Happy Birthday Holly!

I seem to recall,  many many moons ago when I got my first computer,  someone explained to me that computers are binary– that they convert everything to ones and zeroes and then do the arithmetic really fast.   It is a fleeting memory and was honestly of rather little help to me in trying to decipher just one of the items on my friend Holly’s scavenger hunt list.

I’ve long known that I am very much an odd duck.   I am probably the only person you know who does not own a cell phone  (and doesn’t Want to;  though I am hoping to buy an Android tablet this month).   And not having a phone,   I’m also one of the only people I know who doesn’t regularly take pictures.  (The fact that I’m really not good at it seems to matter rather more to me than it does to most folks who lack skills photographic.)   While I suppose I could spend a bit of this post fussing at Holly for her very un-writerly emphasis on pictures,   I decided instead to try to address every item on her list over the course of  three blog posts,  this being the last of those three.

I keep odd hours,  and my personal   “first thing in the morning”  is liable to be at most any hour on the clock.    I truly love being retired.   I go to bed when I feel tired.   I wake up when I wake up.   And in between I pretty much only do what I feel like doing,  when I feel like doing it.  But even if I got up at a regular time each morning,  I don’t think I would be willing to share with you a picture of what I look like at that hour.   Holly on the other hand,  is I believe a morning person.   I picture Holly first thing in the morning like Lily Tomlin in the movie 9 to 5:   in the sequence where they fantasize about killing the boss and Tomlin’s character sees it as a very Disney like affair,  in a colorful costume surrounded by legions of animated animals.     My favorite song is Billy Joel’s  Say Goodbye To Hollywood.   The lyric  “you say a word out of line,  and find that the friends you had are gone forever”  is very, very true in my experience.

So happy birthday, Holly.   While I did not exactly follow any of the instructions  err rules,  I believe over these three blog posts I have addressed every item on your list.   And finally,  I am at heart a New Orleans boy,  even though I haven’t lived in that city for many years now.   And even the poorest New Orleanians know that the cake for any birthday is a half lemon, half chocolate doberge cake.    Now that Beaulah Ledner has passed away,  most folks in New Orleans buy their birthday doberge from Gambino’s Bakery,  which bought out Mrs. Ledner’s recipe and continues to make and sell these wonderful cakes.   If you can’t get to New Orleans for your birthday,  click on the picture to order one from the Ambrosia Bakery.

197 comments on “Happy Birthday Holly!

  1. Happy Birthday, Holly! This blog just like a coffee or tea for me. I drop by everyday to see any update to my friends 🙂

    • Thanks, Saulman. I intend to! (You know, it’s really only 3/2, here, still.) In the morning, my son’s got his first Fencing tournament. He’d originally told his coach he couldn’t participate, since it was my birthday. Sweet kid! I told her he could, if he wanted to – what better way to start my birthday than watching him in a swashbuckling duel, eh? Think winning thoughts his way, come morning!

  2. Many Happy returns of the Day i.e. Happy Birthday Holly and may the universal power grant you your wishes for your benefit, Always Smile, Cheers , Have a Good one today !

  3. Alan!! Oh my goodness gracious. I love your rebellious, color-outside-the-lines approach to my Scavenger Hunt! You GOT it, without ever asking me one question. That’s worth bonus points, right there. (I have to be honest, I have loved being fêted – not foetid, fêted! – over three posts on your blog, too!)

    What did you do, Alan? Change your blog’s TIME ZONE in my honor?? I love it. Can you make March 3 last all week? I’ll dedicate my Hugo-winning story to you, if you can!

    Thank you ALL for the sweet birthday wishes.

    • My blog is on, I believe, an Australian time zone where the WP.com servers live. Midnight in that time zone comes at 4pm my time zone each day. (6pm your time I think.) I set every post to go live at 12:01am server time on the post date. So I am always ahead of most of my US friends on this blog…..maybe that’s another reason I no longer keep regular hours 🙂

  4. Happy Birthday, Holly! I hear you are the muse for the ages as well as many stories that have painted you as a classic heroine, possibly even demigoddess.I am celebrating your birthday by listening to 9-5 (The Dolly version), but as a twist I am imagining you killing off every food pornish dish featured on these backgrounds for the whole year, calorie free, and full of rich flavors! Just because I’m weird, I imagine you doing it with singing and dancing utensils. I can’t deliver on that though so suffice to accept my warmest wishes for a wonderful year filled with people you love.

    • Mandy, with an imagination like yours, you really ought to enter my Scavenger Hunt! There’s still time. I understand if you don’t want to compete with our buddy Alan, here, but I think you’d have fun with it! Deadline’s noon tomorrow, Pacific time. And thank you. 🙂

  5. Happy Birthday Holly!. I have to confess that one of the best things about joining Empire Avenue has been meeting you and your little dust bunny sidekick. Your warmth, sense of humor and sense of fun light up The Avenue. I am so honored that I’ve gotten to know you and you know who. I hope this birthday year is the best ever.

    Huge,
    Karen Marie

    • I’m going to dye her hair tangerine orange while she sleeps. That’s going to be MY birthday present to our favorite author. Do you think she’ll squeal with delight in the morning, when she sees herself in the mirror?

      Muahahahahaha!!

      • I’ll be sleeping with one eye open. I wonder if Fencing regulations would allow you to ride the button on my son’s foil at his first tournament tomorrow, Prunebutt?

      • We all know I’m what you look like, first thing in the morning. No matter what anyone drew for your little Scavenger hunt, you look JUST LIKE ME.

      • I’ve been having a bit of a belly ache all day. Not like I ate to much or something disagreed with me…like the muscles are sore. And I just now realized that it is an after effect, a sort of laughter-related hangover from all the laughing I did during this great birthday party. (Thinking next week I will get my #definethis tweeters to say something to you again, @Prunebutt1)

    • Hi, Michelle. I have no idea why my reply to you, yesterday, ended up several comments below this – blame it on the mojito, maybe? Or an overdose of lamb and red velvet cupcake? Thank you for joining Alan’s little “surprise birthday party” for me, here!

    • Thanks, Lindy! It was great. 🙂

      All day, my cell phone bleeped with “happy birthday” messages from all over the world. I didn’t answer most of them, because I was completely away from the PC for most of the day – having fun offline!

    • I enjoyed myself a lot – not sure I did anything “wicked,” exactly, unless making the guy with the lamb chops come by our table every 5 minutes or so, and indulging in not one, but TWO Crave cupcakes counts!

    • LOL – I think that after the photo, the videos, and the other happy birthday wishes you’ve sent me all over my favorite sites, a three word comment IS, indeed, acceptable! Thank you, Boo. I loved One Day – and I do hope “one day” we get to sit down and enjoy that salmon together!

    • Lleane, thanks so much for coming over here to add another happy birthday for Holly. (Honestly I had no clue the ones and zeros were about creating a meme– I was just trying to attract lots of comments as any savvy blogger would 🙂

    • Thank you so much for posting the 100th comment in this thread, Diana. I was really impressed by Holly’s attempt at thanking each of you commentators individually (and normally I do try real hard to reply to every comment, but I am just not up to it today 🙂 I am so grateful to each and every one of you who stopped by to wish Holly a happy birthday. You’re the best!

      • I had to give it up FOR my birthday, you know – I wasn’t near a PC most of the day! But I did smile every time I saw “happy birthday” messages on my phone. (My big fat fingers like to reply on a real keyboard, though, unless it’s an emergency.) Thank you, Alan.

        Thank you to all of you who answered Alan’s call, too – it’s really sweet of you to wish me a happy birthday!

    • That it is, Sharon. Alan has really outdone himself, throwing me this online surprise party!

      Oh, Alan, thank you for the fruit basket today – I’m in need of fruit, after yesterday’s carnivorous escapades at Fogo and all the cupcakes!

  6. I just realized that the way your birthday is running, we’ve celebrated it like 4 times…did you age 4 years! OMG! If so you need to beat our friend about the head and shoulders with crisp broccoli and use harsh old English to punish him for it! But seriously, a very happy birthday and many more! Not too many, but just the right amount. You’ll know when that is. For me it’s the 6th year in adult diapers or 4th year I’ve done nothing but drool, but that’s my fault as my advanced directive explicitly states I be plugged into the car cigarette lighter to keep me going if necessary – just in case the zombie apocalypse does happen so I can join them. I’d be a rockin’ zombie!

    • I think I’m going to age 4 years, just trying to catch up with all the lovely birthday messages that have been posted for me here and on Facebook and Twitter – oh, Alan, yes, I figured it out – this WAS your #10, wasn’t it??

      Thank you, mandyf. I’m with you on “just the right amount”!! I want my head in a freezer next to Disney’s. Mainly to be a freaky footnote in the topic of cryogenics in future encyclopedias, but – you know, there’s that tiny grain of optimism that says they might be able to thaw it and attach it to the body of a sexy 18 year old in the year 2476.

      • But what if some clever future sadist attached your long frozen head to a monster? (don’t think I want to try the cryogenics thing) And as I commented somewhere above…I hadn’t a clue what the 1’s and zeroes were Saying. (I don’t speak binary.) This was just my little way of getting a lot of comments. Allie should have put it on her list 🙂

      • What’s really funny is that the folks who did understand and convert the binary message replied in kind, but DIDN’T really attempt to follow its instruction. YOU created a meme (or sort of attempted to) without reading the instruction at all!

      • To me it speaks to and reinforces my belief in a higher power. But I am loath to say anything that might start discussion of religion or politics both of which are verboten on this blog 🙂

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