smiles awake you when you rise

today today today is my birthday day day.

and what a good one it has been so far. in the day of days of the birthday week (mark your calendars, 21 may to 28 may, officially) i have heard "you are! you really are one of my favorite people!" and i have heard "happy birthday" a million times and gotten two emails, one from across the country and one from across the seas, and i have received four phone calls, two from downstate and one such a surprise!--but then, of course not--which i loved, and another funny one in a funny voice. and don't forget a single IM message. and then another. oh yes, and a little dinner, and a coffee, and a lunch i picked myself, and a cross-examination that went perfectly. so, there you have it my friends, that is the day of days of the birthday week.

tomorrow begins the denouement: killing, and class-ending, and gifting, and card-getting, and ending all in the grand birthday dinner. what a good one, what a good good one. and gold! thank you for it.