I didn't have Merlin. I had Spirograph, though! Loved those things.

I had Spirograph, too. And Lite Brite, and the big Barbie head you could put makeup on. Oh, the Skipper whose boobs grew if you turned her arm. Good times.

Jesse,

almost all of the stuff I haven't touched in 8 years IS historical stuff. I need to sort through it all at some point, but now is not the time. I would like to put stuff in a scrapbook or something, but I am not artsy. like at all. I have thrown out quite a lot though. I probably should just rent a bin and toss way more shit.

What I probably need to do for the papers is scan it in and then put it in a well-organized computer system. Good luck with that, I say to myself.

I suspect Merlin was the sort of thing we heard about but couldn't get our hands on--Simon, on the other hand--we could get our hands on one of those, per peer group.

Okay, today's main nurse was so sweet. I suspect she was more conservative, and also nicer than I am--and working at it--she was asking me how to not get so upset over some things, and I was mainly just empathising--it was the sort of situation where I think you just get upset, because you probably didn't do much wrong, and the other person is being a douche. But when I launched into invective towards putative third parties, she seemed flinchy, a bit. So I tried to tone down my language to keep her comfortable, but, you know, drugs.

But she laughed, a lot, and made me laugh a lot, and gave me a big hug when I was discharged. So I feel I'm good with her.

Question I'm pondering: birthday present for my sister? Right now I'm at the point of a) something small and sentimental, possible something only a big sister can get (oh god, pressure) or b) getting in touch with all the other villa-stayer-atters and suggesting something, again probably small and sentimental.

The general response I've gotten so far on etiquette is that nothing is required of a destination party, and/but as a big sister I'm either required to/don't need to give her a gift. And if I do have to give her a gift it either has to be/will be the best gift not given to her by my parents.

So...confusing.

And tiring, just thinking about it.

I really should stop putting off buying the ticket home. There's absolutely no benefit to that. Well, the marginal one that I can't call home and speak to both parents about how much in advance I'll be coming in to spend time with too, since Mother is out of town.

Let me try and call the father (who claims he made up my name) first, and move on from there. Naturally he is completely useless on the gift-giving front.

I'm pretty sure families have their own gift-giving rules, and you should go with those. Or what you feel like/can deal with, either way.

almost all of the stuff I haven't touched in 8 years IS historical stuff. I need to sort through it all at some point, but now is not the time.

Yeah, just move that shit.

I ran out of tape! Oops. Also I have probably half of my books packed and am out of small boxes. I'll need to strategize what else to put in the bigger boxes so they aren't too heavy.

Books go well with towels.

My friend texted me to say she would be out today. Not sure what that means. (She has 2 children so is likely to have something planned although Sunday am is usually when we talk)

That's a good sign, Sophia.

I think my (ex)friend has some issues that she's not addressing -- rather than deal with the fallout of apologizing and feeling bad, she's walling off people from her life.

Sometimes friendships move on -- you grow apart, have fewer interests in common, it's more of an effort than it's worth. I'm sad but OK with that, but usually you give the other side of the relationship proof by a couple awkward encounters, instead of pulling the plug and running away.

It'll be like the nail polish box, but hot and geeky.

Except that when you get the box, you'll never send it on.

I strongly suspect that it's also because the Paterno family donated a ton of money to build that library, and that's why his name is on it in the first place, so it would be kind of awkward to keep the building and take down the name.

There may also be contractual obligations with regard to the donation/naming.

I'm pretty sure families have their own gift-giving rules, and you should go with those

If we had rules, I wouldn't be wondering.

The unwritten rule in my family is that people will give what is easy for them to give. Like, when my brother worked at Joe Boxer we could all expect pajamas, that sort of thing. Which probably doesn't help you.

My sister and I are particularly crap at birthday gifts for each other, though. So many lengthy phone calls on one another's b-days ending with "so, I had no idea what to get you..." and "really, I don't need anything, we're good." giving each other the relief of not having to shop, essentially.