9.11.1985

After reading my blog about New York, Josh asked, semi-jokingly, "When am I going to get my biography like all your other best friends have? Never in the history of your blog have I had a biography, I'm just a shady figure who is mentioned here and there." I laughed but also see that he has a point. Everyone that reads this blog knows Josh and knows who he is so I've never felt he needed much tribute. He said all this the morning of our Leesburg ride, while I was writing my blog about Hill and Go Seek the night before and said, "Maybe I'll get one today..." After that ride, I ended up writing about his cramps and his weakness, which he thought was too exagerated. Though that day was fun and he was a big part of it, it wasn't a day about him, it was a day about us riding together with my mom. Yesterday was his birthday, though, and he's now 25. I think it's time for his tribute.

Whenever Josh tries to insult me by calling me weird, I thank him because 1, I take it as a compliment and 2, it irritates him. So he has started saying "you're so normal" instead of calling me weird. Well Josh is not so normal and that is why I love him. For one thing, he is secretly a nerd. He never let this be his identity because there are other non-nerdy things he cares about but he loves his star wars books, he'd rather read about ancient archeological digs than The Kite Runner, and he can disassemble and reassemble his computer in 20 minutes. A few weeks ago, Josh and I were riding in the car and he plugged in his ipod to play the score from A New Hope, reciting the lines that Luke and C3PO and everyone else would have been saying along with the lyricless music. Josh is very honest about his feelings and the things he cares about. He is never fake and, though I don't always agree with his politics, I admire that he cares so much and that he reads about the world more than I do. Though he reads lots and lots of news, it can take him months to finish a book. He is a first generation college graduate and it took him five years to get through but he beat the odds and supported himself financially, with bright futures scholarships and minimum wage from Zaxby's. He is a hairy, manly man and a stellar athlete but he has asthma and that can make him lazy. What it means to be an athlete is still in question and whether he's more of a stellar athlete than me is debatable. He was a baseball pitcher growing up and has recently began to thrive in his position as goalie on our dc soccer team. He lives for me, of course, but if there was no me, college football would give him something to live for. Just another reason why fall is the best time of year. But not the best time of year to get married. He loves the gators and he loves chipotle and he loves star wars and he loves john frusciante and the red hot chili peppers. Those are his passions and those are all the birthday cakes I've made him over the years. Here they are:

Summer 2007, baseball cake for fun

22nd Bday Chipotle Cake, 9.11.07

23rd Bday Swamp Cake, 9.11.08

24th Bday Millenium Falcon Cake, 9.11.09

25th Bday RHCP Concert cake, 9.11.10

We gave it to him like this so it was much more concertesque. We blasted red hot chili peppers and sang happy birthday over it. I wanted strobe xmas lights but this was all I had. He was very happy with it, but the little John figure I put on the stage reminded him of John's leaving the band which is always a sore subject.

If you're disappointed in thinking that I'm straying even more from my bike-themed blog then think again... I got Josh this new bike for his birthday:

It is a 2008 scattante 330 21 speed and it was waiting for him at the end of a long "quarter of a century-themed" scavenger hunt around our apartment building and my parent's house. The scavenger hunt was fun and a good surprise. Here are his clues...

Afterwords, we went downtown to watch the Florida game at a bar in Dupont. Josh was given too much free beer and bourbon by bartenders and a bar patron who 1. felt bad for him that Florida was losing (at first) and 2. wanted to celebrate his birthday. After, we played in our first fall soccer game, which we lost 2-0. We could have easily lost by a lot more but, Josh (or should i say, Vince?), who you'd think would have been wasted from the drinks, was better than ever making some really great saves. Unfortunately, though, we think the combination of alcohol, exercise in the heat, exhaustion, and whatever else, is what led to his nausea and migraine that kind of spoiled his party last night. As soon as he started drinking last night, he felt really sick and ended up spending most of the night in bed or the shower while everyone else felt bad trying to have fun without him. It was a bummer but he was still happy with how the day turned out. He is a 25 year old man, he can now legally rent cars, but he's still as nerdy, honest, and hairy as every and I love him for every bit of it.