Nobody liked me when I was 23 (just kidding?)

This is the age that I am now. 

One of the things I've been thinking about the most since graduating college is what temporal templates I should now measure my life by. Before I graduated college, the academic calendar supplied my temporal templates: Fall was always a time of beginnings; winter was a period of intermediary struggle; spring was the final stretch; and summer was a chance to recharge.

As a post-school adult, though, I am a bit more temporally uncertain. (You might say I've become unstuck in time.) Neither the academic calendar nor the seasons make perfect guides. Not being a student, I have no reason to follow the academic calendar, aside from habit and the aspects of our culture that are still determined by academia, such as college football schedules. Yet the former of these forces suffices to make the actual beginning of the calendar year still seem more like a halfway point than a starting point. Of course, I could pick any random date in a year, or any temporal template (the fiscal year? the liturgical calendar?) and structure my year around it and it would be an entirely defensible choice. But I like to make my life decisions as pregnant with potential (or imaginary) meaning as possible (which is why I toyed with establishing a "theme" for last year). So that simply will not do.

To resolve this dilemma, I am going to try taking a page from my sister Annie's book and make my birthday (which is today) the keystone of my new temporal template. This is arguably just as arbitrary a decision as any other, of course; it's just the day I happened to be born. But I'll give it a try, especially since it's conveniently about halfway through the year anyway. And going from birthday to birthday, 23 has been quite the year:

-In July 2016, I visited the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, an ornate building full of secrets.

Illuminati confirmed? 

I also went to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland (making Lake Erie my first Great Lake of the year), by far the craziest political experience I have ever had.

At the closing of the RNC.

I also used the excuse to cross two items off of my Cleveland bucket list: I went to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, and visited the campus of St. Ignatius High School, the rival of Cincinnati St. Xavier.

Having my revenge upon St. Ignatius. 

I ended the day with a long, relaxing, evening drive across the state of Ohio that was beautiful for reasons I can't quite explain.

Later, as part of a family vacation to the town along Lake Michigan (my second Great Lake of the year), I reunited with an old friend to film a performance of the interrogation scene from The Dark Knight. 




-In August, my workplace completed its long-awaited move to a new building. I also visited the Scottish Rite Freemasonry House of the Temple in Washington, D.C., also an ornate building full of secrets.

Illuminati confirmed again?

-In September, I won a race (the  Army/Navy 5-miler in D.C.) for the first time in years.

-In October, I conquered years of fear and watched The Exorcist, in the city in which it is set.

-In November, I became a man of my word and returned after three years to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a glorious weekend of post-election escape in one of the most beautiful places in the country (making Lake Superior my third Great Lake of the year). 

Sunset on Lake Superior.

-Later that same month, I came in 2nd place at the Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race, my highest-ever placing. I also enjoyed the company of friends and family, of course.

Post-race revelry. 

-In January 2017, I left D.C. for Inauguration weekend with some coworkers to relax at a cabin in the Appalachian mountains.

Our cabin in the woods. 

-In February, I met with a source at the Watergate parking garage, and filmed a reenactment of the scenes that took place there in All the President's Men (I will release it soon).

Watergate.

-In May, I completed my first half-marathon, placing 4th in the Cincinnati Flying Pig.

Taken during my first half-marathon by Mark Motz.

-Later that same month, my sister Annie got married, and I was a groomsman in the wedding.

The Butler family, assembled for the wedding of Annie (center). 

-In June, I helped chaperone a 12-day trip of students from my high school to Greece (about which more soon).

One of many (approximately 1,000) pictures from my Greece trip. This one is from Santorini.

-Just after I returned, I moved into a new apartment in D.C., three blocks away from my old one.

-On July 6, I marked two years at my current job and workplace.

-From January to the present, I have been growing a beard for the first time in my life. I have never looked like this before; in its own way, the beard is a temporal template, as without it, I would look pretty much exactly as I have since I turned 21. For now, it stays.

Taken January 2nd, the last time I shaved.

Taken yesterday.

So that was 23. Who knows what 24 will bring. I do know this, though: People will like me when I'm 24. I think.