let's stumble towards success and pack some snacks for little breaks

This is very, very cool. It's because today is Louis Braille's birthday.

I spent yesterday hanging out with devils_reject. I have decided that I am very much in favor of my dad's new place of residence. It's so much closer to most of the people I know in California, and BART is so very, very handy. The day was full of all the random fun I always have with Megan, this time including her friends Ethan and Julie (the former of whom I had previously met). By the way, if you ever get a chance to watch Tenacious D's short films on the "For Psycho Fans Only" disc, DON'T. Seriously. I never want to even think about them again. Chris left the day before yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to see him, which made me sad. I had a good time anyway, though.

When I got back here, after a juggling meeting in Castro Valley, I watched When Harry Met Sally. It's one of those classics I've been meaning to watch for ages and never gotten around to. I just about bust my gut laughing at the line "I'll have what she's having."

Now we're off to the zoo, I think. (Not that I'm going to the zoo. I have been assured that there is a large park just by it. I plan to bring a book.)

Is it a little sad that I'm going into QC withdrawal on the weekends?

Okay, so Thursday, a cow attacked me. Well, it licked the crap out of my hand. And licking doesn't really sound lethal, but have you ever been licked by a cow? It's like being licked by a cat, only the tongue is about a foot long and a LOT stronger. My hand was very red for quite a while. That was on a walk that was supposed to help Bill feel better, and failed. His stomach was giving him problems. Mom and I did manage to dump the baby with him (along with water, drugs, and a Sudoku book) and go out to dinner, but there wasn't any all-ages music playing and we couldn't find anything else interesting to do, so we called it a night early.

Friday involved rain, Thai food, and a new skirt. Yay Grandma for that last. I don't wear many skirts, but I like this one. I'll post pics when I can. I also watched "Philadelphia," which I enjoyed quite a bit. Tom Hanks did a really, really good job. Grandma loaned me a book called "My Sister's Keeper," which is amazingly good so far, along with a couple of others.

Saturday Mom and Bill's hotel was flooded (I was staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house). They managed to extract themselves eventually, though, and off to Halflab we went, stopping at a Safeway for satsumas. Man, I miss California. The party was awesome, as all Halflab parties are. Lisa gave me the "Movies In 15 Minutes" book, which kicks major ass. (Thank you, Lisa!) There was much delicious food, including chili made by Louise and stuffed mushooms brought by rebbyribs and bsittler, although I'm not entirely sure which made them. bsittler, by the way, has gorgeous hair. I could just see Mom's fingers twitching when she laid eyes on it. She ended up putting it in a seven-strand braid, after using it to show Becca and I how to do the four-strand chain type one. I met ratontheroad in person for the first time, after a brief "do I know you?" moment. There was DDR, giving me my annual dose of Adam-and-Fred worship, and Guitar Hero, which was fun too. I was actually playing Guitar Hero when the new year rolled in, but I did sacrifice a couple of points to grab a swig of Martinelli's. My hat migrated, as it has a tendency to do at parties. I finally got to sleep around 4:30 or so, after a soak in Halflab's huge hot tub.

This morning, Mom and I got up to a dead house at 9:30, and she drove me to Jeffrey's house in Dublin, where I am now. (That's Dublin, California, not Dublin, Ireland. If you were confused.) Collin Gerard, Angela, and Tessie were here, but they left a while ago. Jeanette produced a coconut curry that convinced me once and for all that Jeffrey scored big-time, and I've been sitting around reading and fending off Jeanette's kids, Veronica and Avery. Jeffrey and I have gotten through the first *glances at clock* five hours with only one real argument, which bodes well, I guess.

Good luck for 2006 to everyone!