Happy birthday...

To fandom_me:






I hope your birthday is a delight - and that the coming year is a good one in every way, full of good times and creative energy.

My Scottish Umbrella...

Have I talked about my Scottish umbrella here? Possibly... probably... I love it as a precious artifact and have talked about it in various venues far more than it warrants. And will probably do so again.

I lost it yesterday. It was raining intermittently, so I decided to take the bus home rather than to walk. I settled down with the umbrella in my lap while I read Chaucer, and I was soon engrossed, and suddenly there I was, approaching Third Avenue, where I get off. So I did. And realized just as the bus pulled away that I no longer had the umbrella.

I bought that umbrella on a sunny day in April, 1994, in Boots on Princes St., Edinburgh. It was the first day of a two-week visit to Scotland, which included a large gathering of Dorthy Dunnett fans. I realized on arrival that I didn't have an umbrella with me, and I was sure that in two weeks in Scotland there would be plenty of rain. After Beulah and Lyn and I settled into our rooms at Pollock Halls of Residence, they decided to nap to get over jet-lag, and I decided to go on an expedition to buy an umbrella.

And yes, I love wandering around strange cities. Old cities. Different cities.

The umbrella is black, collapsible, and has a wooden handle. It wasn't very expensive - I don't remember how much. It looks like a thousand other umbrellas, quite ordinary, but I can't help loving it whenever I look at it, because of the happy memory of that day. That week. Those two weeks. During which, I might add, it didn't rain until the last day we were there. I only had the umbrella up for about fifteen minutes all told, but I felt that justified its purchase.

Today I telephoned the lost & found department of the bus company, OC Transpo. I described my umbrella, last seen on the #7. The woman said they had it, explained the hours during which I could pick it up, and took my name. I had to repeat it slowly and spell it (even more slowly) for her four times - is "Elizabeth" so difficult? No matter. She was friendly and good-natured (if slow), and after work I went down to their office - conveniently only three blocks from where I work - and picked it up. I am now happily reunited with my Scottish umbrella, and feeling lucky to have it in my possession again.

Veronica Mars: Un-American Graffiti and Debasement Tapes..

I hadn't seen the last five episodes of Veronica Mars. There was a sort of hiatus, at least on the station where I get it, and I taped it but hadn't watched it. I love the show, usually can't wait for the next episode - and Sheila said she wanted to discuss it with me, had asked me half a dozen times if I'd see it yet. No. Why not?

Two contradictory reasons. One is that I am rather seriously hooked on the Veronca/Logan relationship. Things didn't look good when last I'd watched; I was afraid of seeing it go wrong. I don't trust producers.

The other reason was that I didn't want it all to be over. If this is it for Veronica Mars, I wanted to delay the end.

Then last night I took the plunge ( and watched... )

Today I got home from work and settled down to watch episode 3.18, "I know what you'll do Next Summer", and discovered I don't have it.

Damn.

I hope Sheila recorded it.