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I went to a pop-up wedding* this weekend, so let's take a thematically appropriate set of questions from

thefridayfive archive:

1) Do you want to get married? Already did. We did everything backward--became friends first and then started dating, moved in together and then started thinking long-term, celebrated multiple anniversaries and then decided to have a big party.

I'm not sure I ever made a conscious decision about marriage, especially since it wasn't legal for same-sex couples at the beginning of our relationship. There was no big question about love and forever-ness, only a number of logistical hurdles to overcome. We got a domestic partnership certificate from my partner's work early on (specifically in order to get health insurance), another certificate a few years later from the town we lived in (also to support a health insurance application and, less crucially, to get a library card), and a marriage license from our state when it became legal there (largely to safeguard our meager assets for the other in case of disaster, since we have hostile families). (Coincidentally, that was on 09/09/09, nine years ago yesterday.) Finally, we had a party because the better half is the type of person who didn't want to miss the opportunity for a very large, very fun party with everyone she knows.

2) Where would you like to get married? As it turned out, we had the party in our backyard, the one and only time in my life I've lived somewhere with a backyard. (Very convenient.) We put up a white tent, rented some chairs and tables, got a local Chinese Malaysian restaurant to cater a banquet, and made a dozen cakes ourselves, the night beforehand.

3) If you were getting married in a week, who would be in your wedding party? Hm. The same folks who showed up and helped out eight years ago, probably. A few high school friends, a few college friends, and a few more recent friends. We have one very close friend in town right now--who's planning her own second marriage for next month, coincidentally--but by and large the people we each know are scattered across the country (and in some cases have moved abroad).

4) What would your wedding colours be? We used purple, because the purple-loving better half cared and I didn't.

5) Does marriage mean to you 'til death do us part?' Not necessarily. People grow apart. I'm doing everything I can to keep this relationship working, but I recognize that even the best intentions and hardest work can't always keep two people together forever.

* Pop-up: my term, not the couples'. The decision to marry was made on a Sunday, e-mail invites were mailed out on Monday, and the guests were instructed to bring potluck items. It took place on a Saturday morning in the couple's basement apartment (tidied up and decorated with flowers) and was over by noon. So lovely and so simple! It made me happy to see how happy they were.

How are you doing, flist? Want to share wedding fantasies or stories?

Sorry! Didn't mean to post and then disappear last week. Every time, I forget what a big push the beginning of the semester is. (You'd think I get the hang of this after so many years, but no.)

Catching up with last week's Friday Five, all about food:

1. What is your favourite food? Any fresh baked good: croissants, bread, cake, baos, cookies.
2. What is your favourite food preparation method? Stir fry! It's the only thing I do, really, other than eggs and some breakfast foods.
3. What is your favourite cuisine or style of cooking? This is really difficult question: the one I like most of the time? The one I want right now? The one I'm most excited to eat when I have the chance? Mexican, because it's what I grew up eating at local restaurants, and it's always appealing to me, no matter the mood or situation. Malaysian, because it's a successful blending of two of the world's great cuisines, Indian and Chinese, with some amazing Malay spices and dishes thrown in. Ethiopian for vegetarian dishes. Vietnamese for soup. American for syrupy breakfasts and chocolatey desserts. Cantonese for dim sum, one the world's great cultural contributions.
4. Do you have any dietary restrictions and if so what are they? Not really. I'm very lucky this way.
5. If you could introduce the whole world to one ingredient to improve their culinary experience, what would that be and why? Hm....not sure I'm in a position to suggest anything to anyone--all of my food knowledge is a subset of someone else's. A basic ingredient I couldn't do without? Onions. Sometimes when I follow a delicious smell out to the kitchen and ask the better half what she's making, she's only started to brown the onions.

Also: my 2018 fall pledge: Every week when I post, I'm going to mention something lovely about fall, which has always elicited an unnecessary sense of dread in me. (Winter is bad, yes, but it doesn't really start until January here--there's no reason why I shouldn't enjoy September to December.) This week: I can continue to wear sandals well into September! The warm weather lasts weeks into the school year, and my toes can be free and happy for a long while yet.

And last but perhaps most important of all: happy birthday,

minervas_eule! For you: a gorgeous 19c library that my students always say "reminds them of Harry Potter." (Not a music performance space, unfortunately, but an important music library locally.)

library interior

Sorry I'm so slow on comments, everyone! I'll catch up with last week's over the next day or two. Hope your September is off to a good start.

The school year (and my commute) are starting again this week, so let's answer a relevant Friday Five from the archives this week:

1. What is your current main mode of transportation? e.g. car, bike, subway, walking etc.
Ideally, walking; I do as much in our neighborhood as I possibly can. But I take the bus to get downtown and the metro and the commuter rail to get to work.

2. Are you satisfied with your current main mode of transportation (answer to question 1)? Why? Yes! I love being able to walk. It's one of the joyous discoveries of adulthood, that you don't actually need to own a car. (Other joyous discoveries of adulthood: you don't actually need to live in a single family house, and you don't need to date men. :) We selected our apartment and neighborhood primarily for their proximity to grocery stores, transit, stores, and restaurants. And we've been especially lucky because the neighborhood's added quite a few options even in the time we've lived here.

3. Do you think you'll change your means of transit soon? e.g. buy a car, get rid of your car, walk more etc.? If so why?
One day I may decide I can't handle the mega-commute to Neighboring City to get to my job, and we'll move there--a move that will probably entail buying a car, since Neighboring City's not as walkable. But at the moment I'm happy where I am and feel as if the trade off (lots of things within walking distance and no need to own a car vs. long commute to work) are worth it.

4. If time distance and money were not factors how do you prefer to get from point A to point B?
Mm. That's a hard one. Ideally, Apparating? Bullet train? Given the current constraints of my Muggle life, I'd take a taxi more often to eliminate the frustrating metro portion of my commute. Or I might take a taxi at odd hours when the bus or metro headways are especially long. I have transit impatience.

5. What was your worst transit experience? Being in car accidents as a child, hands down. Nothing that's happened on bus, train, metro or plane ever since has been as destabilizing. (And I've never even been in a serious accident that left someone injured.)

How are you all doing, flist? Are you celebrating or mourning the end of summer?

1. What bad habits [of your own] bother you the most? My tendency toward occasional over-eating/emotional eating. It always seems so logical and necessary at the time, and in retrospect seems like automatic, mindless idiocy. Or the advent of my period, which is always preceded by two days of ravenousness and crankiness and catches me by surprise every time.

2. What good habits do you most admire [in others]? Regular exercise and regular writing. I can do both, but I need to work myself up to it, every time.

3. What unusual habits do you observe in your family members? Do they bother you? Knee-bouncing. I can't imagine having that much extra energy!

4. Which bad habit do you think would be the most difficult to get rid of? Why? Anything emotional or tied to childhood attitudes or fears. Speech patterns or verbal or physical tics. (I still, like, sound like girl raised in the 80s, you guys.)

5. Which good habit do you think would be the most difficult to develop? Why? Well, habits I don't actually want to develop (like skipping dessert) are difficult for obvious reasons, even when I'm in in a self-improvement mode. A lot of the habits I really do want to acquire but can't seem to develop properly (going to bed earlier, for example) are in conflict with other things going on my life.

***

In other news, I bought the neighbor's wardrobe! Thanks for the encouragement, flist. Right now it's a really expensive vacuum closet, but soon I'll figure out how to make better use of it (and, honestly, I really wanted to put that vacuum away, so that at least makes me happy). We have a walk in closet in the bedroom but no other storage in the apartment, so as you can imagine there are a number of living-and-dining-room-related items which can probably go in there. And we still have three unpacked boxes from the 2015 move, so perhaps we'll finally be able to put those away. Tidy apartment = happy me.

We saw Crazy Rich Asians yesterday. Actually quite fun, all things considered.* (R's read the book(s), I haven't, so I wasn't sure what to expect.) And while there's a lot of talk about Asian and Asian American representation in Hollywood, which is wonderful and important, YAY!, it's also a movie with some really fabulous roles for women, which hasn't been discussed the same way. Michelle Yeoh was excellent, of course, but Constance Wu was, too. And Awkwafina! Hope you get to enjoy these fabulous women soon.

Pre-semester meetings this week, class start next. Summer 2018 is on the wane.

* There are some big caveats that need to come with this movie--see my comments to TRS below.

Whoops! I somehow missed a week there. How have you all been?

* I'm just back from a long weekend in Denver, where my partner had some work meetings and I was able to catch up with my college roommate, whom I hadn't seen for an extended length of time since the 90s. I'd been thinking about her a lot recently because she was the one who convinced me to do a semester in London with her when we were in college and then pushed me to travel with her once we were there. We did so much on a modest budget: dozens of places in London, maybe six or eight overnight trips to locations in England, Scotland, and Ireland. I've often explained our slightly Odd Couple relationship by saying that she's both a homebody and a traveler like me, but before her I was really just a homebody; she's the one who showed me I could travel. We were both in London for a few days earlier this summer, and it was so good to share our love of the city and remember how we got started on this path.

* I've just finished my first babysitting gig with the sweet little ( bulldog ) we've been walking at noon on weekdays. His humans have arranged for housekeepers to come clean the apartment occasionally and wanted to know if we could take care of him in the apartment for an hour or so while the housekeepers were working. No problem! I said. But he really was a bit anxious, even after introducing him to our apartment several times last week. (We live two doors down, on the same hallway.) Pet aunt-ing is difficult! But he seemed to be fine in the end, after a lot of treats and lot of petting. Dogs aren't so different: new situations are stressful, and positive reinforcement, food, and lots of attention go a long way for both of us.

* I might buy a used Ikea Hemnes wardrobe from a neighbor tomorrow. Would this be too big in a medium-sized room? We have so few closets in this apartment I'm inclined to get it. Surely more storage space will help make the apartment more tidy?

* I have the end-of-the-summer blues. Only two more weeks before classes. I'm treasuring every last moment and writing like a madwoman. If any of you have ever lived on an academic schedule, you'll appreciate this cartoon:

Perception of summer cartoon

( Friday five: On journaling )

* Last but not least: A very happy birthday to fandomer extraordinaire (and RL superwoman)

alisanne! Here's a ( happy image ) to celebrate the day. (Source.)

I'm currently playing hooky from not one but two parties I thought I'd have to go to this evening. Our current house guest is off at one, my partner is at the other, and I'm all alone in the apartment, sipping tea, listening to the radio, and feeling gloriously alone.

To counter the mid-year lull 'round these parts, have an interactive meme! Thanks to both

thefridayfive and

therealsnape for contributing some of the questions, and to

therealsnape for encouraging memeage more generally.

How to play? Well, first, read through the questions and leave me the number of the question(s) you'd like me to answer. (Please, ask away! I'd love to chat.) If you're up for answering questions yourself, paste them at your journal so we can ask you, too. Text box with questions below!

1) What season are you currently experiencing in your part of the world? Has the weather been typical of that season recently?

2) Apart from the weather, how can you tell what season it is? What about your life or local life changes with the seasons?

3) What's the best thing about the current season? The most annoying?

4) Does the current season affect your mood or your daily habits?

5) Are there activities, events, or traditions that accompany this season in your part of the world?

6) Are there local foods that are only available or that are more available this season?

7) Are there memories you associate with this season?

8) Do have plans or goals for this season? For other seasons?

9) If you could live perpetually in one season, which would it be? Is that the same as your favorite season?

10) Do the conventional designations (i.e., summer, winter, etc.) describe the changing seasons in your part of the world? If you could rename your local seasons, what would you call them, and how would you describe them?

11) Are you sensing the effects of climate change where you live?

12) Do you have different clothes for different seasons? Do you prefer one wardrobe to another?

13) Do you use heat, fans, or air conditioning? Do you and your family or housemates agree on how to regulate the heat, fan, or air conditioning?

14) Do some seasons seem to last longer than others, to you? Has that changed as you age?

15) Do you decorate your house or change your environment in any way to mark the change of the seasons?

16) During what season are you most likely to want to get away from the weather, and where would you go if you could?

17) Are there any idioms or sayings about the current season where you live? Any local wisdom?

18) Imagine the depths of winter where you live. Would you rather have 1) less precipitation, 2) warmer temperatures, or 3) more light/longer days?

19) Imagine the peak of summer where you live. What would make it more bearable?

20) What's a book, film, or tv show you associate with the current season?

Twenty seasonal questions...

1) What season are you currently experiencing in your part of the world? Has the weather been typical of that season recently?

2) Apart from the weather, how can you tell what season it is? What about your life or local life changes with the seasons?

3) What's the best thing about the current season? The most annoying?

4) Does the current season affect your mood or your daily habits?

5) Are there activities, events, or traditions that accompany this season in your part of the world?

6) Are there local foods that are only available or that are more available this season?

7) Are there memories you associate with this season?

8) Do have plans or goals for this season? For other seasons?

9) If you could live perpetually in one season, which would it be? Is that the same as your favorite season?

10) Do the conventional designations (i.e., summer, winter, etc.) describe the changing seasons in your part of the world? If you could rename your local seasons, what would you call them, and how would you describe them?

11) Are you sensing the effects of climate change where you live?

12) Do you have different clothes for different seasons? Do you prefer one wardrobe to another?

13) Do you use heat, fans, or air conditioning? Do you and your family or housemates agree on how to regulate the heat, fan, or air conditioning?

14) Do some seasons seem to last longer than others, to you? Has that changed as you age?

15) Do you decorate your house or change your environment in any way to mark the change of the seasons?

16) During what season are you most likely to want to get away from the weather, and where would you go if you could?

17) Are there any idioms or sayings about the current season where you live? Any local wisdom?

18) Imagine the depths of winter where you live. Would you rather have 1) less precipitation, 2) warmer temperatures, or 3) more light/longer days?

19) Imagine the peak of summer where you live. What would make it more bearable?

20) What's a book, film, or tv show you associate with the current season?

We've been doing some dog-sitting and cat-sitting again, flist. They are darlings, all of them.

( Meet our four-legged clients. (Warning: large photos because I'm that besotted.) )

Every year I forget how quiet it gets on social media at this time of year. Happy mid-July, everyone!

1. Is there a smell that will immediately sicken you? Hm. Not really. Though it might be important to point out here that I have a really terrible sense of smell generally, and there aren't many things that smell good to me, either.
2. When you want quiet, where do you go? I *always* want quiet, so I look for it everywhere. But the quiet that's nicest is the quiet of being by yourself in public, at a coffeeshop or walking in the street, when others are chatting in the background but you're very much alone.
3. Do you need/prefer total darkness when you sleep? Ideally. More so as I get older and sleeping well becomes harder.
4. What is your least favorite taste? Fish sauce. Blue cheese. The errant tomato in my sandwich. (I'm not a big fan of raw tomatoes.)
5. How heavily do you rely upon your sense of touch? Not heavily. I'm a bit touch-averse, actually. Everything is in the head or on the screen for me...except books, where the feel of the page is everything.

In the past nine days, I've finished my last week of classes, attended final reviews, flown across the country, attended a wedding, finished grading, and closed the books on the semester. Whew! Too much going on. Haven't travelled home yet, so the excitement's not quite over, but things should be a lot more relaxed from here on out.

A tiny meme to keep up my weekly posting habit, courtesy of

splix. Note that I'm staying in the playroom of an old high school friend's house about 3000 miles from home, which should spice things up a bit.

5 Things You’ll Find in My Bag: Swimsuit (overly optimistic; they haven't started cleaning the pool for the summer months yet), about sixty final essays from students (my bag weighs a ton), a mother's day card that need to be posted tomorrow if it has any chance of timeliness, a new book, and a light sweater (which hasn't been sufficient for the cool days in the Bay Area)

5 Things You’ll Find in My Room: An unused treadmill; NFL logo sheets; Star War plush toys, including a soft and squishy X-wing fighter; bunk beds; an unused big screen tv

5 of My Favorite Things [about California]: 99 Ranch Market, See's Candy, fake Spanish architecture, fresh and beautiful fruits and veggies, SUNSHINE!

5 Things I’m Currently Into: toy cars, board books, reading out loud (can you tell our friends have twin toddlers?), upscale strip malls, sitting around outside. ETA: Sandals! How could I forget about sandals?

5 Things On My To-Do List: Relax, relax, relax, relax, relax. And reply to last week's comments, posts, and e-mail.

How's your May been so far, flist? Want to play along? Text box below.

1. What was your favorite toy as a child? A doll house made by my grandfather in the 1960s. It was long and low, a one-story, five-room ranch house with garage and patio out front, study enough to sit on. (Which I did, of course; the hallmark of childhood is unforgiving, rough love.) I spent hours with it when I was very small and made furniture and miniature household items in my spare time. (Those of you were children in the late 70s and early 80s will recognize two of the items I attempted to miniaturize: a PeeChee folder and a Rubic's cube.) It inspired me to assemble three more doll houses myself, one in cardboard as a very small child, then two in wood (one that looks very much like this one, although I made it half-timber, and an earlier model of this house, which took me most of my high school years to complete).
2. What did you name it? N/A
3. Who gave it to you? My father's father, who died before I was born and about whom I know almost nothing. (My father is very quiet about his childhood.) Apparently he was a barber and woodworker and constructed the doll house for his first granddaughter, who wasn't born until the early 1970s.
4. Do you still have it? No.
5. If not, what happened to it? I think my parents gave the original doll house, the 60s ranch house, to the young daughters of a very good family friend. There was a long period when my parents and I weren't in contact, but recently I discovered the ones I constructed are gone, too--my parents stored them in the attic, and the heat ruined the glue that held them together. They sent along the furniture I'd made, which I gave to the daughter of my college roommate, another doll house fanatic, and I saved for myself a handful of the tiny items I'd made or bought, PeeChee folder and Rubic's cube included.

I'd be curious to hear about your childhood toys! Thanks to

thefridayfive for the prompt.

In fannish news, I have my Holmestice assignment, which looks eminently workable, and watched the first episode of Miss Sherlock, which premiered on Friday. (I'll admit I lost some of the threads of the plot, but gender-swapped Holmes and Watson is SO very much my thing I didn't care.) Also,

splix's The Search for the Lost Sword has recently updated, which tickles me to no end.

I'm done cat-sitting for the time being, which means I have no excuse for lying on the floor in the cats' apartment taking ( cat photos ) and batting mouse toys around and instead probably need to finish my last few classes and start grading. Onward and upward! Signing off. Have a great week, folks!

1. Do you suffer from Spring Fever?

Hm. Never heard it called that, but yes, I guess. The more light and the more warmth we get, the better I feel. (Psychologically--physically, I'm sneezing and rubbing my eyes.) Also, by about April I'm counting down the hours until the end of the semester.

2. Have you ever been twitterpated (infatuated or obsessed. In a state of nervous excitement)?

More or less constantly during my teens, and thank goodness that's over, let me tell you. It was all Too Much, those constant waves of emotion.

3. What does Spring taste like to you?

I think I mentioned my discounted after-Easter candy last week. Delicious!

4. When was the last time you visited an ice cream truck?

Decades ago. I'm not sure I've even seen one since the eighties. That said, food trucks are all the rage here, and although I don't visit as often as I'd like, I got some excellent bibimbap at The Green Bowl a few weeks ago. (I have never been to the other regular visitor, Kommie Pig, but the name always make me laugh-wince. First tragedy, then farce.)

5. Do you know what song your ice cream truck plays?

This sounds like the kind of childhood memory that should still be with me, but it's not. Advertising jingles, yes, TV theme songs, yes, even movie themes, but no ice cream truck melody.

1) Has the weather where you are finally started acting like spring is here?

Well, considering we had daytime highs near 80F/27C in February, temps around 30F/-1C in March, and no real snow to speak of between early December and late March, I've given up all expectations for seasonally appropriate weather. The weather's been slightly warmer lately, but I'm not going to count on consistently mild weather anytime soon.

Hm. Now that I write that down, I realize that "the weather's been slightly warmer lately, but I'm not going to count on consistently mild weather anytime soon" is actually probably the very definition of springtime weather here on the US East Coast. It's never the definitive shift to consistently warmer weather that I expect--just more and more not-terrible days until suddenly it's late May and getting hot, and you realize you missed spring.

2) Do you have any special spring activities or outings planned?

I took a lovely long walk through the neighborhood north of us last weekend to see the cherry blossoms. ( Pictures below the cut )

3) Have you started wearing different clothing appropriate to spring?

As soon as it's even vaguely appropriate, I break out my sandals. In an ideal world, my toes would be free and happy all the time.

4) What signs of spring are manifesting around you?

A marked drop in attendance in my classes. Lots of requests for extensions. Invitations to final reviews and exhibitions.

5) Are there special foods you enjoy preparing and/or eating in the spring?

If I were a more healthy person, I'm sure I'd have a local fruit or vegetable here. Instead, I'm going to say: discounted after-Easter Easter candy! I've already eaten two entire chocolate bunnies and have no regrets.

Big thanks to

write_out who plumbed

thefridayfive for some questions from their archives. I'll put a textbox at the end if you'd like to play along. I'd love to read your replies!

1. Have you ever done something awful to your hair? What happened?

When I was about 12, my mother (who always wanted me better dressed and better made-up) bullied me into getting feathered bangs for a few years (bad 80s moment), but otherwise, I haven't ever done much with my hair. On a good day, my hair's clean and relatively tidy. I try not to have too many bad days.

2. Conversely, at what time in your life have you looked your best?

Summers! Because I'm warm and happy and (I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I do) not so pale. And days when I wear my favorite geometric pattern shirts. I really like geometric patterns.

3. Do you have a favorite article of clothing? Tell us what and why.

Many years ago I spent a magical day wandering around Providence, Rhode Island, buying Italian pastries and stopping in bookstores. Late in the day, books and pastries in hand, I ran across a yard sale and saw two long-sleeved men's athletic shirts, one grey, one sage green, with "Rhode Island School of Design" written across the front. They tickled my sense of humor, because RISD is an independent art and design school with no athletic program to speak of and relatively few gym bunnies, so who exactly was the intended market for these athletic shirts? Students' families, when they came to visit? But while I was looking at them and puzzling over this problem, the very friendly man running the yard sale came over and asked, "Do you want to buy them? Only fifty cents each." Who was I to say no to these quirky shirts that cost only a fraction of the price of a cannoli? I've had them for about fifteen years now, and they've kept me warm during during countless chilly runs and on many lazy Saturdays.

4. Confess the worst fashion trend you ever succumbed to.

I'm not very trendy, but I'm sure I've committed many terrible fashion missteps. Hm.... Aha! I had to wear a fancy dress to my brother's wedding (I'm not big on dresses) and so I turned to a friend for advice on the occasion. She approved my choice, but later when she saw photos of the wedding, she groaned. "Those shoes were totally inappropriate!" I looked. I'd been wearing the only pair of sandals I owned at the time, dug out of a box when I realized, on the morning of the wedding, I hadn't thought about what shoes to wear. "What should I have worn?" I asked. She told me. "So after spending all that money on a dress I was never going to wear again, I needed to spend more money on shoes I was never going to wear again?" "Exactly," she said. "I can't believe I needed to tell you that." "No one was looking at my feet," I said. She rolled her eyes.

5. Are there any clothing/fashion trends today that you simply don't understand?

I honestly don't know how jeans are supposed to work. (Or pants/trousers, for that matter, but mostly I wear jeans.) Nothing seems designed to fit actual bodies! I have several pairs, each of which fits me well in one specific way (long enough, wide enough at the hips, tight enough at the waist, generous enough in the thigh), but sadly none satisfies all the relevant criteria.

Nabbing one from

thefridayfive archives this week:

1) If you had to drink one thing for the rest of your life, what would you pick? Tea. English breakfast tea with a touch of soy milk, to be precise. We drink so much tea in the magnetic_pole household that we buy teabags by the five hundred-count package. (Seriously. It's possible.)

I do enjoy my coffee, but I can't imagine all coffee, all the time.

2) What is the first thing you drink in the morning? Usually that very same black tea.

3) What do you drink with your lunch? dinner? Nowadays, water. I'm not picky--it comes right from the tap. The better half and I each usually have a water glass hanging out somewhere in the apartment, marked with a blue (me) or purple (her) rubber band to remind us which is which.

4) What is your favorite mixed drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)? Give the recipe. Orange juice with a touch of cranberry. We rarely buy fruit juice because it's so heavy to carry home, so this combo, which requires having not one but two juices in the fridge, is a treat.

5) What drink brings back a special memory for you? Growing up, I drank milk at each meal. My parents drank soda, and everyone once in a while, for a treat at the end of the meal, they'd put a little soda in my milk glass. It was never quite empty, so the not-entirely-pleasant taste of soda with a dash of creaminess is a strong memory from my childhood. "We didn't know you could tell the difference!" my parents said a while ago, when I told them this story. :)

Want to play along? Text box below.

( Irish-related Five beneath the cut )

In other, non-Irish news, the last out-of-town guest of the spring break has now departed, and the regular work week is on the horizon. Big take-aways of this last visit? If you're mid-forties-ish and you've been keeping up with someone since college, you've actually known each other for longer than you hadn't known each other, and long enough to have forgotten entire episodes in your relationship. (Or maybe my memory's just getting worse very quickly, and folks are being polite with me.) Also, the Obamas are still the hottest ticket in town. We had to wait in line to see their portraits at the National Portrait Gallery.

...and by "wild" I mean "enjoying decadent mid-afternoon naps." I'm in the middle of spring break this week and finally catching up on sleep and feeling more like myself again.

1) Who made you feel good this week, and how? 1) Two old friends--one from high school, one from grad school--who came to the area for work and stayed for a few days to visit. (One of the benefits of living in a popular conference locale.) Plus we still have one more visitor before the week's over! 2) Also, the better half, who's made me scones twice, just because.

2) What did you do this week that moved you closer to reaching your goals? Honestly, nothing. And that's okay. I'll get back to goals next week.

3) What did you most enjoy doing this week? Eating out. Visitors were our excuse to go to the slightly fancy Laotian place nearby, which was amazing (Nam Khao/crispy rice salad, a curry, and a dish with tofu and dill). We also had Cuban food (ropa vieja, pork, plantains), fresh croissants, and white people food for brunch (less remarkable but including a surprisingly yummy quinoa and kale salad with grapefruit and beets). Have I mentioned that I love eating?

4) What did you learn this week? Claritin-D over regular Claritin! We're cat sitting for a downstairs neighbor this week, and the regular Claritin was not doing it for highly cat-allergic me. (Super cute kitties, by the way--one young, curious boy cat with and an elderly, cranky old cat-man who tried to bite me yesterday after ten minutes of apparently enjoyable petting and attention. Not sure what I was doing wrong there.)

5) What’s the funniest thing that happened to you this week? Watching this little guy trying to extradite himself from his predicament.

Pulling up another Five from the

thefridayfive archives this week...

( Friday Five asks the hard questions... )

Added bonus this week: Animals! Two videos that made me laugh out loud: happy dog with happy soundtrack and a cat watching a particularly stressful scene in a horror movie. Click though--you won't regret it.

Want to play along? Text box below!

Catching up on some older Friday Fives this week to keep the posting habit going:

( Miscellaneous but nothing likely to be triggering: homesickness, words, vegetarian dishes, friends, and daydreams )

Anyone else want to play along? Text box below, and you can link back to the comm,

thefridayfive, and see other replies, if you'd like.

Giving

thefridayfive another try this week. Do you know, I had to look up "fate" and "karma" to answer these questions, that's how rarely I think about these things.

( On fate... )

I've been thinking that I want to post here more often in 2018, because I truly enjoy keeping up with those of you who post regularly. I don't have much fannish content these days, and I'm not always good about updating on my own life, but two weeks ago

alisanne suggested just the solution:

thefridayfive, a DW community with weekly prompts. An excuse to get me writing when I'm enjoying the boring routine of everyday life and finding little to post about.

( This week, we take to the skies... )

By the way, I challenged my quieter flisters to post 17 times in 2017, and I think some of you met that challenge (and more) and now are entitled to a drabble. I'll follow up on that this week. Ready yourselves with prompts!

Also, I just discovered that DW has not been cross-posting my posts to LJ in months. (Sorry, LJ folks. I thought you were just being unusually quiet.) Has anyone else had that problem?