Trip 5: Day 24 (Austin)

Day 24 is also April 24th, my 33rd birthday. I think that 33 is no more nor less special than 32. 34 is also meaningless. I'm in that meaningless time, where you're just "30's" and individual years are inconsequential.
My birthdays are normally days I take for sort of introspective escape. I leave the daily life, retreat somewhere far-flung but aesthetically pretty, where I can be anonymous yet entertained. This year, however, I knew I would be in the midst of this trip, where all I am is anonymous (and sometimes entertained), so it was somehow different. I felt like I wanted to be around others, and spending an anonymous day in Omaha seemed, somehow, sad.
However, waking up yesterday, I somehow realized that I really just don't care about my birthday; that it's just an additional day in the month. The reality of it brought me back to how I really feel about the situation, overall. Now that I know that, I'll probably not push the birthday anymore in future years.
My birthday was my first chance to see my new niece, now just over a week old. I know you're supposed to say something about how tiny these newborns are, but she actually surprised me in being a bit larger than I expected, being born to my short sister and her Japanese husband. It was a nice birthday treat though.
Sausage and beer was the second treat. An excellent beer selection and some interesting sausages. It was a very "Austin" place, even though it fancied itself a German beer hall.

Austin pics from the hotel: