I wish Nilly was an American citizen. 'Cause when she turns 35? I want to nominate her to run for President. She's kind and caring, stalwart, determined, dignified (yet fun-loving and mischievous) and very, very diplomatic. And I hope-hope-hope that she can come back to visit us again someday. Like, the day the Big Damn Movie opens would be too cool.

Nilly is far too intelligent (sorry Bill) to be President in the U.S.

And the people's exhibit A is...

Maybe we should add an IQ requirement along with the minimum age requirement. G-d knows, after Dubya it's pretty much going to be a given.

Jayne hats

Who made the Jayne hats? I hereby put in an order for 3 of them. One in teeny tiny baby size. (Emma's middle name will be Jayne)

AnneW did, Aimee. They are fabulous, no?

They are wonderful.

I offer lots of cash and possibly cookies.

Oh the baby called (emma) JAYNE... when she cries she's a PAIN... but her mamma loves her all the SAME....

think I really better go home and rest my eyes for awhile.

She is our very favorite baby.

The funny thing about that spelling? MM's mom doesn't like it. She thinks people of her generation are going to think of Jayne Mansfield and that I shouldn't want that. I couldn't explain to her that MY friends are gonna go for a whole other fandom.

Friday in New York

Saturday in New York

Jessica and Ethan's apartment is full of things to look at. Stacks of CDs, rows of DVDs, stacks of books, rows of comics. Plus some very cool posters, including a promotional Annie Hall poster with a scene not in the film and a print clearly from India. I had been wondering about the Indian connection, because Jessica also had a lot of Indian spices. It turned out Ethan's dad was in the State Department...or something like that. In any case, he interacted with India a lot.

Ethan and I started talking comics in order to alienate Jessica and Kate. We were diametrically opposed in our views of Daredevil. He thought the pacing was off in the current arc, and I loved the current arc. I wasn't so thrilled with all the Matt-less issues exploring the underworld and Yakuza, and he had loved those. Jessica piped in with a generic statement of agreement. We also talked Fables, which he wasn't in love with as much as I was yet. Neither was Jessica, who apparently hadn't been enthralled with the first trade. Come on! It has a parlor scene!

He was becoming disenchanted with 100 Bullets; he wasn't as invested in wanting to know the secrets of the conspiracy as I was. We both did enjoy the one-shots. Man, I wasn't used to having friends who disagreed with me so much! Of course, I'd only first e-mailed Ethan a month ago and met him that day, but he was definitely friend-material. Despite being wrong a lot. Like Jessica. Jessica and Ethan are made for each other cause they're so wrong. Not liking Fables. Puh.

Oh! Proof that Ethan is totally friend-material: he let me borrow his No Man's Land, since I'd been dying to read it due to its being brought up every third post in the comics thread.

Jessica tried to figure out how to play the TV Guide Game Ethan had helped make (he'd written a Buffy question or two). She didn't get very far.

The phone rang. Was it our compatriots? No, it was the pizza! From Little Tonino's, whose mushroom pizza looked to be more mushroom than pizza. But Ethan had awesomely gotten some Coke (there had been none that morning), so it was all good.

Jessica asked if Trudes and Kristin knew about the plan. I was pretty certain, yeah. I called Kristin's cell. No one picked up. There was a buzz at the door. Guess who it was. Scola arrived as well, sometime. Previously, I thought I'd be overwhelmed by meeting so many Buffistas at once, but I think it helped a little that I'd already seen pictures of most everyone before.

Trudes reminded me of Merinda, both in voice and build and the fact that I'd been hanging up on her with an "Okaybye." Her hair was in a ponytail.

Kristin is every bit as pretty as the pictures make her out to be, and then some. Except she's not really wee, peoples. She is, in fact, optimal hugging height for me. And one thing no one's mentioned is her voice, which is not one you'd usually expect from a teeny little blonde woman. It's a tad low, and the only word I can think to describe it is mature. She both looks and sounds mature.

Scola is...Scola. Aw.

Let's make fun of Jessica now! I mean, talk about Jessica. There are turtles everywhere. Three or so in the living room, one in the bathroom. It's her thing. Also in the bathroom? Emergency pamphlets from airplanes. Kristin wasn't sure whether to be more scared by the presence of those, or the box of rubber gloves on the floor. It was claimed she dyed her hair a lot, but I don't know...Although I could finally see her blue hair in all its glory. It was glorious. And blue. Cause you gotta have blue hair.

We started getting pizza and drinks. There was ice in the freezer. I was getting some for me, and Kristin asked if I could get her some as well. I said, quite pointedly, "No." Which of course means yes, as she found out when she came up to get it herself and I dropped some in her glass. I relate this incident as an example of how people were getting a taste of how I actually interact with people in the real world. Which, incidentally, isn't so different from how I interact with them on the board.

I gave Trudes her peanut butter cookie, and she looked surprised that I'd actually gotten it for her. She asked me how I liked them, and I said they were all right, but not as chewy as I like them. She seemed so sad. I wished I could have lied and said I loved them as much as she did, but I'm honest to a fault. Regardless, she kissed me on the cheek. I got a smooch from Super Porny Pants! I am so much specialer than you.

Then. Oh then. It was time. For The Apple.

Jessica showed us the trailer first, which boggled our minds. Surely, this couldn't be a serious movie. There were dancing firefighters. "The Apple...WILL TAKE YOUR SOUL!"

No one can be..told what The Apple is. You have to see it for yourself.

Oh, hell. It's a musical from 1980 set in the dystopian future of 1994 in which the BIM corporation has taken over the world through the power of pop music. No, really. The costumes and set design really have to be seen to be believed. Trudes pointed out that one costume was made out of a dryer hose. Kristin's pictures do a good job of showing our reactions.

At one point, Trudes took a moment to note, "I'd just like everyone to notice that Sunil still has his shirt on." Never one to disappoint, I took it off. It was hot anyway. This led to the now infamous picture of me and Trudes which should be hitting newstands next week.