birthday followup whee!

[trochee]

imtboo points out that I never revealed what the surprise yesterday actually was. I got home at 6:30 (lapartera and trombo2 called when I was on the bus!) and met imtboo at home, who was dressed up supercute. I was instructed to change clothes to go somewhere nice (out of character for me, really). D took some pictures of me ("you clean up good") and we swept into the Blackwingedmobile, which lurked outside. Thanks to imtboo and the dashing driver, we found ourselves at Bizzarro in a matter of minutes.[1]

Bizzarro is a lovely little restaurant. They've embraced the name: it is decorated with Barbie-doll heads and old electric signs that read "Hot" and collage paintings and about eight million electric chandeliers, any one of which would be tacky as all get out. But the combined effect goes round the tacky bend back into really neat.

After a few minutes, we [me, imtboo and blackwingedboy] were joined by beegirl, and then mythalethe and his brother omeyotl too. We ordered food [2] and I broke my semi-Lent and drank wine with them too. wonkily arrived as well after her class down the street, and I felt loved and happy surrounded by loyal friends. Just before they brought out the desserts[3], beckyb called to say hello on the phone -- I'm sorry you couldn't be there with us, B, but we left you a chair open. "For Elijah," said beegirl -- "or for beckyb," said imtboo.

After we'd all eaten, and the restaurant was empty, and the staff was sitting at the next table eating their own dinner with the lights up full bright, we finally took the hint and moved to stand outside instead. After some negotiation, imtboo and I got a ride home from beegirl (the BW shuttle apparently doesn't make runs when parked in Wallingford late at night), and on the way home beegirl slipped me two cool books: a collection of Rumi poems and a play by Harold Pinter[4] -- she describes him as "a linguist's playwright" so I think that sounds like a natural for me (thanks beegirl!).

Thank you so much, all of you, for being there (even those of you who were there from out of state!). It was lovely and low-key and loud and funny and touching all at the same time. Thank you for being there and laughing at my jokes[5] and telling your own and sharing in it. And a double-helping of thanks for imtboo who organized the whole thing without telling me a word! I love you, imtboo. You're good to me.


[1] traveling to Wallingford: A few blocks away, I realized that nobody has created the pun "Alice in Wallingford" -- I just checked Google, which is why I am putting it onIine now to stake my claim.
[2] ordered food: yum -- I had the fig and cheese bruschetta and it was really yummy, and then a salad and a fennel-root ravioli in vodka marinara sauce.
[3] dessert: Bizzarro serves a "chocolate vesuvius" that should have a warning label: it's like eating a mocha with chocolate No-Doz sprinkles.
[4] Harold Pinter: The play was Betrayal. beegirl told me she almost got me Death to go with it, but decided that getting "Death" and "Betrayal" as presents for her best friend's boy just wasn't auspicious. I have to agree -- but I think poems by Rumi are sufficiently mitigating. Thanks again beegirl!
[5] jokes: for those of you who came to dinner and heard my best story ever: This SF fan thinks that Asperger's is the future of humanity.

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[localcharacter.livejournal.com]

No wait, Google tells me it was actually Old Times that I saw. Also good, of course.