First things first - I already apologized to my notify list for how boring Friday's entry was. I mean, ironing? And slippers? What was that about? So I'm going to try and mix things up a little bit and be more creative. After today of course, which will be devoted to detailing the loot I got for my birthday. Just so you know.

So, it was my birthday yesterday. I am now 27 years old - the age when Janis, Jimi, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain all died. Should I be worried? I guess not, because unlike those folks, I'm not a rock star and I don't ingest massive quantities of drugs. That pretty much cancels out my VH1 Legends narrated by Kris Kristofferson, doesn't it? I was telling my grandma that 27 is such a boring age. Nothing happens. It's not like 21 or 30 or 40 or something. You're just 27. Woo hoo!

I slept in late on my birthday (what else is new?) but this allowed Jim to go out and buy me stuff while I was still asleep and unaware, so it worked out. He woke me up when he returned with a bag of doughnuts in one hand and flowers in the other. Aw, what a great boyfriend! Plus he had made coffee! And done the dishes! That was really all I needed - that was better than any gift.

I proceeded to put the flowers in a vase while trying to keep Grendel from eating them too much - she loves flowers and whenever I get some, I arrange them in a vase and then stick the vase in the sink. I know the cats are just going to tip it over, so why create a mess? It's just easier.

Jim told me he thought he left some groceries in the trunk and could I go out and get them? I knew this was a cheap ploy and I yelled out, "My present!" Jim already got me kimreed.com (which should be working now) but I knew he was going to get me something else - and he did! I went out to the trunk and found a couple of Eddie Bauer bags that contained a really cool lamp. The night before I had been browsing the catalog and pointed out a lamp I liked to Jim - I didn't think he was paying attention. So that's it off to the right there. Pretty cool, huh? Except we don't have anywhere to plug it in, so it's just sitting on the end table. But soon there will be light!

Then Jim asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. I said I wanted to hang out on the couch and eat doughnuts and drink coffee and read the paper for a while, then I wanted to go for a drive somewhere and just find a place to eat dinner. So we drove to Cazenovia (about 15 or 20 minutes away and a beautiful drive) and had dinner at a little place called "Albert's". I loved it. We came home the long way, and Jim took me to the State Park to show me a beautiful view - the prettiest I've ever seen in Central NY, and that's saying a lot. Then we came home and hung out with the cats and I talked to friends on the phone who were calling to wish me a happy birthday, including Mary, my mom, my grandma and Wing Chun. I didn't get off the phone with Wing until after midnight and right before we said our goodbyes I said, "Oh look, it's not my birthday anymore!" but I didn't even mind because it had been such a great day.

Warning: clicking on these links will launch a new browser window.

Wing set me straight on which Backstreet Boy is which - and one of their girlfriends just wrote a tell-all book!

Dreamcast sales beat Sega's estimates by a little bit.

Joyce Millman of Salon takes on David E. Kelley, particularly his portrayal of women on his shows. And she has a good point.

This American Life is the best show on radio. And you can listen to the archives on your computer! How cool is that! I spent all day Friday listening to various shows while surfing and building sites.

Pop Culture Junk Mail is a cool site with lots of links to retro and/or pop culture sites.

Interesting - a teen alcoholic gets kicked off the basketball team for drinking, then sues to be reinstated because he's been discriminated against.

I've decided to stop resisting and just root for Syracuse University sports. It's just easier. Heck, I may become a Bills fan. That's me, joining the mainstream.