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]

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!