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]

In English! I'm perpetually amazed at the extent of your vocabulary in your third language!

[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!)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, ladies and mr_ea, according the clock on my laptop we have 1 minute left. Thank you all for coming, it was a lovely party, and - hopefully - see you next year here again.

Love,
Soledad

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your service!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

She does indeed!

[sammydragoncat]

Truly lovely party - thank you for having it

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Ancient is good in my book!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Tumblr always makes me feel 100 years old. Give me bulletin boards...

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Thank you for a truly amazing party! I am already looking forward to next year!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

:) We have upstairs & downstairs dictionaries in this house.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Now that I have an upstairs and a downstairs, I do too! Though my upstairs dictionary isn't as good as my downstairs one...

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Thank you for hosting!

[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 :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

We have, I think, four big paper English-only dictionaries, plus the complete OED on CD-ROM, but all but the downstairs dictionary live in the upstairs offices.

[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...

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Most of my books live in my living room. I think I own three different English-only dictionaries, one of which is upstairs and one in my office at work. I have three Swedish only dictionaries, one of which is upstairs, with the other two downstairs, on the dictionaries shelf, with my German only dictionary and the dual language ones. (Just in case you hadn't noticed: I am quite fond of dictionaries!)

[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!

[mr-ea.livejournal.com]

When I started my engineering degree in the last century, we didn't have mail ;) or do I mean :)

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

You win! Do have some (virtual) chocolate! :-) (I think yours should be a ;-) ; I have been know to discuss the proper usage of emoticons at length, and the need for sarcasm markers in the written language. Just to be clear: no part of this comment is sarcastic!)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Me too! I have a dictionaries shelf upstairs in my office, with the big dual-language ones (French, German, Spanish), my upstairs Chambers & the little Oxford, the OED disk, a couple of different thesauri, plus my encyclopaedias &c. Mr EA has a Collins dictionary in his office next door, too, but I don't rate that one.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Is this the hint to stop chatting! :(

I've had a lovely time, and hope that we can all keep in touch between parties too.

[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.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I grew up with a Concise Oxford Dictionary as the arbitrator of the English language, that Mum had brought over from England. I was very pleased to find a later edition, in a book shop in Sweden so that I could have my own copy when I moved away to university. I keep thinking of getting a subscription to the on-line OED, but have never got as far as finding out how much it would cost... Plus there is something much more satisfactory about looking things up in a physical book!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

No, it is just the moment when I succumb to gravity.
And yes, it would be nice to keep in touch. I miss the times when there was more life on LJ.

[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!