It is easier to take birthday away from an adult than from a child.
Because, grown-up had seen enough, and are more battle-hardened.
Needless to say that "battle-hardened" has certain tendency of being over-rated.
If you think about, a birthday celebration often makes an adult feel like a kid again.
Which may not be a bad thing.
A simple birthday recognition can be soothingly therapeutic in more ways than one.
Especially if you are an attention-whore (just kidding
)
Attitude towards birthdays ranges from not celebrating to inviting everybody you barely know.
Just because some people likes to give a big birthday party, that doesn't mean that he or she is an attention-whore.
By the way, AFAIK, there is no prize for having learned how not to celebrate your own birthday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9NNWaMuIRk
Doctor My Eyes
Jackson Browne
Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
Through the slow parade of tears without crying
Now I want to understand
I have done all that I could
To see the evil and the good without hiding
You must help me if you can
Doctor my eyes
Tell me what is wrong
Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?
As I've wandered through this world
As each moment has unfurled
I've been waiting to awaken from this dream
People go just where they will
I never notice them until I've got this feeling
That it's later than it seems
Doctor my eyes
Tell me what is real
I hear their cries
Just saying "It's too late for me"
Doctor my eyes
Cannot be disguised
Is this the prize for having learned how not to cry?
I am not abandoning Yoyo, I am just dancing slowly away from it.