Call it a bittersweet sandwich. After another joyous morning of making art (my career has its first serious rival in ages), spent a pleasant afternoon with kittengirly, thus ensuring that my "girl" card will be renewed for another year.

*twinkle twinkle*

And then, after much hilarity and hijinks, we came home, and there was S. He looked...bad. Bad enough that I was down in the dumps about it for a good hour after he was gone. There's no way to break up with somebody without hurting them. I don't like hurting people, even when it means helping myself.

*slumps*

Let the record show, though, that I only feel bad when he's around. That tells you something right there.

At any rate, last night's agenda involved finding and purchasing my birthday gift to myself. This turned out even better than I'd hoped, to the point where I can't even really talk about it too much lest I spoil it for myself. Suffice to say that I found something so beautiful it both took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. It's not for public display or consumption, and it's winging its way to me as we speak. And here we drop a little curtain and move on to the next thing.

*smiles*

kittengirly sent me this piece about how things are back home. You could argue that the needs of the group trump the desires of the individual, but this sort of response is emblematic of the way so many of us from that part of the country were raised: what's yours is yours, and you'll die rather than give it up. Understandable, when one often has so little to start with.

On a vaguely related note, Tim Nolan offers us a Prayer Chain.

That first pitch was right across the plate, but the second one's a bit of a slider.

*g*

And with that, off to have more adventures, large and small. A bientot.

That is deliciously all.