Tuesday, July 28, 2009

i love you more than being seventeen

it's one minute until I turn eighteen. here is what being seventeen has meant to me.

seventeen is the thrill of strolling past the bouncers and into a bar without getting IDed.

it's being interested in politics and reading about elections and knowing that you're this close to being able to vote for yourself.
it's the third from last year. which means staying up late feeling passionate about song lyrics, feeling like you have slight license to be that little bit more self indulgent than "real" adults.
it's smiling when you hear julian casablancas singing "i love you more than being seventeen" and knowing how strong that love must be.
it's borrowing a friend's passport and learning off by heart their signature contact details in case of emergency.
it's looking back at your friend's 14 year old sibling, marveling at those last three years and everything that has changed.
it's knowing that you can drive if you really want (in the uk at least) but moaning about the cost of road tax and petrol.
it's leaving school, leaving behind people that you know, cutting ties even when you don't want to, looking forward and taking with you all the snippets of information and words of advice from special teachers.

goodbye seventeen, it was a good year. one of the best!

17 comments:

lydia said...

aw, this is lovely. happy birthday! i hope this next year is as good to you as the last.

Hadley said...

aw, happy last day of seventeen!
i'll be sort of sad to see it go. there's something so magical about this age, i think.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday, Stevie! Argh. Enjoy being 18. It was probably the best year of my life.

x

Rose said...

happy birthday

i dont want to grow up

fritha louise said...

Happy Birthday! I'm pretty sure you'll love being 18 too. I turn 19 in less than a month and I really don't want to not be 18 anymore!

MarĂ­a said...

I wish you a -delayed- happy birthday!!

Hannah Swanwick Illustration said...

happy birthday

and being seventeen is most definitely the best. i'm glad i have another 5 months of it.

xx

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday!!!!

Anyhoo, I'm just letting everyone in my blogroll know that I'm running a competition (just giving you guys a heads-up as a thank you for entertaining me during the last few months in work!!!): http://chicknamedhermia.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/surprise/

Miss at la Playa said...

happy birthday!
It kind of sucks knowing that you can do everything now, but that you did it before anyways. I want to be peter pan

young-shields said...

happy birthday to you!!!

i can't wait to be 18 myself, bring on december, claire x

NYCjuicebox said...

this is bugging me... what song is it from!! happy belated birthday, i love your blog xoxo

Anonymous said...

i am seventeen, how about that ladytron song " they only want you when your seventeen" that one scares me

Nata Amores said...
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Nata Amores said...

I'm only 16 at the time, but times goes by so fast.
It seems like only yesterday when I was boarding the big yellow school bus and off to first grade. With the blink of an eye, another year goes by.
And it always feels, well for me anyways, that I never did enough.
Didn't travel enough, didn't learn enough, didn't discover enough.
But lovely blog, by the way.

Nata Amores said...
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Disneyrollergirl.net said...

Oh, I missed your birthday :( Hope it was a good one!

Anna Pope said...

Hove your birthday was grand! I remember how much I loved being 18, dreamy sigh :)