Thanks, chaps!

[blamebrampton]

Wow, that was a lovely birthday! I am dying of cake (my third favourite way to go), and very cheered.

Thank you so much to anthimaeria for my cake, to the sweet thady for the balloons, to romaine24 for the delicious lollipop, and to bryoneybrynn for the preserved organ, you guys are generous darlings with only the slightest touch of gothic. And to calanthe_fics and jadzialove for the cards! Touched and moved in the happy and spiritual non-public-transport fashion!

And then there were creations! jadzialove surprised the hell out of me with a wonderful Drarry -- she is my Snarry friend! Ginny Potter is frustrated at her ex-husband's inability to move on. She needn't be, all it will take is a cunning plan and some industrial infrastructure. Two men walk into a Ministry lift, each a bit screwed-up. Forty minutes later, the up is altered and the boys realise just how much they owe the women in their lives. A Fickle Fate is delicious and fun and ... just pop by and read it, there are too many good jokes for me to relate.

leochi reached my prompt in her 50 kisses art table (flocked), and painted a very sweet and loving morning kiss between Ron and Hermione, it is so right and so smile-inducing.

enchanted_jae must be the fastest talent in fandom, because 36 hours after I left her the somewhat deranged prompts of sword and finger, she popped up with this lovely ficlet on the effect of Draco's fencing practice on his young man: Swordplay, it's hot and clever and fabulous! And then complications_g created some gorgeous icons out of some of my fave pieces of leochi art!

As to the birthday wishes! Fandom, you are so much better at remembering than my RL friends. Thank you to the very speedy under_an_oak, sansa1970, Cal, lilian_cho, frayach, lackofmendacity, christinefic, ciel_vert, sesheta_66, house_illrepute,  brandil, alex_s9 (the SHINIEST birthday wish ever!), no_mad_skillz, winnett, and my lovely Team EWE – I am sure I am forgetting someone important ...Hugs and kisses to all of you!

In other news, I ran into a dear friend I hadn't seen in years on the street today and she followed me home for tea and Diana Wynne Jones bookswapping (I have had four of hers waiting to be returned since I last saw her, she now has five of mine, plus hers). Another friend cooked dinner for me, J and some of our friends, and a publishing house rang to offer me some freelance, I'll find out tomorrow if the redundancy or another gig is in the offing (I hope for the former). Now back to sewing and tidying so our house sitter isn't horrified when she comes in on Friday.

It was a good day! Thank you all for making it so! (And now I am off to hoover with my Dyson handheld. Do not judge me for the fact that I love domestic engineering porn, I gave J a full-sized one for his 30th birthday (he asked!))

Comments

Re: Birthdays, Prompts & The Need to Learn Cantonese and/or Mandarin

[lilian-cho.livejournal.com]

We all need to learn Cantonese and/or Mandarin.

lol, not that I don't admire the sentiment, but why? (Unless you're Chinese or are just into Chinese culture)

Re: Birthdays, Prompts & The Need to Learn Cantonese and/or Mandarin

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Common wisdom in my circles has it that China is the 21st century. So we'll either need it to communicate with an increasingly powerful global player, or else to secure interviews with those fleeing the biggest societal breakdown since the Black Plague. Either way, it will be a story!

Cantonese and/or Mandarin

[lilian-cho.livejournal.com]

those fleeing the biggest societal breakdown since the Black Plague.

?

I'd suggest learning Mandarin first before Cantonese.

Re: Cantonese and/or Mandarin

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's the grim scenario (and note well it is out there on the fringes of thinking with those who posit the imminent and utter collapse of the US into poverty and religious extremism).

Basically it says that the meganations (China and India) will collapse under their own weight, unable to feed their populations in a time of failed crops and natural disasters and see a wave of refugees spread out across the world prompting international conflict. With every broad natural disaster comes an epidemic, and China is a hotbed of influenza and I think it actually also has some natural bubonic plague reservoirs. (Just like Yellowstone in the US!)

I do think that I'll be using any Mandarin skills I manage to acquire to be able to speak the lingua franca of the Pacific region by the end of this century ...