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Happy Birthday to matociquala !!!

[ queue music: "Entry March of the Boyars" by Johan Halvorsen ]
[ queue inexpensive, but so tastefully done fireworks display ]

Hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, beer ... jeer ... career ...
rats, Rats, RATS - I *hate* it when that happens !
hippo, birdie, deer, Elizabeth-hhhhh,
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!
Anemone, more !!!

[ queue exit music: "Mickey Mouse March" by James Wesley Dodd ]
[ extinguish raging fire started by amazing fireworks display ]

[ Also posted to TH ]

I want to take a moment here to thank everyone for the many greetings and best wishes I have received over the past several days, both on the birth of my first grandchild and my own birthday. I never ceases to amaze me - having such a large contingent of on-line friends on the two major de Lint E-mail Lists and on L-J. It is wonderful to see all of you each day and hear about (as well as be able to comment a/o offer advice on) everyone's Real Life (tm) adventures, books, music, etc. I couldn't ask for nicer crowd of friends.

You've read more than enough about Kaleb. Last word we got from Waterville QC was that they were expecting to go home last Friday but it might have been Saturday instead. Apparently Kaleb was refusing to nurse from momma so the doctor wanted to give him a bit more time and J. commented that she had the same problem with her eldest when he was born, so no big deal.

My birthday on Saturday was a blast. J. and I met my father for lunch at my father's usual Saturday lunch spot - Hooters for Three-Mile Island, double-dipped wings and a schooner or two of beer. My middle brother drove down from Decatur to join us. Apparently my youngest brother had a prior commitment.

If you haven't already read about it, Saturday was officially the Annual Birthday Book Binge (A-B-Cubed), where I picked up:

Anathem by Neal Stephenson (HC)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HC)
The Legend of Langdon St. Ives by James P. Blaylock (HC)
Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy (TPB)
Madhouse [Cal Leandros #3] by Rob Thurman (MMPB)
Iron Kissed [Mercy Thompson #3] by Patricia Briggs (MMPB)
Bitterwood by James Maxey (MMPB)

I looked at but decided against Red by Jordan Summers. I had looked at it on-line and thought I could probably handle another Mercy Thompson-esque story, but when I got to the bookstore and saw it stacked in the Romance Section and re-read the Publisher's Weekly review, I was pretty quickly turned off the idea. I was hoping for more SF and less Romance. I will, however, be picking up New Tricks by John Levitt next week (unless it shows up in the bookstore sooner - twice now I've discovered that the Amazon-posted dates are 1 week later than reality.)

From there, we started in the general direction of home so we could catch the new James Bond movie - "Quantum of Solace". Rumor has it Daniel Craig will not do any more Bond movies, which is a shame because both J. and I believe he's the most exciting and successful post-Connery 007's ever.

And finally, because I didn't go hog-wild on the books as I usually do, I was able to pick up a few DVD's that I'd missed getting for my collection ... FF2-RotSS, X-formers, NT2, and a couple others.

Anyway, it was a great (and definitely momentous) birthday. Momentous in that the running joke around here is that I now officially qualify for ordering off the Denny's Senior menu. J. has been getting quite the mileage out of that, as you can imagine.

Thanks again, y'all, for all the b-day greetings, etc.

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[ queue incidental music - Gioachino Rossini's Il Signor Bruschino: Overture ]

[ queue magnificent, and exceptionally loud, fireworks display ]

[ fade incidental music ]


Hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, peer ... uh, we're ... uhm, spear ...
rats, Rats, RATS! Some days you're the dog - some days you're the hydrant!

- - - [cough] - - -

hippo, bee-latee'd birdie, deer xstacie and hippo, birdie, deer puddock-kkkkk ...
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!!
Anemone more !!!!!


[ snuff fireworks ]

[ queue exit music - Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty - Finale ]

How fitting !!!

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[ queue incidental music featuring The Raleigh Ringers ]
[ http://www.rr.org/gallery/audio/farandole.html#More ]

[ queue outageously expensive fireworks display ]

[ fade incidental music ]


Hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, tier ... uh, career ... uhm, Chanticleer ...
rats, Rats, RATS! I always HATE it when we get to this part !

- - - [ahem] - - -

hippo, birdie, deer mooseloon and (in anticipation of this coming Sunday) chamisa-aaaaa ...
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!!
Anemone more !!!!!


[ quench outrageously expensive fireworks ]
Spared no expense - could you tell?

[ help load 45 ft. Raleigh Ringers Tour bus for return trip ]

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[ queue trumpet fanfare ]

[ queue impressive and long-running fireworks ]


Hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, peer ... seer ... sear ... DAMN !
rats, Rats, RATS! Ain't that just the way things go on a hump-day !!???

- - - [ahem] - - -

hippo, birdie, deer podling-ggggg ...
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!!
Anemone more !!!!!


[ quench fireworks ]

[ stifle 42-piece orchestra band ]

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[ queue fanfare ]

[ queue fireworks ]


Hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
hippo, birdie, seer ... mere ... Fleer ... DAMN !
rats, Rats, RATS! I hate it when that happens!!

- - - [ahem] - - -

hippo, birdie, deer two_star-rrrrr,
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!!
Anemone more !!!!!

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Hippo, birdie, boo U. ... crap!

- - - [cough] - - -

Hypo, crudely, ... Crap!!

- - - - - [sputter] - - - - -

Hello, DAMN!!!

- - - - - - - [smacks Ipod] - - - - - - -

Hippo, birdie, two ewe,
hippo, birdie, two ewe,
hippo, birdie, jeer, mere, fear ...
rats, Rats, RATS ! At this rate, I could become a techophobe!!!

- - - [ahem] - - -

hippo, birdie, deer nin_harris-sssss,
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!!
Anemone more !!!!!

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[ queue music - Paul Duka's L'apprenti sorcier ]

I picked that especially for greygirlbeast and Alabaster [ insert maniacal laughter here]

[ queue fireworks ]

In stupendously fine penguinesque style, I bring y'all ...


Hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
- hippo, birdie, two ewe ...
- - hippo, birdie, sear [choke] ... tier [sputter] ... meer ... *KA-THUNK*
- - - Well, crap, the damn thing quit on me. [hic!!]
- - Must be that cheep gas I picked up. [ahem]
- hippo, bee-latte'd birdie, deer docbrite and greygirlbeast-ttttt,
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!!
Anemone more !!!!!

[queue sparklers]

[ fade music ]

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- - - - - [ looking at busted A-rod ... tie-Rod ... I-rod ... I-roc ??? ] - - - - -
Well, the music machine is now kaputt and I can't carry a tune in a bucket, so we're gonna have to get super creative here (and be quick about it before that penguin finds that I've gotten loose again) and get a little help from some friends:




Hippo, birdie, deer skylerlark-kkkkk
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!!
Anemone more !!!!!

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Hippo, birdie, two gnu ... crap!

- - - [cough] - - -

Hymnal, wordy, ... Crap!!

- - - - - [sputter] - - - - -

Hypno, DAMN!!!

- - - - - - - [smacks Ipod] - - - - - - -

Hippo, birdie, two ewe,
hippo, birdie, two ewe,
hippo, birdie, sear, beer, Mir ...
rats, Rats, RATS ! IPods ... IPhone ... IQuit!!!

- - - [ahem] - - -

hippo, birdie, deer tanaise-eeeee
hippo, birdie, two ewe !!!
Anemone more !!!!!