More about my birthday:

After the movie I went to Vinyl to meet Tracing and Sara and Jen Wade and a friend of Jen's (also named Jen for convenience sake!) for my birthday dinner.

They brought presents, too, which was very cool as I thought that the dinner itself was the present, but they were all very well brought up. Sara got me rosemary soap and a mint bergamot candle, Jen got me a beautiful picture frame and a Bert's Bees sample kit with sort of one of everything (mask, hand cream, lip balm, soap, etc.), and Tracing got me a beautiful notebook made out of vinyl flooring and three gel pens, my favourite pens in the world--two of them milky gel pens, which I've never heard of!

So all of the stuff that I got was stuff that I collect, soap, candles, bath stuff, picture frames, blank books and neat pens! They've either been paying attention, or have great instincts!

We had dinner and gossiped about journals, then went to a bar (after walking about seventeen miles--somehow, we couldn't manage to find a bar in New York City!) and drank and I smoked about eight of Sara's cigarettes ("It's your birthday, you can smoke!) and we gossiped some more.

It was so nice seeing Jen again (Wade, that is), and her friend was really nice and fun, too. I was so glad to have an opportunity to spend some time with Sara, as we exchanged only a couple of words at the journal reading, but she just seemed so nice that the next day when Tracing and Amanda told me that they had hung out with her afterwards, I was all jealous.

Finally, directly before turning into a pumpkin, we staggered out into the night (seventeen miles is too far to walk in new Birkenstock sandals!) and I got a taxi and went home.

And, in a great example of "things that only happen on your birthday", we drove from 12th St. to 42nd St. without hitting a red light until 41st St!

So yesterday was my day back at work after my long weekend, where the part-timer was all alone on Monday and the Evil Overlord was back from her vacation, so I was just hoping and praying that nothing dreadful had happened while I was gone.

I walked in and went to the part timer:

"Anything dreadful happen yesterday?"
"Well, nothing really dreadful..."
(panicking) "What, what happened that was sort of dreadful?!"
"The phone wouldn't stop ringing."
"What else? Any emergency checks?"
"No, nothing like that!"

Phew!

I did the check run yesterday, all by myself.

I've cut checks before, of course, hundreds of them,but I've never done a whole check run from start to finish and had to balance and had the whole budget to spend and everything.

I spent $470,000 on vendors of my choosing, and I still have practically $200,000 for unexpected things in the rest of the week. The power rush is unbelievable.

Not that I want to do it every week, as it takes hours and hours, but for a once in a while thing, it's an amazing feeling.

Then, last night, in order to use up my movie passes that expire on the 31st, I went to see Bowfinger, which was just charming. I love Eddie Murphy when he plays someone pathetic, I like him much less when he knows what he's doing. Of course, in this movie he plays both, but even the fast-talking movie star guy was pretty pathetic! And I love Steve Martin in everything.

The funny thing was that in all the reviews that I read, they said that as opposed to his other movie about that town, LA Story, this was not such a love-letter, but I disagree. It's exactly as much of a fairy tale, exactly as much of a tribute to the city--it may seem at first as though the movie is putting down the talentless hoards, but it's not, it loves them.

Thirteen more passes to go.

Thanks to everyone for sending me that Salon link to the Randy Newman article!

I do find it funny that one of Rand's best known and completely autobiographical songs, Dixie Flier starts "I was born right here, November '43" meaning that he was born in Los Angeles in 1943, and a really well-researched article like this one can still state with impunity that he was born in New Orleans in 1944.

Today's horoscope:
You may be feeling a bit frustrated today if you are thinking only of what you don't yet have. Face reality, while working to improve it.

One year ago today:
The papers are discovering all of my friends these days!

* Yesterday / Index / This Month / Tomorrow *

E-Mail

Froggy froggy afternoon by:
Brittly!

This page was written by hand. My hand. Only pussies use HTML editors.
Last Updated Tues 24 August 08:27:09 1999