Awesome picture, P-C, very regal. Makes me feel like I'd be lucky to get to kiss your hand.

I'm going to go to bed now, before I fall over. Nighty-night!

But is it as much fun without a room full of Buffistas to watch along? I ask you.

This is a question that really doesn't need to be asked, don't you think? Because...Buffistas.

ETA: Blowing goodnight kisses to Deena. I think Ima get offline too. So sleepy.

A smitten billytea is an adorable billytea. An even more adorable billytea.

I like being smitten. The job security is good.

How's this?

Ha! Perzactly. You're all ready to hit the nightclubs! And, dressed like that, you get to call them 'night sceptres'.

Yes, I expect you to kiss me and make me feel worth kissing.

Damn. That's a most excellent line.

::blows kiss::

...see, this is where Super Porny Pants would blow P-C. Ah well.

Impressively regal pose, btw. I speak with some authority, obviously, as a subject of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (and I). Speaking of which, did y'all catch the episode of Oprah with Queen Rania of Jordan and the President of Liberia? I don't know when it aired in the US, but we got it here last night. Fabulous.

Meanwhile, yesterday, after the whole OMG horror of forgotten birthday-ness, shaped up to be a pretty nice day. I ordered flowers, and phoned my mum, and she was really pleased with the flowers; apparently my dad forgot her birthday too (!!!) - they were on holiday at the time, and only got back to the UK on Monday. So he sent Sorry I Forgot flowers on Monday, and then the shit hit the fan because my grandmother had fallen twice while they were away, and our 97 year old neighbour had fallen and been hospitalized, and my mother's childhood friend (who has breast cancer) was hospitalized...and generally it's been one crappy thing after another. So she was really pleased to answer the door and find flowers instead of more bad news yesterday. So that was good, and we had a long chat, and did I mention the part about how I am SO VERY VERY BLESSED in my family? Because, oh my God, they are such wonderful people. I like them so very much. (And man, now I'm all weepy, which is no good when I'm teaching, damn it! [I'm teaching today. Although the kids have free time just now])

...anyway, we went straight to Fusion after work; it's a newish Chinese/Japanese/Thai restaurant on the bank of the Nile 10 minutes from where we live. We dragged N out much against her will ("...but I have laundry to do! And report cards! You go without me...") because it was her surprise party. Did she but know it. Anyway, we dragged her out, and it was fab. We'd got 3 of her cousins there as well, and we had Tepanyaki (which I can't spell) made with great flourish and panache right in front of the Nile. With felucas sailing past behind the chef guy. He was like a Ninja! A food ninja! It was awesome! It was MADE of awesome!

And N was totally surprised, and it was lovely 'cause she's been a bit stroppy and sad lately (what with the 3 of us she's closest to all leaving), but this was really nice, and she was all bouncy and squeeful, and there were 11 of her closest friends there, and her Mom had sent a ring over from New York (in a wee Macys box) with her cousin (who's studying at UPen), and it was totally N's taste, and really lovely.

I gave her her presents today - chocolate raspberry body/hair mousse from Saphora (which is THE most delicious smelling stuff in the history of ever) and a chocolate orange lip balm and a pot of cinnamon buns body cream (which is perfect - she read some article about men finding cinnamon a really sexy smell a while ago, and said she should just rub cinnabon all over herself, and since then she's had Cinnabunny as a nickname). Meanwhile, today is Dress Down/Wear A Hat day (I can't really do dressing down, because this is as informal as it gets, but I can totally do wearing a hat; in honour of her birthday [which is actually today] I have lent N the tiara I stole from Perkins - she is Queen for a Day) and it's DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) week. So that's nice. And today we're going straight from school to the airport, to catch the 6pm flight down to Luxor, where we shall celebrate N's actual birthday.

This time tomorrow morning, I shall be in the Valley of the Kings, wearing a hat from Valencia, cursing the heat and marvelling and marvelling and marvelling.

Life does not suck.

Yes, I expect you to kiss me and make me feel worth kissing.

Damn. That's a most excellent line.

Thank you. It hurt to write.

billytea, I feel, given your affinity for wildlife, you would be interested in this post.

Fay, your post reminds me of my friend Seanan, who frequently posts about how much life does not suck and how it does, indeed, rock. She even has a life rocks tag.

Thank you. It hurt to write.

Well, that's a pretty good indicator of why it's a damned good line. Not that one has to write in blood to be resonant or truthful, but it helps.

I'm sorry that things were so resolutely platonic with Dessert!Girl, though. If I had any useful advice, I'd certainly share it - however, the hypocricy of me giving people advice on how to pull is just too vast. My pulling technique consists of flirting madly over the phone or the internet, or after a number of beverages, when my brain hasn't had time to jump in the way, but mostly of running away when people flirt back. And quite often of running away as a pre-emptive strike when I find people attractive, before they have had the opportunity to flirt or not flirt or indeed register my existence. Alcohol has been known to lull me into forgetting to run away, but sobriety generally sharpens the RunAway!!! reflex to a razor-sharp point.

This, I have established, is A Bad Pulling Technique. Unfortunately, being quite self-conscious and shy*, I'm kind of stuck with it.

*although not about everything, obviously. I'm fairly confident about having nice hats and being quite clever, and moderately talented at acting/drawing/painting/writing, and being interested in lots of things, and doing the banter. Most of the time. But I'm profoundly not confident about a number of other things, particularly singing in public, and teh sexy.

In conclusion: Damned Good Line.

I concur, Damned Good Line.

Fay, life sounds like it's made of awesome for you! And I love the word "squeeful" and the concept of DEAR. Which is basically what I did at work Tuesday, so I could finish Bryson's book on Australia.

I've decided I want to live in Walpole. It's south of Perth, so about as far from anything as you can get, and in a part of Australia that has forests (for the moment). And it's named for a gothic author!

Raq, Is the shelf-stable stuff like the boxed milk or different?

Same stuff. UHT. Parmalat is of course the biggest brand.

And let me just state for the record that I am EXCEEDINGLY DISAPPOINTED that Parmalat apparently no longer makes their all-fat soft butter cookies with jam filling. Bastards.

I'm working on my Life List. I can cross off the Parthenon and Delphi, but I've now added the Great Barrier Reef. At the end of this year I should have checked off six of the seven Ancient Wonders of the World (ain't no one getting to Babylon). I still have never seen northen lights. What else are good Life List entries?

Antarctica. Tough, I know, but a challenge is good. Have you done Macchu Picchu? Sailing across a really big body of water, and sying 'Arr!' a lot. And this is just descending into my life list. Um, learning yoga in India?

I am simultaneously relieved and bummed. Because while it does seem I don't have to worry about her wanting to date me...I would not have been averse to more smoochies. Fie on you women and your crazy mixed-up ways.

You know, it's been a bit of a while since the last smoochie episode. Time can make a girl shy. There's every possibility she's talking to her invisible friends, fying all over you, because you didn't kiss her and make her feel worth kissing.