The themes of the party were "Things Caroline Has Never Done Before", "What's Age Got to Do With It", and "Are You Comfortable Being Around Hordes of Hot Men For Extended Periods of Time?!". A very tame dinner and movie were thrown in there for good measure. :)

And for those who missed watching the movie Juno with me, you also missed this surprise birthday message that came on right after the movie ON THE BIG SCREEN:

This birthday weekend has been full of laughter, tears, and more laughter. There were tears of joy, tears of gratitude, and tears of WAIT A MINUTE WHAT THE HECK IS *THAT* DOING ON THE SCREEN OMGOMGOMG!!!! Hahahahah.

Thankyouthankyouthankyou for all the birthday wishes, my dear friends. It means a lot that so many of you guys came out for lil' ol' me. I got a great start into the supposedly dreaded three-ohs. I am such a lucky girl. I ♥ you guys! *snif!*

That first post of 2008 was pretty drab. Thought I'd toss in the first pics of 2008. Here we are on a rooftop in downtown Austin:

A friend told me about high-dynamic range imaging (I haven't done any reading on it yet), but here are my preliminary experiments:

Ringin' in 2008 with both new and old (circa 1989!) friends in an amazing way.

After reading Rose's music list entry, I wanted to tell everyone about my first gift of 2008. I was the lucky recipient of a great mix CD that introduced me to a lot of stuff I hadn't heard before. This is definitely a CD I can listen to start to finish and have on repeat for a LONG time. Bonus: an included track listing with song and artist names and even track lengths! Thanks so much, T! :)

1. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson
2. 1234 - Feist
3. Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches
4. Beautiful Girls - Sean Kingston
5. Somewhere Over The Rainbow / What a Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
6. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
7. They Can't Take That Away From Me - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
8. Dancing in the Moonlight - Studio Group
9. First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes
10. Lullaby - Dixie Chicks
11. Upside Down - Jack Johnson
12. In My Life - The Beatles
13. First Time - Lifehouse
14. Young Folks - Peter Bjorn and John
15. Into the Ocean - Blue October
16. Thunder - Boys Like Girls
17. Hero-Heroine - Boys Like Girls
18. Say It Ain't So - Weezer
19. Disparate Thoughts - Matt Harding
20. World Spins Madly On - The Weepies
21. Gotta Have You - The Weepies

Considering my increasing distaste for what's on the radio these days (proportional to my old geezerness?), I'm glad I have friends who can expose me to new stuff.

Funny tidbit: someone had JUST told me about "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson a few weeks ago, I totally fell in love with it, and now T has it as song #1 on a mix CD for me. The universe sure knows how to freak me out (in a good way).

What's good on your playlist these days?

My best friends at the moment are: Robitussin, copious quantities of warm water, layers of clothing, and anything that will allow me to lay horizontally.

Energy levels are OK, and I sound like a frog, hahaha.

Looking forward to a better New Year's!

[ me on the phone with my DSL provider, regarding repeated dropped signals for long periods of time ]

Me: Yeah, so my internet's actually working NOW, but for example, last night I couldn't connect yet AGAIN, even after the technician came by and supposedly fixed the problem.
Nasal-voiced DSL Guy: Well, I'm looking at our connectivity reports last night ma'am, and there was a shortage last night.
Me (tired of them giving me the runaround): Shortage? What kind of shortage? Like, a power shortage? Shortage to what?
NVDG: Well, it could be a power shortage, or a variety of other calamities.
Me: Did you just say "calamities"? What sort of "calamities"?
NVDG: Well, you know, like ice storms.
Me (thinking to self - what a tard!): Ice storms?! You DO realize I live in Houston, Texas, right?!
NVDG: Well, not necessarily, I didn't mean ice storms, um ... [ starts laughing nervously ]

[ chatting online with friend who'd had a terrible day ]

Me (4:20:05 PM): but now i know
Me (4:20:10 PM): and knowing is half the battle
Me (4:20:19 PM): "GI JOEEEEE AMERICAN HEROOOO"
Friend Who'd Had Terrible Day (4:20:22 PM): GI HAHHHHHHH
Me (4:20:27 PM): hahahahahah
Me (4:20:33 PM): were we on the same wavelength there? 
FWHTD (4:20:36 PM): omg.. maniacal laughter caro
FWHTD (4:20:49 PM): i have just had a day, that felt good
Me (4:20:57 PM): kekekekekekkee

[ Online chat with friend who had an um, interesting link to share. Click thru at your own risk! ]

Friend With Interesting Link to Share (3:32:15 PM): if you need to blow four minutes for something really stupid (or just read the title): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-asA8s0c4A
Me (3:49:56 PM): i'm at work, and i've clicked thru
Me (3:50:03 PM): and i'm glad that i had the volume turned WAY DOWN LOW
FWILtS (3:50:11 PM): oooh
FWILtS (3:50:13 PM): sorry
Me (3:50:18 PM): i can't hear wha't s going on and i'm not sure that i want to hahaha
Me (3:50:26 PM): hahaha no
Me (3:50:30 PM): tis ok
FWILtS (3:50:30 PM): don't bother
Me (3:50:50 PM): i'm going to close the window now, as the queens or kings are engaged in a 69 position
Me (3:51:00 PM): and in slow mo
FWILtS (3:51:04 PM): right
FWILtS (3:51:33 PM): well, i gotta make sure to do nsfw next time, so that's completely my bad

Comic relief has been much appreciated during this high-stress week. Thanks to Chef Hugh and the gang for some super-appreciated social as well as culinary pleasantries:

That's right, Korean BBQ at home, foo! (I am SO going to buy that attachment for the gas burner)

With Chef Hugh's homemade soft tofu dessert with real ginger syrup.

I got a good start to the holiday season this weekend. As usual, click through for the complete set of pics and the hopefully witty comments.

Delicious-looking hotpot! I did not partake, but enjoyed a most excellent vegetarian pasta dish.

Decorating trees in the middle of the night on the side of 360. :)

In addition to making lots of new friends, I met up with Masako, whom I hadn't seen for at least five years!

Austin downtown on Congress at sunset, festively decorated for the holiday season.

Highlights:

Donnie threatening to bring a bottle of "Mount Gay Rum" and following through, proving that there really is such a product. :)

Discarding the rules of "Would You Rather" for reading and discussing and laughing at the questions freestyle.

Impromptu "garbage pail punch".

And last but not least: DOGGIES!!!!

Click through for all the canine chaos, complete with commentary. :)

Today I learned that ...

- my people were NUTS between 1966 and 1976. We were f@#%ing inhuman. WTF?!!?! [ courtesy of International Education Week speaker and professor of English composition at North Harris College, Dr. Wei Li ]

- Qatar is a country that shares a border with Saudi Arabia. The American diplomat to Qatar, Chase Untermeyer, joked that working as the chairman of the Texas State Board of Education, an unpaid position, helped prepare him for working as an ambassador in the middle east, since the fussing and feuding is about the same in intensity. :P

- you can pay for a specialty Texas license plate that says "God Bless America", "God Bless Texas", "The Lone Star State", and "FIGHT TERRORISM" (complete with a graphic representation of the twin towers doubling as the 11 in "9-11-01" enclosed in a pentagon shape) (I can't believe that last one is classified as a "Souvenir" plate ...)

- if a Toyota Corolla hits a wooden pallet on the highway even after slowing to 65 mph, it will FLY over it and have such an impact that any and all unsecured change in the car will scatter all over the floor

- the Sam Houston Tollway Emergency line (713.222.7328) is pretty responsive and will also handle reporting of road hazards

- I can have fun doing karaoke sober too. :)

Dude, I totally forgot to get my trusty tambourine in the picture.

Saw D again after at LEAST eight years. He looks the same!! Here he is in his natural work setting:

Did he wear pink just to spite me?

Sorry D, my pong form was not as heroic as it once was. I have become weak!!

It was so good to see him. I am pleasantly surprised by the intro and re-intro of Dulles Vikings into my life as of late.

Number one at the Hallowe'en costume contest as "Lobster Dinner". That's how my nephew rocks the show, yo. :)