Perhaps something of an update is in order. Neko Case has a wonderful set of lungs, even if she managed to avoid playing any of my favourite songs during her Thursday night set at the Cat's Cradle (the songs she did play were fantastic, though). And I stand by my comments on Kelly Hogan.

Friday was a walking day. With added pizza. Christa had invited me for a walk, and also suggested that we have pizza in the strip mall next to her apartment. Then she added (paraphrasing, but definitely getting the basic gist): "Oh, we're having a large cheese pizza. And if you don't eat half of it, I'll have to kill you". Ulp. Thankfully, I managed to hold my ground, although I was pleased that she took the biggest slice right at the end. Then! Off into the woods again. More rickety wooden structures, walking gazebos, and a rather evil-looking rope swing poised temptingly over a particularly foul patch of the river. We were strong, and thus kept ourselves from turning into radioactive monsters. It would have just been a hassle.

Friday night was spent at Wootini to see their new art installation (and to gasp in horror at the price list as we were eating all the mints and cheese), and another night at OCSC, much to the delight of Stacie's allergies. As the clock struck midnight, I was wished a happy birthday by all and sundry. Which was nice.

Saturday! Presents from my family, Laura and Naomi started the morning. Laura got me a very old (1835!) book about "how to live a Godly life" and a copy of Chairman Mao's little Red Book (for fun and games at immigration), plus badges and a SplitCam! Naomi's present was a handmade book made from circuit boards. It's about twice as cool as it sounds, trust me.

The day had only just begun, though. We went off to The Rock's house (I don't know her actual name; in general, I'm against people speaking in the third person about themselves, but my, she can carry it off well) to dye eggs. You can see one of the results in the photolog. Needless to say, much fun was had. After that, and a tequila shot which I didn't really have that much choice about, truth be told, we headed off to the Really Really Free Market, at which I resisted the temptation of taking home a Quadra Macintosh and got a tarot reading at Naomi's insistence. Apparently, I sent ships out, and they'll be coming in shortly.

Then! Oh yes! Maple View Farm for ice-cream! A pleasant walk with Stacie to the comic shop and the Asian shop! Popsicles! A strange mango tangerine orange drink that looks like chemical waste!

Which led to the second part of the day: a birthday dinner, and things to follow. Heather and Christa joined us for this bit, with Naomi and Laura dropping out for moving and work reasons. Heather gave me a bottle of wine (which will apparently undergo a transformation after we've finished drinking it, which sounds interesting), and Christa got me the first book of Y: The Last Man (shortly followed by Bill giving me the next two books, so I have plenty to read), as well as Strawberry Pocky. Which, I note, she consumed before we all got together. Hmph. Anyway, dinner was at PF Chang's; huge amounts of food and something called The Great Wall of Chocolate, a seven-layer cake with raspberry syrup that almost defies the imagination. I feel full again just thinking about it.

Silly Hat Department 1: Christa loaned me her tiara for the evening. I should probably not promise to wear something before I see what it is.

The final event of the evening was late-night bowling (the dramatis personae for this part of the evening consisted of Christa, Stacie, Srav, Laura, and Naomi). Plus DDR. Which I suck at. I mean, really, really bad. Admittedly, I'm not much better at bowling, either. Although I was almost disembowelled after saying that and getting two spares on my first go. Thankfully, my form reasserted itself, and the threat of bloodshed passed. Lots of fun (although Laura has to be barred from all our future games, because she's far too good).

Silly Hat Department 2: I was worried about breaking the tiara at the bowling alley, so a compromise was worked out: I would wear Collin's purple fluffy hat instead. Hmm.

That brings us to today and my sneaky friends. Naomi had to go to work this morning, and got a lift from Stacie into Durham. Or so I thought. Because Laura and I went off to Durham later in the day, ostensibly to a place called The Scrap Exchange, but we had to drop a bottle of wine of at Laura's new apartment…

…where a surprise was waiting for me! A surprise Easter Egg hunt, in fact. Naomi had hidden plastic eggs full of sweets in their house and in the wonderful woods surrounding. It was our job (Stacie, Srav, Laura, and me) to hunt them down. More difficult than it sounds, and some squirrels will be dining well tonight, as five or so eggs (from sixty, so we did quite well!) could not be recovered during our search. Pictures will probably go up tomorrow. I also got an extra prize; an egg keychain from Christa, who couldn't join us as she was off with family. But no pie, I'm told.

Srav and Stacie had to go off to write papers and take exams; yes, all that boring but necessary stuff. Laura, Naomi, and I, on the other hand, went off to the Museum of Life and Sciences to play on the drums, spray each other with water, and look for wolves. We had much more fun. Plus! Dinosaur! Easter Sunday simply isn't complete without a huge dinosaur making an appearance.

Silly Hat Department 3: Most of this afternoon was spent wearing a fez. And scaring small children. Again.

That, then, was my birthday weekend. And much fun was had by all. At least, I hope so, anyway.

I have not yet seen New Earth. Anybody telling me spoilers (I've downloaded a torrent to watch sometime soon) will be attacked viciously with a sonic screwdriver…