my birthday

Hey, it's my birthday today! As a birthday present to myself, I'm going to FilKONtario a day early. It's Katy's birthday today, too!

Allison has updated her Filk Forte column with a new poll topic: "FKO Virtual Con and Memories". Post your FKO recollections here or, if you've never been able to attend FKO, come attend a "virtual" version here. :) Wow...Allison just posted her column yesterday, and a bunch of people have joined the party already. :)

Hey, guess what? Jodi just got interviewed about The Muse's Muse by Billboard Magazine for an article in a future issue! Veryvery cool.

Had lunch at Wow Sushi yesterday (see photo above). Topics ranged from DSL connection speeds to wilderness camping to elephantitis to guys' short haircuts. Parki just got a buzzcut (see photo below). I'm sure he gets accosted all the time now by people wanting to touch his head, which feels wonderfully fuzzy. Ray (see photo above) does his own haircuts, shaving his head twice a week.

In the evening, Jeff took me to North 44º for my birthday. And as a birthday present, he's taking me to see The Lion King next Wednesday evening, woohoo! :-) :-) We had a very good talk during dinner. Things have been getting much better for us since I came home from Philadelphia and am not as superstressed. To Annie: Jeff read your Blatherchat post about this a while back and was as touched as I was.

It's funny, really. I told Jeff last night that when I think back to how unhappy I was in Philadelphia several months ago, it seems like another world. Sort of like waking up in the middle of the night from a bad dream and being able to remember all the details in grisly detail, but then in the morning the memory has gone all fuzzy around the edges and gradually fades away as the day progresses.

It wasn't all bad, of course. I met some very cool people, had a great harp teacher (I hope to resume occasional harp lessons in Toronto), got to try Philly cheesesteak and scrapple, experienced living alone for the first time (there's a certain freedom in being able to decorate your apartment any way you want without having to consult anyone :)). Plus the experience has made me a stronger person, in terms of knowing what I want and don't want in life, being better at sticking up for myself.

Some people have asked me if I'm bitter about what happened to Inkspot. Perhaps a tinge (my comic strip is good therapy for me right now :-)), but to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to going back to my own writing, to simplifying my life. Rather than dwell on what-ifs and self-indulgent regret, I'm going to focus on getting on with the next stage of my life.

After my sabbatical, of course. ;-)

Have a great weekend, everyone. To those who wanted to attend FKO but couldn't; you will be missed. But hey, come join the virtual filk convention in Filk Forte!

Today's Blatherpics:

Lunch crowd at Wow sushi yesterday.

Parki with his new haircut. Quite a contrast to his hairstyle back in university, I'd say.