I'm on vacation on the beach in foggy Oregon, watching illegal fireworks, and celebrating one of Dear Old Dad's birthdays with a zero at the end. I'm not just talking about my ne'er do well cousins, either. It's been awesome fun, with an incredibly cute nephew to admire, and all sorts of other inducements. Such as listening to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on the trip up, seeing Kick-Ass for 75¢, and the 4th o'July parade down the one-block long main street, complete with a giant cheese float and dancing bunches of grapes overseen by the great god Dionysus. I don't remember Dionysus presiding at any of the small town festivals of my youth...

I haven't forgotten y'all, even though my commenting has fallen off ridiculously, and even the reading has been hit and miss. I signed up for schmoop_bingo , like everybody else, and with luck and perseverance, I may have something for that soon. If you'd like to suggest some rare character pairings, it might get the mental gears moving...

sleepy times	drunken confession of love	lazy Sunday	friend in need	amusement park
illness – shared	candlelight sex	stuffed animal	hot cocoa	picnic
birthday – celebrant is sick	watching the game	WILD CARD	unexpected date	butterfly kisses
greeting card	dancing	“I love you” – first	office/workplace party	kidfic – first injury
secret admirer	wedding	perfume/cologne	coming home from long trip	anniversary – perfect gift

I also got a nifty nomination for Best Gen and Best Quickie Fic in Round 21 of the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards for my ficlet about Giles and the Classics, The Lioness on the Cheese Grater. Since the story is almost half quotes from Lysistrata, I'm not real confident that it's a fine example of my writing. Though maybe it is, since I often refer to my betters in my work. Heh. Anyway, my most sincere thanks to my kindly nominator, and here's the pretty:



I hope you all had a wonderful 4th, even if it's just another Sunday where you live.