My birthday is ruled by sevens. Not only was I born on the 7th, but originally my birth month, September, was the 7th month in a 10-month Roman calendar, which is why the prefix is “sept-“. Plus, I was born in 1970. Thanks to the year 2021, I’m now a 17-year-old thrice over. That basically means, unlike when I was originally a 17-year-old, I’m highly aware that I don’t know it all. Speaking of “17,” I was supposed to be born on the 17th. So much for that plan.

My roommate and I ordered takeout. We were going to have a drink while we waited for our food.

As soon as we walked in, they enthusiastically told us that our order was ready. Obviously, we weren’t dressed to pick up takeout. We informed them of the plan, which we still followed even though our packed leftovers sat at the bar with us.

Another birthday tradition I started when I turned 40 was to wear a tiara for all my birthday activities. Considering that I’d planned to stay home the entire long weekend and work on my actual birthday, I made that trip count for the tiara photo op.

The next day, I celebrated my birthday by ordering things that would enhance the quality of my work/life balance: a firestick, an adjustable standing desk, a vibration plate, and a tankini.

I broke my usual rule about fooling around with new technology at night. I really wanted the pleasure of watching Netflix without hooking up my laptop to the TV. That had been my inexpensive workaround for years. Then in about a year and a half, the effects of COVID finally caught up with the connection.

After using that HDMI hookup at least once a day, the laptop port couldn’t take it anymore. Even butterfly clipping the TV cable in place onto the TV like an IV drip (or should I say “IT drip”) into the HDMI port on my laptop as a workaround only lasted for about a month.

So as I knew would happen, the simple firestick instructions still had gaps. Fortunately, one of my nieces called to wish me a Happy Birthday. Among other things, I narrated the technological hole I was in with the “it’s so easy!” set up.

After she agreed that a firestick should be ready to go once attached to the TV, I backed out of the step I was trying to set up, and tried something else. I honestly don’t remember how I did it, but the Wi-Fi started downloading updates, which I hoped would help since I was attaching new technology to an old TV.

Once I got the firestick to interact with the TV, then I had to get the remote to connect to the TV. I got stumped on choosing the correct TV IR Profile. As every good IT person knows, just Google everything.

I found out more about Insignia TVs than I ever wanted to know except the one thing I actually wanted to know, the infrared profile of the damn TV! Thanks to perseverance and some guy who shared how he chose his TV’s IR Profile: trial and error. The good ol’ standby. Worked for me on the first try.

A UPS email sent my expectations through the roof about getting my standing desk. To be delivered between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM? My Black ass! After work, I changed clothes to do pool exercises. When I returned, my standing desk box had magically materialized in my bedroom. I took one look at that box and thought, “What a fun Sunday morning project that’ll be!”

Friday, officially my mother’s 81st birthday and the 8th day of celebrating mine, another present I’d bought myself awaited in my bedroom, thanks to my roommate’s efforts.

Although one can do a full workout routine on a vibration plate to sculpt muscles, improve lymphatic and blood circulation, better balance and (the jury’s still out about) weight loss, I was far less ambitious. I plugged it in, flipped the switch, which didn’t actually turn it on. Pressed the power button, followed by the start button and vibrated while slowly doing some squats. Until I read an email, telling me that I had a package.

The free swim cap with the raggedy-edged American flag design mirrored the state of the country. Nonetheless, it’s a damn fine swimsuit and the added bonus is the company name happens to be my initials. On Saturday, I put my tankini on to take a virtual yoga class, then kept it on to do my swimming pool exercises: capoeira kicks, jogging, and eggbeater kicks.

Normally I don’t buy desserts, but since the state of TX recently passed a law that essentially outlaws abortion, I made an exception. This dessert shop sold sugar cookies where some of the proceeds are donated to abortion care. I wasn’t in a sugar cookie mood even though they had icing. I made a $5 donation on top of the desserts I bought.

I put together the adjustable standing desk with few problems, given the minimal written instructions and the mostly accurate illustrations. Yet once I’d assembled it, I couldn’t lower it. I squeezed the handle and pushed down. Nothing. I wanted to tinker with the mechanism, but envisioned cutting off my fingers. Instead, I checked the company’s website. No troubleshooting tips. I sent them an neutrally-worded email. Called the alleged support number, which no one answered because it was a Sunday morning.

At one point, the only safe idea I could think of was to put the portable desk on the floor and push down while squeezing the handle. That desk lowered as if it had good sense. Apparently, when I initially raised it, I couldn’t get enough leverage to lower it. Fortunately, I won’t need it that high again now that my workstation rests on it. Even when I’m standing on vibration plate.

This was my second attempt to cast the Zoom class from my laptop to the TV.

With that thought in mind, I returned the laptop to its resting spot in my bedroom. Funny thing. The sound comes out of the laptop and not the TV. Perhaps the free app I downloaded to cast Zoom call doesn’t allow that. I wouldn’t pay a whopping $2.99 for a better app. Not until the free shit totally breaks down. It’s the principle of the thing. I may be a year wiser, but I’m still cheap.

By the next day, I tested out another free app to watch a YouTube video. Lo and behold! the sound came out of the TV. Then again, even the second app didn’t cast Zoom sound through the TV. At least this time, I read the fine print: “devices,” such as Zoom, which doesn’t have any built-in sound control, won’t allow TV sound. Live and learn.

This birthday has confirmed my belief that money can buy happiness with the right set of priorities. Everything I gifted myself contributes to mental and physical well-being.

I credit still being in a plague for all my Olympics viewing. There’s still a hotbed of COVID superspreading, so this event has broken up my usual TV programing.

And speaking of hotbed…some genius thought it would be a wonderful idea to make Olympiad beds out of a cardboard frame. First of all, if anyone can endure the rigors of having sex in untraditional places, whether it’s a tricked out bed, or comfortably contorting into a strength position for loving, it would be Olympiads. Secondly, if all else fails, there’s still the floor.

The opening ceremony was a 4 1/2 hour theatrical extravaganza. From the interpretative dance and tap dancing to the parade of nations, which displayed more flight attendant attire than anything else, but Tonga man was still an oiled up crowd pleaser. My absolute favorite part was the “living emoji” choreography with animation sequence, depicting the international symbols of the Olympic events. That production crew deserves an Oscar for that segment. The juxtaposition of Kabuki theater with that out of control jazz pianist was fabulous. I’ve never seen a pianist use so much of her body not only to play, but to dance with the instrument.

I watched events I had never seen before. At one point, I googled, “What’s the name of the Olympic sport that looks like soccer in a swimming pool?” No, I didn’t feel the least bit stupid when the words “water polo,” flashed on the screen. As a matter of fact, I’m happy I finally learned what that sport looked like after hearing about it for so long. I especially liked that the women’s USA team had a black goalie with long powerful arms, batting away the opposing team’s shots like stopping white women from touching her hair.

Besides the obvious rooting for the home team, or any other country I’ve lived in or Brazil since that’s the birthplace of capoeira, I enjoy learning the stories behind the athletes. Beyond being amazed by their physical acts of strength, I am inspired by their personal narratives. After all, I don’t know any of them personally. Not even the top gymnastic GOAT, Simone Biles, who resides in Houston when she’s not wowing the world with her spectacular feats.

The most awe-inspiring and unpredictable thing Biles did during this year’s games was to take a mental health break. The world watched in horror as she got lost in space while in the air during her vaulting routine. Gymnasts call this phenomenon “the twisties.” An athlete undergo catastrophic injuries when that happens. Fortunately, Biles didn’t suffer permanent physical injuries and knew to take a break.

The world overwhelming supported her wise decision, but the usual trolls demanded that she continue and ridiculed her for not continuing. This flared the “Black women must fight all battles all the time” argument. Sigh. One fine day, and I sincerely hope I live to see it, Black women will be seen as human beings and not beasts of burden who must utterly exhaust ourselves for the comfort and pleasure of others.

Meanwhile, other women are fighting to dress comfortably, given the rigors of their sport. Given the fact that The Olympics started when no women had a say in formulating the rules, now the athletes themselves must demand a voice such as the Norwegian handball team. They were fined because they wore comfortable shorts rather than the skimpy bikini bottoms. Pop star Pink offered to pay the fine, but in the end, the European Handball Federation paid the fine rather than the team itself.

Lots of controversy swirls around this year’s Olympics and many felt that the games should have been canceled due to the pandemic alone, in addition to all the other bullshit that goes on due to the Olympics.

As usual, I wonder if cancellation would better address any intersectionality of discrimination. Showing elite athleticism often breaks down barriers and allows spotlights to be shined on such things as mental health issues, gender disparity, sexual orientation discrimination and the such. How much can be gained by NOT seeing these athletes hailing from different backgrounds?

Just last year, the world protested against police brutality because they saw the video of George Floyd’s murder. Now, the world is witnessing how these seemingly arbitrary Olympic rules are being applied. Why, for example, an athlete cannot participate for consuming a THC gummy, which didn’t enhance her performance, but a country found guilty of doping its athletes to give them an edge can still participate with a name change.

The world is watching. There are many different ways to protest. Yet we cannot care about what we don’t know about. Video is a very powerful medium, which motivates the masses to take action in whatever form they have access to.

The mere presence of skateboarding for the first time as an Olympic event shows changes happen with advocacy. I look forward to the next Olympics. I optimistically hope the discussions we’re having now are woven into how things are run in 2024. I also hope that the next time around, I’ll have to make time in my busy schedule just to watch the Olympics…perhaps in a public place, unmasked on the weekends.