Four of them.

A huge Happy Birthday to Cat (22 yesterday), to Jill (21 this 
coming Saturday), and to Colleen (also 21, the day after Jill). 
Loads of love and best wishes to all three birthday blondes.



None show any signs at all of having another year on the clock, 
distinctly unlike yours truly. It's a grim thing to notice 
greys creeping into my beard, to accompany the now-familiar 
occasional stowaway on my head. My own 25th was of course on 
Saturday past, as I mentioned before. It was a quiet day, as I 
like it to be, with a very welcome visit from Cat in the 
afternoon and a relaxed evening in with Fiona.



Regarding gifts, I did pretty well as always, so many thanks to all 
those concerned. Fi got me a display katana, some water guns, and the 
new Alanis Morissette album; I got some money from the parents; Jill 
gave me a copy of The Unbearable Lightness of Being (with a very 
Jill-style card and a smiley face sticker); my brother got me the Thin 
Lizzy Greatest Hits double-album (possibly the best gift he's ever 
given me in my life); and Cat got me a way cool micro-sized remote 
control car, some Noddy fridge-magnets, and some green tea from 
Whittard's, which I'm now completely addicted to (seriously, if you 
haven't tried it, do so now - the documented health benefits alone 
are reason enough).



Cheers also to all those who sent birthday wishes via various media. 
Here's looking on the bright side of being a quarter of a century old, 
and anticipating reduced motor insurance premiums!



The events of last Friday, coupled with turning 25 the next day, did 
somewhat reduce my assessment of my overall coolness, but that seems 
to have picked up again this week. Happily, I still both rock 
<em>and</em> rule, so here's to another year of undiluted goddamn 
acecore legendosity.