Indulgence

Ugh. I've been dreadfully ill for the past week or so, so I beg your indulgence for my long silence. I haven't exactly made it to the theater recently, nor have I been thinking particularly profound thoughts, although I am finally plugging away at my dissertation a bit.

Anyway, my birthday is coming up, and in terms of birthdays (at least my own) I'm a more is more kind of girl. My family has a standard birthday routine that will not be particularly exciting and will probably involve me being presented with fascinating gifts like socks and a 2007 calendar (but not this one, sadly). The birthday for me is not about gifts, but is about people. It matters a lot to me when friends call me on my birthday or make time to spend with me. So I figure that I have the opportunity to make this happen, rather than sitting around waiting for people to offer to celebrate, and for several years in a row, I've (with the help of roomie and prophboy, of course) thrown myself a big birthday party. I invite all the people I know and love, and then a bunch of people I don't know so well but think could be cool to hang out with and know better. I tend to invite all of the gay men and most of the other queer folks that I know (or have contact info for). It's always a grab bag of different groups, but I'm lucky that I have good friends on whom I can rely to come by and have a few drinks and sit around chatting until the wee hours of the morning. One year, there was cross-sexuality groping and a guy who passed out on the floor. Another, I stayed up talking until 4am. The parties have meet with varying success, but it always makes me happy to get to dress up (and yet be comfortable because I'm in my own house and can take off the heels whenever they start to hurt) and be surrounded by people (hopefully) having a good time.

Before that, my birthday tradition for several years was pear cider outside a coffee shop, with a huge group of friends and some flaming cheetos. It's all about spending time hanging out and laughing with people for me.

So if you happen to know me, send me an email and I'll make sure you're invited to the party. You should come.

But the point of this post was neither reminiscing or advertising, but rather polling. Since my birthday is generally not about getting presents from other people (although a beautiful, perfect purse from prophboy last year and a beloved book from nebs for my 21st are particularly memorable and beloved presents), I usually think of it as a time for self-indulgence. I treat myself to one (or sometimes a few) things that I would generally consider too expensive or too frivolous to buy for myself or that I just never get around to buying. So my question to you is, what terribly self-indulgent thing or things should I treat myself to for my birthday? Fancy clothes that I don't get to wear often enough? Makeup? Exotic bath products? Sexy heels? Is the perfect purse or wallet for me out there somewhere? Maybe yummy ice cream or good wine or some other culinary kind of treat? Wonderful old movies on DVD? Is it finally time to break down and get the L Word? Is there a fun book that I totally need even though I shouldn't take the time to read it?

What are your own personal indulgences? Something you're longing for or frequently take guilty pleasure in? What does indulgence mean to you?