Greetings from the other side of thirty!

Y'all may have noticed that I do not intend to age gracefully so much as loudly. I'm pretty much convinced that age = more awesome, and thus I make a big deal out of my birthday on an annual basis, complete with announcements as to my age.

So I'm thirty-one now, that's one whole extra year of awesome! Go me!

I had a great birthday with my family, and they managed to replace ALL the books I took to sell back to Powell's. I got classics (Vanity Fair, which I've never read, but is in a pretty hardcover), books I requested (Zahrah the Windseeker, by Nne Okorafor Mbachu and suggested by the Authors of Color in SciFi list, and the Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie upon whom I have a massive reading crush) and books people thought I might like, including some graphic novels whose names escape me.

So the luggage... didn't get any *lighter*.

My soul did though! (I see you, I see you rolling your eyes, y'all just stop that right now, I'm having a post-vacation, 30-something, moment.)

I am remiss saying so, but I am also so grateful to all of you who wished me a happy day (or realized that I have no shame in celebrating birthdays for many days, nay, weeks! And continued the happy wishing.) Thanks, guys! There were even fannish gifts of a communal nature, which is one of the highlights of fandom, if you ask me. I love that we share presents:

dustandroses, bless her, wrote (for me yay!) a funny little picture ficlet which allows us to love on the wonderful late Don S. Davies, as well as Jack/Daniel.

And teand, may the sun shine warmly on her shoulders, wrote me Sam/Teal'c/Cameron! FOR REALS! Unending fic! And threesomes (well, kissing threesomes)! Some of my very favorite things! Worksafe, though there is a very funny Mason-Dixon line in there that will have your coworkers looking over to see what the laughing is about. Three Legged Stools.

(p.s., msbeata thoughtfully had a birthday during the week of Minx also, and so teand *also* wrote her a fic! A marvelous teamy, Jack/Daniel, off into the sunset with you, fic. Say Rather Farewell, worksafe.)

So, thank you, guys. And a special shout-out to Salieri, who danced me a birthday dance involving a phalanx of jaffa, dragonboats (with lanterns!) skimming across the sea, a martial arts number, my name spelled out in staff weapon fire, and Jaffanerian Jazz Hands. Everyone knows those Jaffanerians do jazz hands like none other.

I got love for the world. Free hugs available on request (or pretty much anything else you can think of to request--I'll do my best!)