So, it is party time again, folks!

[wiseheart]

Each year this time, we launch my virtual birthday party, which starts on October 1 and ends on October 9 at midnight, sharp. The goals of the party are to post as many comments and collapse as many threads as possible, on as many new pages as we can. It is always great fun, as you can see if you check out the similar entries of the last few years.

This year, I'll also throw the real party at mid-time - and post the recipes of all the food that will be there for you, so that you can all participate if you want to. Virtual food has no calories.

Fandom-related discussions are as welcome as the ones about coffee or chocolate (just to name a few favourites from previous years), and, of course, pictures and recipes of birthday cakes. ;)

So, drop by, tell your story, post your pics or silly poems, ask questions you always wanted to ask and have a good time!

Soledad, in excited expectation




Oh, and by the way, to provide birthday gifts hobbit-style, I've got a revived story and a Kansas 2 update for you.

Enjoy!

Comments

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!

May the coming year bring much of what you like, and little of what you don't!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

And i seem to have triggered page 6! Go EA!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Well done indeed! Here is some birthday chocolate.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Galumphs the virtual chocolate!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday, wiseheart!

(now that it is the right day in your timezone)

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

And we've got to p6 \o/

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I think you got 1000 and I got page 6!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Cool! :)

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Well done all around!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Grattis på födelsedagen, Soledad! (which is Swedish for 'Happy Birthday!') I hope you have a lovely day, and that the year ahead may bring you joy and pleasant company, both on-line and off!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

While I may not have a lecture to give tomorrow, there is still work that needs to be done. So I will say good night!

I hope to be able to look in on the party for a bit tomorrow, but I have an engagement in the evening, so I may not have a lot of time.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Goodnight!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Goodnight! And hope to 'see' you tomorrow.

[sammydragoncat]

Goodnight

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

So, any bets on the final number of comments? We seem to be beating predictions at the moment.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

No idea, except that it will be lots :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I think 'lots' is a safe bet!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I would say so, since we reached 'lots' quite some time ago! ;-)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

:) I think this is one of the most successful parties yet! I hope we can all keep in touch once it stops.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I hope so, too! Though at a slightly less frantic pace, so that I actually have time to read and reply to all the interesting comments... I really should get better at posting things on lj; I keep saying that, though and it never happens...

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I'm fairly bad too, but I try to post at least a couple of times a month, which is not too difficult a schedule to keep up with.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

And now I should sleep too, goodnight all!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Goodnight!

[sammydragoncat]

Goodnight

[sammydragoncat]

Happy Birthday Wiseheart!

[sammydragoncat]

Just got home from work, and this is the first time I have had to check on the party all day - 1074 comments! It seems there have been some great discussions while I was gone - I have a lot to catch up on

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

It's been busy here! I think everyone except me's gone to bed, though (and I should disappear soon).

[sammydragoncat]

By the time I get home, and am able to sit down - almost everyone has gone to bed.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's unfair, isn't it?

[sammydragoncat]

Time zones - what can you do? Just one of those things.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And never a Scotty around to beam you over. :)

[sammydragoncat]

And yes - I am still at work, but since I have been non stop all week, I decided that I would take a short break and check in on the party before it goes away.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Breaks are important, and it certainly sounds like you've earned one!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Timezones are a pest.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Time travel, that's what we need!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

It would be very useful!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Possibly not just for attending parties in different time zones!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Indeed!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Instantaneous travel in time and space, now that would be something!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Indeed -- you'd have thought someone would have invented it ;)

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Maybe they did, but just don't feel like sharing?

It is rather a geeky joke, but hopefully you will like it:
Protest outside a physics department: "What do we want?"
"Time travel!"
"When do we want it?"
"Irrelevant!"

[sammydragoncat]

:)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Oh that's quite funny!

Have you heard my unique joke, by the way -- it's quite geeky:

"What's an anagram of 'Banach-Tarski'?"
"Banach-Tarski Banach-Tarski"

I use it sometimes when people pester me to tell a joke after I repetively say I don't know any they'll like ... the response can be quite amusing.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

What fun!

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday, Dear One!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Sorry to be disappearing to bed just as we're approaching yet another milestone but it's 4am here, and I'm supposed to be sleeping. Hope to 'see' everyone tomorrow.

[sammydragoncat]

Sleep well

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[sammydragoncat]

This should be 1101!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Harry and Leo send purrs for your birthday and hope they can come to the party too!

[sammydragoncat]

Oh, he is just gorgeous!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

They just love sponge cake!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Aww! What handsome cats!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Such cute cats!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Thank you

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Those are lovely cats! Is the one in the icon yours too?

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. The icon is my old Ginger who died in March. I also have 17 year old Leo

[sammydragoncat]

Truly gorgeous markings, and 17 - an impressive age for a cat!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Thank you. He suffers from arthritis now, but the Vet says he doesn't look his age. He is a lovely affectionate cat.as is Harry.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

We had a really friendly ginger cat when I was a kid, that I simply adored. I love cats in general, but there is something about ginger and/or stripes that gets me even more.

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I feel the same. I've loved cats since early childhood, but it was a cat the neighbours owned when I was in my teens that started my love of gingers.

[sammydragoncat]

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

And in Dutch, too: Van harte gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

Couldn't resist the temptation to make the 1111th comment.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Wow! 1111 - what a fun number of comments to come back to :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

So, the end of the fun is near, but that's not so bad - we wouldn't be able to keep up much longer, right? But there's one little piece of joy I want to share with you.

As usual, I worked quite late today and had all sorts of small unpleasant things at work. Nothing new there. But then I came home and found solanpolarn's amazing birthday card in my post box, and it was such a warm, fuzzy feeling! Thank you, my friend, I loved the star a lot!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

So, the end of the fun is near, but that's not so bad - we wouldn't be able to keep up much longer, right?
Yes, I think much longer would get too draining - but it is a lot of fun to do once a year :)

And yay card.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It's very pretty - an origami card, with a star pattern that I teach the children, too, only we make it from tinfoil as Christmas stars.

I'm looking forward to our Christmas card exchange at the beginning of Advent. picowrimo would have run its circle by then, and a different kind of creativity might be welcome.

[sammydragoncat]

It sounds lovely

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

It certainly sounds like a lot of fun - and hopefully I'll be able to be move involved in Pico, and then this. It would be very good to get myself doing creative things more regularly.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It's both soothing and fulflling. It shows how stressful this new school year is, if you consider that I've already stitched 30-some cards since late August.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

That is a lot of cards already!

I've been getting out some of my magazines to look for patterns - lots of choices. I'm hoping this helps prod me onto the next stage of finding materials and thread (I have lots, but need to find the right bits) - fun, if I have the energy. :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

The hangover from a 10-day party is a bummer, even when there's only virtual alcohol being consumed!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Yay! It reached you on the day! And you liked it; I really hoped you would. I am sorry work keeps throwing you small unpleasantnesses, but I am very happy I managed to brighten your day!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Your timing was perfect! But you're a scientist, after all.
I'll take the card with me to school tomorrow - perhaps the kids would like to make something similar for the Christmas charity fair.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Looking for origami greetings card patterns on-line, I found one that used the exact same eight folded pieces, but put them together with the other ends out, making a more flower like shape. Perhaps not so good for Christmas, but I thought I would share the information in case it could be useful for a more spring-time activity...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I used to make all sorts of stars using these same elements, only of transparent paper. Some had up to 32 parts. They look great as window ornaments.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And one more thing:

Not so long ago, I found this comment (http://wiseheart.livejournal.com/371804.html) in my inbox.

I was absolutely baffled because hello? Being posted in the dorm as a must-read story? Being the subject of a creative writing class? that doesn't happen every day.

I just wish all those people who've supposedly ready and loved "The Toreador Chronicles" would have bothered to leave a review. It would have meant so much. But I'm glad that the person who commented at least told me this much. I'm, frankly, a bit humbled.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Very cool! It is sad that the people don't comment or anything, but good to know that they are enjoying it.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Amazing, isn't it? I was shocked, in a very positive way.

[sammydragoncat]

That's wonderful!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And completely unexpected, seeing that it's one of those stories with more chapters than reviews. At least on FF.Net. artemis10002000 used to follow it faithfully over at hiddenrealms, but she got eaten by Real Life (mostly university) a couple of years ago, unfortunately. I miss her, she's such a sweetheart.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

I´d say this is better than a couple of reviews!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Especially now that I actually know about it...

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

That's very impressive! I'm glad one of the group bothered to let you know.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

That is a very lovely comment! I am glad you are getting some of them, and not just the unfriendly, unhelpful ones.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Do you think we might get to Page 7 before the party closes at midnight?
I've tried to import the comments again - let's hope they get through this time.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

It certainly looks possible! Good luck with the comments importing!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Your midnight is our 11pm, so we've only an hour to go -- it's possible, I think!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Aha, page 7 -- all your wishes are fulfilled :)

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I was shocked, in a good way, to find we were on page 7 when I got back home from the talk I attended this evening on "Identity in Northern Ireland"; it reminded me of this party in some ways, from all the comments back-and-forth it brought out in the questions section and how people just didn't seem to want to stop!

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, it´s certainly possible. This is comment 21; five more, and we're on page 7.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

DW Importer is still being obnoxious. Drat. We're stuck at 780 comments. Support hasn't reacted yet, either. Will try again tomorrow.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Silly importer! Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

LJ seems fairly stable atm, touch wood!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I still owe you guys the apple-cinnamon cheesecake recipe, but I'm afraid it'll have to wait till the weekend. I'm not in the right mind to do any German-to-English translations. Sorry. Today was not a good day.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, I forgot to tell you that my dear, silly colleagues gifted a whole, 4-piece blender set upon me as a party gift. It's very shiny and impressive - I hope I'll be able to use it, despite the user manual that would frighten away Scotty, with its incredibly complicated descriptions. The funniest part is that it keeps repeating: and you simply do this or simply do that, and there's nothing simple in what it expects me to do!

User manuals are evil!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

That sounds a very generous gift! I hope you manage to figure out the manual before your next birthday.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and I have to rearrange the kitchen cupboard, too, to find a place for the thing - preferably a place where I can reach it by demand without removing half the cupboard's contents first.

But it was very generous of them indeed. :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

That is always the bind with new kitchen equipment, sadly.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Good luck sorting it out. I usually find that manuals don't have the information you really need - just lots of very complicated and very simple bits (eg so many with the section on how to plug the device in).

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Exactly! And how many seconds you're allowed to push the turbo button in one go, and how many minutes do you have to let the stupid thing rest in-between and so on.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

*nods* So complicated.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I bought myself a Kenwood 'kitchen assistant' for my birthday this year; we had one (just a slightly older model) just like it when I was a kit, and I have missed it every since I moved away! Having something that can knead your dough for you, makes baking much easier, not to mention whisking eggs and sugar for cakes, and 'rubbing' flour and butter together when making bit batches of quiche! I am very pleased with it; it too has a rather dauntingly long user manual, but I worked out that this was mostly because it comes in a multitude of languages!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

So, how is everyone this evening?

To celebrate our successful house sale/purchase, we treated ourselves to a big box of Scottish chocolate truffles from Cocoa Mountain, and today they arrived. We're plnning to ration ourselves to one a day, so today we each had dark chocolate & lime. Very delicious!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Sounds very delicious!

I'm in about the same state as before, but quite happy as I had show jumping to watch on tv today and mostly hid from everything for a while.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Sitting in watching television is the best thing to do when in the throes of a cold!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

It is a good distraction from it.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I'm very tired, actually. Had an unpleasant day at school, with a minor breakdown, ate too many sweets to keep anything major at bay - sweets always help with depressive phases, but unfortunately, they make fat - and tomorrow I'll have to be at school for almost 9 hours, through 4 of which I'll be sitting uselessly in the teachers' room, just in case someone falls out, so I'm not particularly looking forward to the next day, either.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry -- it's a pity everything can't work out to make one's birthday run smoothly. (My last one fell on the day when Mr EA had his knee surgery! We forgot to celebrate entirely because Mr EA didn't feel well enough to go out until after Christmas.

Can you hog a computer again and do some more typing in?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That's the plan, yes, as I managed to write a bit in the morning. But we know how the best laid plans of mice and men turn out sometimes.

Ah, well, I can always stitch some more cards!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

As long as you have a few ideas up your sleeve -- don't let the bastards grind you down!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Hope you feel better soon. 9 hours sounds like far too many - hope you get a chance to do fun things while sitting around.

[sammydragoncat]

mmm truffles.

Congratulations on the house sale/purchase!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Mmm, truffles indeed! We've been a diet most of the summer, so this is our first treat in months & months!

And thanks! The sale doesn't actually go through till tomorrow, but we're getting the celebrating in early.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I am feeling rather up-beat, having attended a talk about 'identity in Northern Ireland' that sparked a lively and interesting debate about definitions and cultural connotations. Plus the speaker used error bars in his graphs! :-) This is one of the things I have to keep telling our first year students about, week after week, when marking their lab books; without error bars, how do you know if your differences are significant?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Ummm... what are error bars?

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

They are little markers attached to data points in graphs to show the size of the uncertainty in the value being plotted. Say you have a graph of the temperature measured each day at nine am in the morning; your thermometer is only accurate to one degree Celsius, so you measure a value of 10 degrees, but the actual temperature might be 9 or 11. When you plot it on your graph you put a dot at 10 degrees and then draw little lines up and down from that point to show the interval the actual value is in. (I do hope that made sense; it is the sort of thing that is easiest to explain with a picture, but I haven't got one to hand!)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

To a Brit who grew up during the height of the Troubles, 'Belfast' is a bit of a loaded word itself.

Geeks out over your error bars :)

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

My Mum was a bit apprehensive about me moving to Belfast; now that she has visited twice, I think she feels much better about it! All the news we ever got in Sweden about Northern Ireland was about the Troubles, so I have a number of friends who had similar reactions.

Thank you for appreciating the importance! I sometimes feel I am fighting a losing battle, and losing my mind in the process...

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I would think twice about moving there even now, I have to admit -- it has a reputation for violence that is a little scary -- but if sane people avoid the city, the Troubles will truly never end.

I bought an entire graphing package in part because I didn't like the appearance of the Excel error bars, so I entirely understand!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Needing a new job is a powerful motivator, especially when you are offered a permanent academic post! I was not at all sure I wanted to come here, when I attended the interview, but after meeting the lovely people in the group I was desperately hoping to be offered the job! When it came to finding somewhere to live, I was very pleased to have my (soon to be) colleagues' help in telling me whether the houses I was thinking of were in 'nice' areas or not...

We teach the students Excel, but I refuse to use it for any actual science! I purchased a license for a graphing/data analysis software out of my own private money, partly to make sure I never have to.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I know the university is an old one with a good reputation, and one can find violence in every city -- where I grew up was a port city with a drug problem, Cambridge used to have quite a problem with mugging, and when I commuted to London, I was warned that King's Cross station was then in the red light district, and one shouldn't walk alone into the back entrance at night.

...But I think we had better let Soledad have a little peace!