude. even if i was straight, i would absolutely NOT hit that!
why was i talking about this? oh, yeah, his tattoos. the brother has one of those arm-band tattoos that wrap around his bicep. but with him, it's like, what bicep?
seriously, this message is for everyone who wants to sport an arm-band tat: one, it makes for a bad tattoo altogether, so don't do it! and two, if you're going to do it, at least have a nicely shaped bicep, not a shapeless, flabby-lookin' limb, all right? if you're unsure as to whether your biceps are adequate enough, then please solicit the advice of honest individuals who'll let you know whether to go for it. seriously, i don't say this to be nit-picky but because i care. i care about you being able to go out into public and not look like a frickin' tool.
anyhow, the only thing holding my sister back on the tattoo thing is that she just doesn't know what she wants to get. her ideas change by the month. still, if she wants to get one while she's still technically in her twenties, she only has a matter of days to decide!
there is a catch to this whole thing, though: while she'd love to get a tat, she asked whether i'd be up to get one with her.
i agreed.
i like tats. i like the idea of the body being a canvas and that you can express yourself and show your identity via how you dress, how you adorn yourself, and how you pierce yourself. and i've actually considered getting a number of tats myself.
as it stands, my body is currently unmarked and unscarred. and there are at least a couple of tats that i'd get to commemorate what's most important to me and have those things etched permanently into my skin.
at the same time, while i like tats, i also think the human body is so beautiful in its simplicity, without all these other extraneous decorations.
i dunno.
in a way, i hope my sister gets what she's set her mind on. why shouldn't people strive to attain whatever they want in life?
at the same time, i kinda hope she doesn't and that i won't have to keep my word on getting a tattoo with her ('cause you know i will keep my end of the bargain).
we'll see.
