Five Things Make Up an Entry. I've tried to make them good ones.

[mrissa]

1. I am writing a short story for one of you. It's called "Twelve Things You Don't Know About Dryads." (There is a reason for this title, but the person whose story it is doesn't know the reason yet.) Yesterday I sat down with a creamy thick piece of notepaper and a pen with leafy green ink and wrote down eighteen possible section headings. I crossed out six. Now I have to reorder the remaining twelve. But I think this is good. The first three were usable but tepid. I'm sorry to have to miss #15. I am happy with this process, though. It was satisfying in more than one way.

2. One of the things I crossed off the dryad list was, "Who last really impressed them." Who last really impressed you? It was much more of an lj question than a dryad question, I think. ("Why dryads do not use lj" was not on the list.)

3. I got two hours of extra sleep this morning and feel almost human as a result. Still nauseated this morning. Still much vertigo. But far better to have nausea and vertigo without feeling like I'm going to lose structural integrity and melt into a little puddle of exhaustion on the floor.

4. I have a birthday present! I don't know what it is or from whom, but an Amazon box arrived addressed to me, and I hadn't ordered anything for myself, so I had markgritter check to see if it was a birthday present, and it was. So it will remain unopened for another 11 days. (This is actually my second birthday present of the year, but the first one arrived in June and was not clearly labeled, "BIRTHDAY PRESENT: DO NOT OPEN." So I opened it. It arrived from a different country, whose inhabitants were less confident of the mails than this occasion warranted.)

I suspect that I am putting a bit too much emotional weight on this birthday being a good one. But there are some years when you really sort of need a good birthday. And I am the easiest person in the world to make happy on and around my birthday. Time with friends and family is the very best thing. Lj comments and e-mails are great. Cards/postcards and phone calls are happy-making. And I maintain that I am the easiest person I know to buy presents for, since a wide variety of types and prices of gift will make me flat-out gleeful, and not only do I have a long list of happy-making options readily available online, I am also pleased with things not appearing on that list. We already have plans for the birthday-related baking being accomplished (by Mom and me, so it'll be fun time together rather than me flailing at vertigo limitations). I have a family party and a friend party planned, with other family and friend options on the horizon. This seems like it's going to work out.

5. markgritter and I are trying a new restaurant this evening. I like getting past the "we should do that sometime" phase to the "sometime is now" phase.

Comments

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

Could I get on the sharing list for the Dryad piece when it's done?

While Dryads may not use LJ, I suspect they approve on some level- it's journaling with no trees wasted. :)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I don't usually keep track for short stories, but I will try to remember.

[columbina.livejournal.com]

I am (not terribly) sorry to say that the majority of the mental responses I came up with to that title are definitely PG-13 or beyond.

Nonetheless, I'd like to see the dryad piece.

Who last really impressed the dryads? George Washington Carver.

Who last really impressed me? A British tank crew. But unfortunately the margins are not sufficient to contain the explanation.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

As I said to mamapduck half a second ago, I don't usually keep reader lists for short stories, but I will try to remember.

None of my responses are PG-13 so far. They may become so in the writing.

[fmi-agent.livejournal.com]

Yes, a good birthday is richly deserved :) Let us know how the Levain is...

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Side question: I know that "five things make an entry" is a thing, but where did it come from? Why doesn't one thing make an entry?

B

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

It was how wilfulcait used to organize her random entries; she was used to posting to an online journal before she got an lj, and she wanted her entries there to be longer than just a line or two most of the time.

I know that some people do it because it's what people do, but I do it deliberately in memory of her. She was my friend, and she died far too young. As one's friends do no matter what age they are, I suppose. Still. Whenever I have a "five things" post, I think of her.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

The most interesting things can be memory triggers.

B

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

I can remember being impressed rather recently by someone who was very sharp and with it and on top of things. But I can't remember who is was...

MKK

My last name mangled at Ellis Island, perhaps?

[jymdyer.livejournal.com]

=v= Happy birthday. Coincidentally, I was once told by a pagan (of the neo- variety) that since my birthday's on the Autumnal Equinox, I'm some sort of wood nymph.

Re: My last name mangled at Ellis Island, perhaps?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

One of my college friends started calling me "Nymph" for a few hours after I turned up in the physics offices with rain in my hair and wearing a little flowered frock. I talked him out of it before it got near anybody else, thank goodness.

Re: My last name mangled at Ellis Island, perhaps?

[jymdyer.livejournal.com]

=v= Wow, lucky thing that was nipped in the bud. Wouldn't want that to get revealed on the Internet, now.

Re: My last name mangled at Ellis Island, perhaps?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I think I would be much better at, "Not really enjoying that, so you can stop any time," now than I would have been at 17 with the relentless ribbing characteristic of my then-20-to-22-year-old friends.

[prettymuchpeggy.livejournal.com]

Birthdays are tricky ...I should know - mine is a national holiday every year. (I have my personal vetch around the subject - I am not sharing that now.)

If it is the milestone factor, I have found that my life keeps getting better with every decade. Most of the improvement revolves around allowing myself to be who I choose to be, rather than worrying about what other people think. This philosophy has set of troubles all its own, but on the whole it is far easier apologize for missteps than it is to remove my own foot from my own backside.

My best advice for your party is to approach it with the gratitude of what it is, rather than worrying about what it should or ought to be. Harder to do than to say, however kicks the worry thing's arse, if put into practice.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Heh. No, it's not the milestone factor at all. One of the advantages of having most of my friends older than me? One of the advantages of parents and grandparents who never really bought into the Oh Noes over age? Whatever it is, I will be relieved not to be "in my twenties" any more.

No, the attachment to this being a good birthday in particular is because the vertigo has knocked out so many things I've wanted to do in the past 8+ months that I am feeling pretty fun-deprived. Not totally fun-deprived, obviously. But still, a lot of the things I enjoy are less enjoyable right now or else not things I can do at all. And I can't wait for that to be over; but in the meantime I can't wait to have some good stuff I can do.

[prettymuchpeggy.livejournal.com]

Ah, I have a better understanding now. I can see how the not feeling physically well can make for some losses and color the good things with a grayish hue. It is good that you are "not totally fun-deprived". So now how does one best shower you with a joyful experience for your birthday?

****Apologies for misreading the post and tainting it with my own birthday angst. That old creeping crud is quite pervasive. I will take extra caution in future.****

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

No apologies needed! I am amused rather than offended at the idea that I would be angstful at turning thirty. I have so very many people who would mock me into prostration if I tried to claim that I was getting ooooooold at thirrrrrrty. I mean, you probably haven't known me long enough to have a good sense of when I am gently mockable (answer: most of the time), but wouldn't you have the urge to roll your eyes just a little bit if someone was moping about being elderly at thirty? I would, and I'm (almost!) thirty myself!

As for showering me with a joyful experience, you're local, so you could come to my party if your schedule permitted, and that would be quite enough to count as part of joy. Or I will post on the day of, and you can leave happy wishes on my lj. That would make me smile. Or...I don't even know, really; I'm very easy to make happy on and around my birthday.

[prettymuchpeggy.livejournal.com]

Oh good! The plan is to show up sometime after 9pm after

*Welcoming Niece (who arrives in the early afternoon from Houston, but this is important to both of us. She will probably go with her dad to play Halo in the evening to wee hours.)
*Making an appearance at IABW Dance (friends are running it)

There are a couple of other things on the day, but those are the big ones.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Great!

I hope to be part of a really good day overall; what a busy way to kick off August!

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

re: #3. When you feel almost human as a result of two hours extra sleep, does that mean you feel less in tune with your dryad roots?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Heh. But I haven't dryad roots, I have tomte roots. This is the wrong red had to show you what I mean, but I had the right red hat a few years ago, and it was alarmingly clear.