lol j/k
Don't know if I'll do anything particularly special today other than catch up on some anime (I'm such a slacker) and work. But actually having work is a special birthday gift all its own, so I won't complain too much!
Today (or yesterday?) I spent most of the morning helping out at a journalism workshop put together by one of my college professors. I took a group of high schoolers around and helped them come up with story ideas based on things around campus. It was a bit difficult to strike a balance between prodding them in the right direction and outright giving them ideas, haha. Half of them were pretty gung ho about getting story ideas and wandered off with their adviser to get information from various sources. Didn't like being ditched all too much, but I guess I'd rather they be overzealous about journalism than completely apathetic.
Also, I think I'm starting to morph into an old fogey. There was a headline competition later in the day, where each student was given a news story and asked to write a headline for it. Predictably, when it came time for the popular vote, the young'uns went for the flashy, exciting headlines, while I grumbled a bit and sided with the functional, descriptive straight news headlines. If I start complaining bitterly about how newspapers are dying, and about how news isn't real news unless you're reading it out of a paper in your hands, feel free to chuck a shoe at me.
But, yeah, it was nice to catch up with some of my professors and a couple of friends who helped out at the workshop. It was fun complaining about the news with people. :P I like seeing how the school newspaper continues to evolve, too. The visuals are so much more advanced than when I worked there. The computers are also way better than what I work with now, which is kind of sad ...
Random thing: I know at least one birthday gift I'll get -- Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami. My goal of owning every Murakami book released in America is one step closer to fruition.
