This year's haul:

-As requested, one manual orange juicer of less than stellar quality. Not quite the lever-puller I had in mind, but it squeezes oranges (dully), so I'm at least thankful.

-A lovely new t-shirt.

-Five phonecalls, three of them sang.

-Two books; a graphic novel by a New Yorker Cartoonist called Cancer Vixen, and a very rare unedited prereleased copy of Scott McCloud's Making Comics.

-Five exquisite cupcakes, four manhandled so horribly that they'd fused into a solid lump of sugar so thick it's toxic. The other cupcake was a "red velvet" flavor which, after being eaten, made my gums look like they'd been flossed with barbed wire.

-Banana pudding so godly that I will not tell ANYONE ELSE where in New York you can find it because it's such a tastebud rave.

-$75 Barnes and Noble gift card for me to indulge in my newfound love of Jeff Smith's Bone. (All three of the aforementioned gifts were courteousy of my best friend who I'm just pleased as punch that she chose to go to college in NYC as well. Better get started on her birthday gifts now...)

-Two mint chocolate chip dipped pretzel sticks wrapped in green and brown ribbon, made by a women owned-and-operated confectionary.

-Hand soap, hand sanitizer, and Toa Hahli, which under most other circumstances I wouldn't have even bothered to buy. ERICA YOU'RE THE BEST ROOMMATE EVER!

-A small Warhammer figurine of a guy on a horse with a banner, which I still have to finish painting purple. Thanks, Pekel.

-A beautiful hand drawn comic by my sister. It was something like a prophetic tapestry in the way it depicted the party that was about to take place, and that my two best friends would surprise me unbeknownst to me but knownst to everyone else who had interpreted the tapestry's cryptic heirobabble.

-Despite the rift that's come between them, my two friends sucked it up for my birthday, and that meant the world to me. With any luck they'll work things out now that they've had the time to get along during the party.

-Surprise party with the best homemade spread and cucumbers ever!

And lots and lots of great birthday wishes which, as per tradition and genetics, I'm late in acknowledging. So thanks for all the great birthday wishes from everyone. It was a great birthday.