I know it's already Day 2 of Year 2 where Dylan is, but here there's just time to slip in one last Happy First Birthday! The pancakes and exhausting cake and ice cream and the giant lion look amazing and delightful.

And, happy birthday, javachik! You are such an excellent person and I'm so happy to know you and have you as a localista, and if the coming year is even half as great as you deserve it will rock out loud every damn day.

ICompletelyON:

I Love My City, Part #76,942:

Got back a little while from a rare solo evening outing, hopping the train downtown to see juliana's play, a beautifully written and crisply paced comic/sad snippet of the afterlife in mostly black and white, with crows and ravens and sound design by NoiseDesign, in a tiny basement theater up the street from Union Square.

In the lobby, I got my dinner of red wine and Milano cookies and picked up a flier for a woman who does vintage pin-up modeling workshops and also runs an open enrollment burlesque troupe.

The show was a longish one-act but briskly paced and when I got out, it was cold but not bitter out, Union Square was glittering with lights and ringing with the sounds of competing street musicians, and the sidewalks were crowded with a mix of very late theatergoers, tourists, street people, street performers, local chi-chi store staff closing up for the night, dejected Giants fans, and elated A's fans. Everything felt very shiny and bustling and wide awake.

Outside a smoke shop on the corner of Powell a couple blocks up from Market, a two-man band composed of two young white guys, one with guitar and one with drums, was playing an improbably terrific version of "No Woman No Cry." Really, they had no right to be as good as they were. The streetcorner was crowded with tourists and miscellaneous wanderers, including a grandma out and about with her two 6-8ish granddaughters; the girls were dancing deliriously while their grandmother grinned and grinned.

And right in front of the musicians, a middle-aged homeless black man was dancing with a middle-aged Asian woman all dolled up in a black crepe dress with white lace and a long swoopy duster and loads of makeup. They danced together a bit and then she spun out on her own, and he turned to the crowd and did Paul Gross arms and shouted, "She's beautiful! She's alive! She's alive and she knows it!"

Then, right outside the Powell Street station, I stopped a mixed couple (A's/Giants) to ask the final score. "Five to nothing, baby!" the guy shouted gleefully. "But there's still tomorrow!" the woman insisted. "No way! LET'S GO, OAK-LAND!" he bawled, and she threw her head back and blasted right back at him, "LET'S GO, GIIII-ANTS!" And there I left them.

I don't know if it's the City itself or the red wine and Milanos for dinner, but I just want to hug the stuffing out of everyone.

JZ, your message made me smile. So glad you had fun.

My boss just sent me an email and ended it with a winking smiley. I'm amused by that, though not by the List Of Things I Need To Do this week.

This is Sunday, and I hate the keywords already.

JZ, that sounds like a wonderful night....

I'm stoked because I got my Donors choose proposal approved. If any of you are so moved and would like to donate, I'd be forever grateful.

In other news? I waited in line for over 2 hours to get signed up for swim lessons. Seriously.

I waited in line for over 2 hours to get signed up for swim lessons.

I had no idea government offices/rock show venues are now offering this feature. How lovely.

I waited in line for over 2 hours to get signed up for swim lessons.

Was it the Y, Kat? I decided against signing D up once I heard that people started lining up at 5:30am.

That sounds like a great night, JZ. I love when things come together.

Kat, I have a DonorsChoose credit I have to use, so perfect! (The last thing I tried to support didn't get funded in time.)

Timelies all!

That does sound wonderful, JZ.

Happy Father's Day to thems that are dads.

I got my dad a family membership to Boston's Children's Museum. I figure it'll be a good time for the fam. It's pretty generous, you get to bring five other people with you and there are member only hours and such.

I wanted to get him red sox tix, but there were none to have. Gavin's probably too little to really dig a game, anyway.

Dear Fluffy All Seeing God,

Today I wanted to ask just this one, simple question: I've been awake for the past 13 hours or so. Alright, so that means my brain's only up for about 10 hours, but why oh why my eyes are still half-closed?

I'm about to enter the kitchen now, and experience with a why do I have to do this again? lovely thing called cooking. And I'm about to use a flame, for I'm about to fry a cauliflower. And I don't wanna get burn.

For your attention,
Weary Eyes Anonymous