Oooh, Pete is taking me to Purple tonight. The place that a bunch of us went during the f2f!

ginmar is an amazing writer. Her personal stories and the stories of her friends, the connections she draws between them and larger policy and culture issues for the US military, and the background reading and research she does are awe-inspiring. I've even gotten weirdly fond of her unapologetically abrasive style; some readers seem to just get antagonized and flamey, but there's such a weight of experience and knowledge behind the bristling.

In a completely different way, with a different focus and different background, she's still totally in what I vaguely think of as the Jilli-erika class: how is she still scrabbling for notice instead of being paid buckets of money every time she sets pen to paper?

Happy Birthday Jilli! Congratulations Nora!

JZ, for what it's worth, you're in that same class. I love all of the Buffistas for their various talents, writing among them. But it's impossible for you to write anything, even if it's just one sentence, that doesn't sing. I'll say it right here, in front of God and everyone, that you're my favorite Buffista writer. No, hell, you're one of my favorite writers, period, and if I were rich I'd pay you to write just for me the way people would have Mozart write songs just for them.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jilli!!!

AND NORA, YAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAY! I am so happy and relieved for you. (But not at all surprised).

You flatter me, Ms. Zmayhem. Although I have the same thought every time I see Seth McFarlane. And not because I'm such a genius, either. Because, okay, he watches TV and makes gimp jokes. I watch TV and make gimp jokes. When he does it, it's "OMG, so edgy and brave!!1" When I do it, it's(skeptical face) "Ok, but this doesn't have the makings of a crossover pop hit." I think it's safe to say that sometimes I hate Seth McFarlane, but the whole topic just reeks so hard of my thwarted intellectual vanity, I don't *even* bring it up. But I think it a lot. Fuck you, McFarlane...go back to Quahog and eat ramen for a while and see how damn brave you are.

Oooh, Pete is taking me to Purple tonight. The place that a bunch of us went during the f2f!

Awesome! I wish I'd gone on one of the earlier expeditions. Much as I nommed at Wild Ginger, I think Purple was some of the best food I had on the trip.

Now I'm completely abashed and sad at the fact that my not being a successful writer is completely explained by the fact that I practically never write.

So I'll deflect all the various nerves and flushed cheeks by saying Go you! with the Seth McFarlane hating! Cracking gimp jokes when not in fact yourself a gimp (at least, nobody I've googled up has told me otherwise about him) does not make him edgy and it sure doesn't make him brave.

Oooh, Pete is taking me to Purple tonight. The place that a bunch of us went during the f2f!

Excellent.

We really had some amazing food at this F2F.

Seska, I am curious: my cousin's husband is a professor of sociology at McMaster's and I think his emphasis is disability. (My cousin is also a sociologist, but she's at U of Toronto and her specialty is immigration.) Have you had occasion to read any papers by Robert Wilton?