Happy Birthday, Harri3tspy!

My daughter is now the proud owner of a set of Japanese fighting swords. Yes, you heard me correctly. Swords. We went to the mall together so she could pick up her boot from the shoemaker (she broke the zipper while trying to yank it up when it was obviously caught on something, in the dark yet) and the swords were waiting for her across the hallway at the tabagie. They really are quite lovely, if you like that sort of thing. There are three of them, ranging in size from a one-foot blade to a three-foot katana, wrapped in decorative sheaths which match the hilts, so that clad they look like green, hooded cobras. For your information, a katana is the kind of sword that Uma Thurman�s character uses in Kill Bill. We also spent way too much at Costco, that temple to consumerism, but ate so many free samples that we were quite filled to the gills. I know that summer has really arrived because I bought my first watermelon today and we cracked it open after supper. It was fantastic.

When she got home from work last night, Little Princess was sobbing. Apparently as a telemarketer she has dealt with rude would-be customers, but for the first time someone told her to �fuck off�. She was really hurt by it, but still had the professionalism to tell him to �have a nice day�. However, it took quite a while for the sobbing to stop. That was her second disappointment for the day. The first one came when the three other members of her string quartet stopped talking as she came back into the room. She heard enough to know that they were discussing a gig, and apparently she was not included. Then, as they were breaking up the rehearsal, the violist said to the first violinist and the cellist, �I�ll call you about the 6th.� So instead of asking for a ride from the violist, Little Princess walked home, carrying her violin, and found a bush with ripe black raspberries on it, gathering a handful to share with the rest of us. If buying a set of decorative Japanese fighting swords makes her feel better, who am I to object?

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