Too good to limit to one day ...
Tuesday, October 7th, 2003 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranthJust had a birthday!
And I've been celebrating since last Friday ...
Festivities kicked off with a pleasant evening at the Liquid Lab. LJ-people present included![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
swisstone and ladymoonray, zoo_music_girl (who struck terror into the hearts of the barstaff when they realised that their Mysterious 6pm Party was us); fishlifter (high-heeled and longhaired varieties); reverendjim; jhaelan; marypcb, d_floorlandmine, childeric, drpete, mmcpoland ... Later, from green_amber's alternative soiree in Islington, stragglers lproven, doja35 and flickgc arrived. There were also a number of attendees WANOLJ, and who are thus exempt from the roll call. Much pink drink was consumed, also strawberry daiquiris (Rum) and the like. A good time was had by all (and I have the photographs to prove it ... shall I post?!) ... at least until the end when one attendee's fishwifely histrionics cast a shadow over the evening. Dishonesty and lack of respect are not qualities I appreciate in anyone, much less in an (alleged) friend. Apologies to everyone who had to deal with this as a result of accepting my invitation.
Saturday dawned. Rather later, so did I and minderladymoonray. A great deal of time was spent lying on futons and working on breathing, also on theological analysis of pink drink, which we are forced to conclude is the work of Lucifer Himself (as played by Viggo Mortensen). Then off for lunch with green_amber at a riverside pub which we both managed to find, albeit not at quite the same time! Back to Greenwich for dinner with swisstone, ladymoonray. It was quiet (well, actually, it was very loud; but that was down to the other patrons of the two-tier Mexican -- we were quiet) and subdued. Thence to incy's party, which looked like great fun through my fatigue. Although childeric did look slightly damaged. Some people have no stamina.
Sunday ... Oh yes, lunch in the Cutty Sark in Greenwich -- despite the best efforts of Berkeley Homes, who have built a luxury apartment complex slap bang in the middle of the Thames Path, forcing pub-goers to turn aside within sight of the pub and strike out into the post-industrial wilds between the Thames and Trafalgar Road -- with a wild assortment of people, none of whom knew each other. (swisstone, ladymoonray, drplokta: Matthew, a friend from my former fencing club and his fiancee Helen; latexiron and kjersti, fresh from the Maldives the bastards; sbisson; Rose, who has known me for 20 years, and her children, Tim (10) and Zoe (8); major_clanger; molly_brown, who should know some of these people ...) The survivors encountered collyer on the way to the park (sorry not to see you for longer, Noel!) and apparently missed jhaelan somehow. Home to a comatose, retired-early ladymoonray (some people have cats ... actually, I think she may have been channelling residentevil666). Sleeeeep.
(Yes, it's true! There are people who I know who do not have an online presence! Spooky, huh?)
Monday, and after various bits of meepishness (the first year I haven't had a card from my dad, because he's no longer well enough to track days or, sometimes, to remember who I am; and my sister apparently simply forgot, so couldn't prompt him ... parcel delivery, as opposed to parcel slip, but the parcel wasn't for me ... horrible rainy grey weather en route to sorting office to pick up parcels ... general decrepitude and need for painkillers ... </whine>)ladymoonray came round to take me away from all that. We went out to the Essex coast and I wandered merrily on the desolate shore, getting the cobwebs out of my brain and reflecting on milestones, getting older, learning to live with oneself and changing what's worth changing ... As dusk fell, we heading back towards civilisation (on the Essex coast, all roads lead towards civilisation) and had gargantuan fish for dinner in Maldon.
Beach pictures in a separate post
Reflections on getting older ...
I am very fortunate in my friends, and I have friends who have lasted a very long time. I'm not always right about people and I don't always treat them as I would wish to be treated -- but when I deliberately treat people badly, there's usually a reason which seems valid, to me. And I'm beginning to think that people misread me more than occasionally, but that doesn't make their misreading accurate: I know myself better than others know me. I'm continuing to learn what works for me and what doesn't, my limitations and my strengths and my flaws. Thank you to all of you who think I'm worth knowing!
I've had a wonderful birthday weekend (though am beginning to think that I should aim for a less taxing schedule next year!) Thanks to everyone who joined me in celebrating, or gave me presents, or wished me happiness. Most of the time, yes, happiness ... for those around me as well, when I can. Thank you! (And extra thanks to minder / driver / co-conspirator / provider of pink drink and chocolate,ladymoonray, without whom things would have been much less fun).
And I've been celebrating since last Friday ...
Festivities kicked off with a pleasant evening at the Liquid Lab. LJ-people present included
swisstone and ladymoonray, zoo_music_girl (who struck terror into the hearts of the barstaff when they realised that their Mysterious 6pm Party was us); fishlifter (high-heeled and longhaired varieties); reverendjim; jhaelan; marypcb, d_floorlandmine, childeric, drpete, mmcpoland ... Later, from green_amber's alternative soiree in Islington, stragglers lproven, doja35 and flickgc arrived. There were also a number of attendees WANOLJ, and who are thus exempt from the roll call. Much pink drink was consumed, also strawberry daiquiris (Rum) and the like. A good time was had by all (and I have the photographs to prove it ... shall I post?!) ... at least until the end when one attendee's fishwifely histrionics cast a shadow over the evening. Dishonesty and lack of respect are not qualities I appreciate in anyone, much less in an (alleged) friend. Apologies to everyone who had to deal with this as a result of accepting my invitation.Saturday dawned. Rather later, so did I and minder
ladymoonray. A great deal of time was spent lying on futons and working on breathing, also on theological analysis of pink drink, which we are forced to conclude is the work of Lucifer Himself (as played by Viggo Mortensen). Then off for lunch with green_amber at a riverside pub which we both managed to find, albeit not at quite the same time! Back to Greenwich for dinner with swisstone, ladymoonray. It was quiet (well, actually, it was very loud; but that was down to the other patrons of the two-tier Mexican -- we were quiet) and subdued. Thence to incy's party, which looked like great fun through my fatigue. Although childeric did look slightly damaged. Some people have no stamina.Sunday ... Oh yes, lunch in the Cutty Sark in Greenwich -- despite the best efforts of Berkeley Homes, who have built a luxury apartment complex slap bang in the middle of the Thames Path, forcing pub-goers to turn aside within sight of the pub and strike out into the post-industrial wilds between the Thames and Trafalgar Road -- with a wild assortment of people, none of whom knew each other. (
swisstone, ladymoonray, drplokta: Matthew, a friend from my former fencing club and his fiancee Helen; latexiron and kjersti, fresh from the Maldives sbisson; Rose, who has known me for 20 years, and her children, Tim (10) and Zoe (8); major_clanger; molly_brown, who should know some of these people ...) The survivors encountered collyer on the way to the park (sorry not to see you for longer, Noel!) and apparently missed jhaelan somehow. Home to a comatose, retired-early ladymoonray (some people have cats ... actually, I think she may have been channelling residentevil666). Sleeeeep.(Yes, it's true! There are people who I know who do not have an online presence! Spooky, huh?)
Monday, and after various bits of meepishness (the first year I haven't had a card from my dad, because he's no longer well enough to track days or, sometimes, to remember who I am; and my sister apparently simply forgot, so couldn't prompt him ... parcel delivery, as opposed to parcel slip, but the parcel wasn't for me ... horrible rainy grey weather en route to sorting office to pick up parcels ... general decrepitude and need for painkillers ... </whine>)
ladymoonray came round to take me away from all that. We went out to the Essex coast and I wandered merrily on the desolate shore, getting the cobwebs out of my brain and reflecting on milestones, getting older, learning to live with oneself and changing what's worth changing ... As dusk fell, we heading back towards civilisation (on the Essex coast, all roads lead towards civilisation) and had gargantuan fish for dinner in Maldon. Beach pictures in a separate post
Reflections on getting older ...
I am very fortunate in my friends, and I have friends who have lasted a very long time. I'm not always right about people and I don't always treat them as I would wish to be treated -- but when I deliberately treat people badly, there's usually a reason which seems valid, to me. And I'm beginning to think that people misread me more than occasionally, but that doesn't make their misreading accurate: I know myself better than others know me. I'm continuing to learn what works for me and what doesn't, my limitations and my strengths and my flaws. Thank you to all of you who think I'm worth knowing!
I've had a wonderful birthday weekend (though am beginning to think that I should aim for a less taxing schedule next year!) Thanks to everyone who joined me in celebrating, or gave me presents, or wished me happiness. Most of the time, yes, happiness ... for those around me as well, when I can. Thank you! (And extra thanks to minder / driver / co-conspirator / provider of pink drink and chocolate,
ladymoonray, without whom things would have been much less fun).
