30 @ 30: series introduction

So back at the end of March I threatened more posts about turning thirty. I've finally decided to follow through on that threat (promise?) with a series of posts I'm going to call "30 @ 30."

I've been thinking a lot these passed few months about the discourses surrounding childhood and adulthood, the supposed merits or limitations of each phase of life, and the markers of maturity or immaturity our culture fixates on (having a "real" job, being financially independent, owning a house, marrying and having children, etc.). At first I was thinking about writing a pair of posts talking about why being a child isn't all it's cracked up to be (in response to those who complain about how adult life sucks) and about the reasons I'm glad to be an adult and don't auto-dread being called "ma'am" or turning forty.

But that seemed, in the end, too negative. And destined to make friends of mine who have more conflicted feelings about adulthood pissy. So instead, I'm going to try and write a series of posts reflecting on how my own thought and experience has evolved between my childhood and my (as-of-now) adulthood. Not necessarily in a better/worse way, but in more of a continuity-and-change way. Because that's the sort of person I am: I tend to emphasize the constants while also thinking about the way the external manifestation of those constants can radically change over time. Maybe along the way I'll discover some of the subjects on which my thought and experience has changed dramatically over the years. Some topics I plan to explore (in no particular order of importance):

• food tastes
• sexuality
• pornography and feminism
• favorite fictional characters
• physical movement
• gender
• identity and labels
• asking "why"
• the internet
• friendship
• urban living
• England
• wearing jeans
• coffee
• french kissing
• body modification
• school
• money
• travel
• work / vocation
• children and childcare

Stop by each Wednesday for series installments. This is also part of my attempt to haul this blog back into being more diverse than a book  and fic review space. As enjoyable as that is (and I plan to continue, no mistake!), I've missed more narrative and personal writing.