*sigh*

[wednes]

Me, before the party opening my gift from Sara. This awesome coffin purse.

Dave and Tonya after we got together for lunch the day after my birthday.

H and I after that same lunch. I am wearing my Voltaire Key and My brand new Where the Wild Things Are necklace.

This is Jim, a friend of mine from school. I had not seen him for at least 25 years. He turned out awesome.

Kassy. Yeow!

People in my kitchen to avoid the smoke.

Paul, being a tough guy.

Me and my Voltaire Dolly. As you can see, I was rocking the Pugsley shirt at the party.

My new TV. 40" HD something or other. It's fucking sweet.

As you all know, I had a birthday recently. People were very generous; lots and lots of friends sent beautiful cards, thoughtful gifts, and heartfelt well wishes. That kind of thing makes me want to use an expression I never EVER use: it makes me feel blessed.
The party included a bunch of my co-workers, with whom I am just beginning to hang out with socially. I like a lot of them very much, which I do say pretty often around here. Also, the guy I had a crush on in junior high was able to come. We've reconnected via Facebook. He turned out to be a really neat guy. We disagree on political stuff--but respectfully. He's conservative, but he's not a loon. It's kinda cool.
I got a new TV for my birthday from that one friend I have who enjoys giving extravagant gifts. When I'm online shopping I often think Damn, if I was rich, I'd buy this for so-and-so. This friend is able to actually do some of that stuff. So now I have a 40" HD TV. It's rad. I need to read the manual, it's kinda huge.

I'm almost done holiday shopping. Just waiting for a new more gifts to arrive. I've never been done before Black Friday before. So that's neat. The holiday baking with begin soon.

I have until Sunday night to give my publisher the final revisions on the galley for Kiss Me Like you Love Me. I love the hell out of that book. I want it perfect. So one more going over should do it. I'm going to send it to myself so I can look over it at work. I'm working both Friday and Saturday, which is going to be really busy and sucky, I predict.

Sadly, my high school frienemy sith_lord died just after midnight on my birthday. It is a terribly sad story. In June, Larry (or Doctor Lawyer as he was known at the time) was on a date. The lady had a heart attack, and Larry was giving her CPR when a car ran over his foot. Later, the foot didn't heal well due to diabetes and the doctors wanted to take it. He refused to let them. Can't say that I blame him. Logic would not be at the forefront of my mind in such a situation. Ultimately, he stayed home and isolated. As far as I can gather, he gave in to depression and it killed him. His health deteriorated and long story short, he ended up with brain damage. His family signed a DNR and he died a few hours later.
He was one of those people who was intelligent and colorful, a very interesting character. But lots and lots of issues that kept him from being someone I'd like to hang out with. He could be sneaky, and underhanded, mean and spiteful. It was sad, and it reminded me of similar patterns in my past that I knew I needed to avoid. Still, he was far too young to die. And he is a stark reminder of how important it is to know you have a reason to live. Depression kills a lot of people--people too proud to ask for the help they need. It pisses me off, but that's not exactly new news is it? As if that wasn't shitty enough, my other frienemy, Cindy, has just been told that her COPD is "end stage." So she will almost certainly die within the year.

H's mom is sending me the memory card and card reader for the Zoom H2 Recorder I've been wanting forever. So...I decided I'd go ahead and buy myself one. I got it way cheap on amazon (almost $60 less than people who sell them locally) with free shipping. So it will be here in a week or two. Yay!

I gave up on V. I just didn't like it very much. Big Love is coming back in January. I have to rewatch Season one of Tru Blood so I can rerecord it. Hopefully they'll put it back On Demand soon. I have no idea who has my copy of season one (not to mention my Masterpiece Theater version of Jane Eyre) and it looks like at this point that I won't be getting them back. The Jane Eyre was a gift, so that sucks. From now on, everyone signs stuff out.

Tomorrow, chicken and stuffing, green bean casserole and good company. Yay!