bon anniversaire � moi.

yes, today, yours truly renounced her teenage years and gracefully entered her 20's. precisely one score ago i was still in my mommy's tummy, tumbling about and swimming in a pink womb. now, i am a pre-yuppie, a university naivet�e who loves browsing the ikea catalog and shopping at diesel. i pace the cobblestoned sidewalks of cambridge, messenger bag (black, zippered and trendily textured) slung across my shoulder, moving briskly to catch the bus, or stopping for chai at peet's, or people-watching outside au bon pain. legs swinging, eyes blinking, mind blazing, i am not merely 20, but also 4, 9, and 17 in simultaneous synchrony. savoring the spiciest noodles in chinatown, swooning from brahms' piano quintets, blissfully inhaling summer's bright blooms, this is who i have become. i play with pixels, consume green tea intravaneously, and paint my nails with iridescence. and yet sometimes i still cry, irrationally, uncontrollably, passionately, as if i were six again and my ice-cream has fallen upon the asphalt. no matter how many years pass me by, i will always be very new to this world.

the city is roaringly empty this week, dashing off to vacation or new york or home in the cornfields before school starts; therefore, i didn't make grand plans for a birthday bash. if people were around i'd consider throwing a costume party... i could appear dressed as a daikon, or perhaps a unicorn. but since that unfortunately did not pan out, i believe i will go with a friend to see mostly martha, one of those food + sex movies (always an entertaining combination, n'est-ce pas?). i've been wanting to see this film since it opened last weekend, so i should expect it to be appropriately tasty!

no cake or candles today. however, i did treat my tastebuds to a chocolate-chip finagle bagel from starmarket, a mighty, gooey-studded torus of love that appeased my achingly empty stomach at 4:30pm. that concentric carbohydrate creation probably sat in that sad plastic bin the whole day, watching (with tired, semi-sweet eyes) the market shoppers who passed, hesitated, and continued in their selfishly modern haste. i bought a little fruit, some plums and nectarines, to just tide me over for a day or so before i fill up the fridge tomorrow with fructose goodness from the haymarket sellers. it shocked me that two little orange orbs cost one dollar as they traversed through checkout. how sad that fruit are stickered and labeled and priced and consumed... how can you place a value on an object that embodies true nature and beauty as we know it? smooth skin, tender flesh, delicate confidence. what we consider tradeable commodities, these pieces of fruit, are essentially plants' tangible product of love and energy. it shouldn't be so brusque, so cheapened, to invite fruit into our lives by scanning it and exchanging some cold cash. they should belong to those who deserve them, one who understands and empathizes with the fruit. we should sing to them, or caress them just so, giving them incentive to nourish us. we should earn their trust. otherwise, what's stopping us from shellacking price stickers on our own tender flesh?

thank you to everyone who has communicated to me today in some form of another their birthday wishes. thank heavens for technology.

an anonymous angel has registered sleekpixel.com and sleekpixel.net for me! i have droolingly had my eyes on these domains for the longest time, but never had the gumption to go ahead and snatch them. now, as luck has it, i have them wrapped with ribbon and placed in my lap for pure geekgirly pleasure! thankyouthankyou, to my benefactor out there. now, only time will tell how and when sleekpixel will transform the world... have any ideas? a digital art gallery? a 'zine? christine's freelance design studio? a miracle startup that will actually prove profitable? (ha ha.) email me your suggestions, i will consider all.

confidential to bok choy: were those color sticks? the plums sort of resemble a hypercube! merci avec tout mon coeur... je l'adore.