Brandy thinks it is time to get up when it gets light, which happens before 5am here. She clearly doesn't ever get fed adequately and doesn't mind at all that it is only 55°F and her mother really wants to stay under the covers. I caved around 6:30 and came downstairs to make coffee and let her frolic in the woods.

I read all my news and such before I came here because in my frozen early morning stupor I forgot that we have many pet parents here forced awake before that which is natural.

skip skip skippity skip

Oooh, Omnis, sounds like it's going well with The Girl? Excellent!

Hey, MM! Good job with the Academia-Fu!

Hugs and cookies and glitter to all as needs 'em. I am skipping in order to flail at the SHEER FUCKING ADORABILITY of Matt "Neville Longbottom" Lewis stressing out about the cricket in his Twitterstream, and Stephen Fry stressing out about the cricket in his Twitterstream. And Stephen Fry posting fretfully: "I don't think I've ever been more nervous. Either an outrageous world record for the Aussies or the end of 75 years of pain for us."

And then Matt Lewis posting: "@stephenfry: I couldn't have put it better myself, sir."

flails

It is the "sir" that has slain me. I can't think of a single young person of my acquaintance who uses that word. I'm always terribly disarmed by Americans using "sir" and "ma'am" at people, but I can tell you it's a hell of a rarity in the UK. Or at least the bits I've been in. So my heart has just exploded with whatever the female equivalent of avuncular pride would be. Good job, that boy!

Meanwhile, I spent a highly amusing half hour this afternoon taking tea (well, pink lemonade actually) with a Liberian gentleman who assured me that not only was he a pop star in his own country (one of the top 3, apparently), but he just so happened to have a huge amount of pure 24 carat gold in storage at the airport, which he had brought out to Bangkok for his dead father's business partner, but that since said business partner had vanished back to Japan leaving no contact details, here he is in Bangkok with lots of gold, needing the help of some selfless soul.

@@

This is what I get for writing Leverage fanfic. The universe gives me cute conartists. Cute very very bad conartists. Called Dave.

...

...honestly, I felt bad for the guy. Not bad enough to touch his scam with a bargepole, but bad. Whilst also thinking it was truly hilarious.

Fay!

Liberian gentleman who assured me that not only was he a pop star in his own country (one of the top 3, apparently), but he just so happened to have a huge amount of pure 24 carat gold in storage at the airport, which he had brought out to Bangkok for his dead father's business partner, but that since said business partner had vanished back to Japan leaving no contact details, here he is in Bangkok with lots of gold, needing the help of some selfless soul.

You should have told him that the Nigerians seem to have more luck with this using e-mail. I say that even though there was a little old lady taken in by a similar scam here a month or so ago. I hope when I'm old that I remember that there's no such thing as free money, no matter how nice that young man seems to be.

MM, I hope you managed to get a nap in. Can you and Aims borrow an appropriately sized kennel for Ollie? Something small enough that he couldn't jump around in but you could keep closer to you guys so he could feel a bit more social but still be physically calmer?

I know it's difficult to crate train an adult dog but he might be calmer if he can be with the family.

Just a suggestion. I was up till nearly 4. I got lucky and no kids crawled into bed with me until 7:30! And here I am awake at 8:30 while they sleep on--in my spot. Parenthood sucks.

Lone picture of me from Saturday night. (At least that I'm letting out into the world.)

[link]

And then Matt Lewis posting: "@stephenfry: I couldn't have put it better myself, sir."

That is adorable.

I'm always terribly disarmed by Americans using "sir" and "ma'am" at people, but I can tell you it's a hell of a rarity in the UK.

I never used "sir" or "ma'am" when I was growing up, but after moving to New Orleans for college, I very quickly learned that I needed to use them in the South. I was also frequently startled by people calling eighteen-year-old me "ma'am." Like, people my own age, not just kids. (The kids I tutored, who would have just called me "Hillary" up north, called me "Miss Hillary" there. Which was kind of cute. I think that, in the NYC area anyway, we stopped the "Miss Firstname" stuff after nursery school. Everyone after that was either Mr./Ms./Miss/Mrs. Lastname or just Firstname.)

I am disappointed. I just found out that the veggie hot dogs sold at the stands in Freeport, Maine, are not vegan. There is, as far as I know, only one non-vegan brand, and they use that one.

y'all are not helping to convince me to get a pet. Yup. Happy my apartment doesn't allow them. Sleep is a very valuable thing. Speaking of, that headache yesterday, that finally went away around 1am, ya, it woke me up around 6 am. However the Tylenol seems to have worked this time. Thankfully. Now, off to work. Maybe I'll leave early today. Ha. As if.

A few of DH's basketball kids call me Ma'am, others call me Mrs. Holt, or Mrs. Coach. Some of the neighborhood kids call me Miss Laura. I think it is a southern thing because I haven't encountered it other places, but it could be because I got old in the south.

Not much to do with age, I think. Frankly, if I think that the person is older than me, I use "ma'am". I like the "Miss Firstname" thing. It shows some respect for the elder, while still having some familiarity beyond a stranger on the street.