Virtual Birthday Party, Day 01

[wiseheart]

Hi folks! *waves" I know I'm late kicking off my virtual birthday party of 2013, but considering that I worked almost 11 hours today, I think I can be forgiven, right?

It's that time of a year again - I'm getting older. In this case, I'm turning 57 on October 9, so let's party!

Last years virtual birthday party yielded 1328 comments on 6 pages, before LJ crashed the whole thing, and 617 additional ones on 3 pages at the second coming. Which won't be easy to top, but we're good, aren't we? WE CAN DO IT! WE CAN BREAK THE 2000-COMMENT-BARRIER! Let's give it a try! In the recent years, it has always been great fun, so let's have fun again!

You're all cordially invited to help yourself to a slice of virtual cake of your choice. If you want to post your favourite recipe in a comment, be my guest. If not, just drop by and say hello.

Cheers!

Note: The party will be closed on October 9, at midnight, sharp. However, to avoid the same mishap that occurred last year, there will be a separate post for each day until the 9th. We will count all pages and comments together when the party is closed.

Join us and have fun! Feel free to start any thread, any topic you want; we can discuss it, mock the general stupidity of life and laugh at it. I tentatively started two topics, just to begin the fun somehow, but you may add anything you want.

Comments

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Topic #1 Stories and writing

I've made my birthday present to my friends, Hobbit-style, by updating two stories (see previous entry below). So, tell me which story of mine do you like and why?

(Yes, I know it's shameless. But it's my birthday, right? *makes puppy eyes*)

[(Anonymous)]

Seeing that you posted a non LoTR and a LoTR story my preferences are clear.
If you are asking which story in general, then I'd have to chose between the Emissary and the dwarrow-centric story with unpronounceable name, the one where Balin will go to Dwarrodelf.
Borys

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Topic #2 - Telly

Have you seen anything good on the telly lately? Do tell me about it - I'm in serious need of some cheering up tv-wise.

[artemis10002000]

I've been watching a lot of Once Upon A Time lately, though it's one of these Your Mileage May Vary shows. Nothing else has caught my interest lately, sadly.

Another discovery has been Welcome to Night Vale, a podcast.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Happy early birthday!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[artemis10002000]

Heeeey!

Thank you for the PM; I haven't been around on LJ for a while and would have been very sorry to miss the party! It's a time-honoured tradition, after all!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I don't know how it will work with the daily posts, perhaps I should try with the -day-rhythm, or else we'll never get the threads collapsed or onto the next page. And I'll definitely save every comment, so that we can repost them, should LJ crash the party again.

How are you doing? You haven't been here for a very long time indeed. :(

[sammydragoncat]

Happy Early Birthday!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you. As you can see, Mycroft and I have started on the booze already. But we're of different minds about what it ought to be. He's a snob, and I mostly drink eggnog and beer....

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, I do not have an LJ account, but I WANT to join the party!:) What a heartwarming idea! I will not send you birthday wishes before October 9 (since that would bring ill luck), but an early present in the form of cover pictures is on its way!

Until then, enjoy you evening!
Yours
Prothoe

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yes, thank you, I've just got them and applied them to half a dozen stories. They are very pretty.

You should check out the parties from the previous years, Some of the pics posted in the comments (cakes and stuff) are truly gorgeous.

I invented the virtual party because most of my friends live in other countries, so a real one wouldn't be possible. But we always have lots of fun!

[disthrainsdotte.livejournal.com]

Goodness, is it time for your virtual birthday party again? Time does fly it seems.


For my part I am doing well, I work and work on my fanfic. I have reached the time when Mîm, Khîm, Ibun and Melian met Morwen and Niniel. Now the Men who came from Dor Lomin face more and more problems as they do their darndest to get their kin out. Looks like the Easterlings were not happy to find the Lady of Dor Lomin had left.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I'm so looking forward to read the story! I've missed your writing.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

well, then, Happy Birthday! (from someone on the picowrimo community who really shouldn't be there... haven't written a word of any sort of fiction in 5+ years now...)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)
Don't worry about the lack of writing, though, it's never late to restart. (I should know, some of my stories have been on the back burner for a decade or so...)

Oh, and I like your icon. Ice cream is certainly something one should have on days like this.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And, ladies and gentlemen, the first comments have just begun to collapse. Let us head for Page 2!

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

How many threads does that take again - 25?

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Keep dropping in from time to time, we usually have lots of fun!

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Hello mrs and happy birthday! Thanks for the heads-up on pico, this looks fun.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, it is! Check out last year's gorgeous cake pictures and recipes, they are more than worth being seen.

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, the first Precioussses this year! Thank you so much! What are they? They look absolutely gorgeous!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

We need more top-level comments to make it onto Page 2, so what about food?

What would be your ideal menu for a festive birthday dinner?

(We'll be eating out as a celebration, so ideas are welcome and inspiring.)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I adore dim sum, but it's impossible to get a good selection out here in the sticks -- nowhere I know of nearer than London actually does the proper service with the waiters coming round & round with trolleys. So, an entire lazy afternoon full of dim sum, where one magically never gets remotely full, followed by... [thinks] a Thai banquet with lots of different dishes for the table to share. Wow. Now I'm feeling hungry. Will have to find an excuse to dine out very soon!

There was this wonderful place in Leicester which did all you could eat of a big variety of Eastern cuisines. Great place to go with a group of like-minded gluttons :)

[tyellas.livejournal.com]

Topic #2: Fandom's shift onto Tumblr

Happy birthday! I'm going to settle in here with my own personal Sachertorte and a fork and ask what people think about fandom moving onto Tumblr. I was pleasantly startled to find acres of Silmarillion slash over there earlier this week, but...do I want to play, or just comment? I've held back on Tumblr because I am ten years older than I was last time around in fandom, and because there's only so many hours in the day. Discussions and your own Tumblr links are welcome.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I envy you for your Sachertorte. ;)

I'm not on Tumblr myself; the few times I tried to follow some leads there I got hopelessly lost and very, very frustrated. I'm clearly too old for such a hectic medium, which is a shame but cannot be helped.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I love both SG-1 and SGA, and I'm an absolute Zelenka fan. But I hated SGU to pieces.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Hello! Thanks for the invitation to party -- I've been checking into LJ only occasionally for months now. is it really a year since your last amazing party? Will reserve my birthday wishes for nearer the date, but I hope you are well & full of cheer.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I'm well, thank you. Healthy, at least, and writing is going a bit better at the moment. The new educational reform knocked us all out, though, and if I could retire now, I'd do it in a moment. Alas, it's not a possibility, so I§'m trying to make the best of it. Still it isn't easy if you got swamped with inane amounts of unnecessary work at an age when your strenth is no longer what it used to be. *sighs*

Well, at least I still do have a job, which is a good thing in these days.

[sammydragoncat]

Found the cactus in bloom when I came home from work - so here is a flower for your party.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Where? The pic doesn't show up. :(

Perhaps you need to check the coding? But I thank you anyway.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Trying to kick us over to Page 2 - who is working on any project, professionally or fandom-wise, that is near its end and wants to tell about it?

Me, I hope to finish "Emissary" before picowrimo starts its November season.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I'm desperately trying to finish my recs set from last year's Yuletide, before this year's starts up properly (probably at the weekend)! I've been trying to collate them since the end of July, believe it or not. I've got over 40 sorted, with just a handful left to reread again (out of the ~155 I initially bookmarked & the 71 that survived second reading).

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Is this the hundredth comment? I don't know how many separate threads we need to kick off a new page.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is! You've done it! Congragulations!

I think 25 first-level comments are needed for one page, so the 26th would start a new one. I don't think we manage it before I have to get off to work (I start late today, thank God), but perhaps when I get home we'll be there already.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

SUCCESS!

Thanks to the lovely espresso_addict, we are now beyond 100 comments! Up to new conquests!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Onwards & upwards!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Wiseheart & I were discussing upthread the new The Hobbit film, and its fanfiction, and it struck me as a good general topic for this bunch of Tolkien lovers.

So... love it or hate it? Is three films spreading it too thin? Does Freeman make a good Bilbo? Should Thorin have been played by someone older? What are you hoping for in the second film? Got any fanfiction recs? Want to whinge about all those omega-Bilbos on AO3? Have at it...

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

Hated the first one. And I'm not sure the second one is any better. I translated the official film guide into Dutch, and when I think how much words were spent on Bard's kids and their pig and the Master's servant Alfrid, I fear the worst.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

Of course we can break the barrier. When I'm back from the dentist, I'll add some more comments.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

And of course a happy overture to your birthday!

[tardisjournal.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the invite! (Here via antigwenallies) Ianto has been shopping for your birthday--I wonder what surprises he has in store? :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I hope it includes coffee! One of the reasons I love Ianto is his ability to make fantastic, orgasmic coffee. Coffee is the nectar of the Gods!

Have you ever tried those coffee-flavoured chocolate coffee beans? They are amazing.

[sammydragoncat]

Just thought I would drop off this cake before I start work.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, yummy!