Josh the Aspie’s Blog

For those who do not know, I very recently celebrated a birthday. I received many wonderful gifts, but best of all was the fact that, despite rising gas prices, my aging Grandmother decided to come all the way out from several states away to visit me.

She warned me that she wouldn’t be able to bring me an expensive present if she came, and I told her that was perfectly fine. I just wanted to see her. I did ask, though, that if she had any paintings she had done that she had no plans for, I would really appreciate one of them.

True to form, my grandmother did indeed bring a water color she did of Juliet’s balcony, which she actually visited in person when she went on a trip to Italy.

While my Grandmother does not paint for a living, her paintings have sold for hundreds of dollars, and have also hung in art exhibits at local museums. Looking at the quality that she can put into her paintings, and the skill she’s developed over her many years, it’s easy to see why. She and I both have a fondness for Shakespeare and his plays. I’m sure that’s why she picked it.

In addition to my grandmother’s visit and painting, I received another wonderful surprise, which was not quite a gift. I now have a young step-nephew named Kai, who was born to my step brother Erin and his wife Hiroko early morning on my birthday.

I am solidly of the opinion that this gives me the same spoiling rights as a grandparent. I am an eccentric, adventuresome uncle, and with a nephew with a birthday on the same day as mine, and no prospects for a child of my own any time in the near future, I intend to start spoiling very young family members early.

With doting grandparents nearby already, Erin has firmly disagreed that I don’t get grandparent level spoiling rights, and likely with good reason.

Another huge piece of birthday news, a few days after my Birthday, my brother presented me with a wonderful present that will be at least this year and next year’s presents combined.

It is a live steel, hand forged Katana with a tang that properly extends the full length of the hilt, and a removable guard, with a spare. The sword comes with a magnificently lacquered sheath, which even includes a built in loop through which the hanging rope is threaded. It has a cloth sword covering, as well as a box in which to rest it.

I intend to get a proper display stand and a glass enclosure for it, and hope to be able to afford a matching Wakasashi to make a full Daisho soon, though I’ve heard a full Daisho requires two Wakasashi.

This gift was also a great show of trust from my parents. For a long time my mother has been solidly against me having any kind of weapon in her house, for when I was younger, I was fairly out of control. However now, my family views me as responsible and level headed to hold such a responsibility.

When I held the sword in my hands, unsheathed, for the first time, the weight of it surprised me. The sheer amount of steel in the sword gives great weight to it’s physical nature, more so than one would think with the way that swordsman move with them any time you see them in the films.

The deadly power of the blade and the responsibility that come with it carry a heavy weight as well. That weight mixed with the elation I felt at receiving it in a way I had never expected. Even thinking about this sword now, safely tucked away, I feel a great weight settle across my body.

My mother and step-father gave me a cordless hand drill, a copy of Lord of the Rings Risk. They also gave me the a set of Stainless Steel Dwarven Metal Dice, and a true D100, both of which I mentioned in my previous post about weight loss. They also gave me a case for my pewter and pre-painted plastic gaming figurines.

I was also taken to two separate birthday meals out. Dinner on my birthday by my father at Kobe Steak House, a Teppanyaki restaurant. Lunch the day before by my Grandmother, at the Spaghetti Works, a spaghetti restaurant in an old renovated warehouse.

My little sister Annie gave me a beautiful hand made jar that looks like a pumpkin with an acorn on top, which I will undoubtedly use for candies or cookies once I get my own place.

My Father got me some new clothes, unfortunately none of them fit, so I returned them, and got some in sizes that fit.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2007 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.