I feel like Jim Anchower, of The Onion fame, because I'm always starting entries with "Well, I know I haven't rapped at ya in a while, but. . ." But what are you gonna do?

No real reason I haven't been updating. Well, that's not true. Other things have definitely been going on: a major new ATF project (which I'm allowing to drag out forever) has been taking up a lot of my time, work has been really busy (and alternating between incredibly fulfilling and mind numbingly frustrating), and I've been very busy cultivating my social life so that it closely resembles a dead pine tree. The aesthetics of that particular task are exhausting, leaving little time for blogging.

Perhaps that's unfair. A lot of time (for a while, at least until the task was taken over by Allison) had been taken up by the planning and preperation for my birthday party. A party which is easily the best birthday party I've ever been to, and if you were there, you'd know what I'm talking about. There'll be pictures up on ATF Adventures as soon as I can figure out an efficient way to do that sort of thing (something about javascript, etc). I'm going to make a concerted effort to get that done tonight.

I do want to say a few words about the party, however. Initially just three, and then a follow-up. Best. Party. Ever. Seriously, it was out of control. And not only because there were a lot of people there (which was nice, but honestly I was paying for everyone who wanted to booze at a party in Brooklyn. There are going to be a lot of people there). But just because of the supreme effort it took by my friends to put it all together and make it all work. Let's run it down, shall we?

First of all (and perhaps most amazingly), Agent Double Oh Zero played. Which is amazing, because members had to come in from all sorts of places (including our very own Ton, who flew in from California). And they are totally the skapunk band I know. Seriously. Go buy their album. My understanding is that Ben had a lot to do with making this happen, which was just spectactular. So big up himself, and the whole Double Oh Zero crew for making it happen and having it be a complete surprise to me.

Also, the beautiful and talented Katya put in a lot effort helping to set up the party, and also did a pair of performance. And let me tell you something. When a beautiful acrobat like you enough to do a striptease and aerialist act for you and a hundred of your closest friends, it makes you feel really loved. To say nothing of the other feelings it arouses. And let's not, shall we?

The Great Throwdini (aka the Reverend David Adamovich) was nice enough to do his full knife throwing act, taking a lot of time out of a very busy schedule. The act was incredible, and the audience was rapt. This is both a testament to the fact that Throwdini is an excellent performer, and the fact that the girl on the board was the lovely Target Girl Miss Allison, a stunning beauty and close friend to a number of the people at the party. Again, if you want to hold the attention of a number of your friends, have some dude throw pointy objects at you while you're wearing a corset. Rapt, I tell you. Though for some reason, I don't think it'd work for me.

And speaking of Miss Allison. . . After she learned that ADOZ was going to play the party, Ally knew that I could no longer be involved in the planning and still have it be a surprise. So she put what I'm sure was an exhausting effort before, during, and after the party to stage manage the entire thing. The fact that she cares about me enough to put in so much effort for my birthday party astounded me, and is just a wonderful, wonderful feeling.

And the party went off without a hitch. Much like Ally and Katya's clothing during the last act, a striptease at the party, wherein they danced around as cupcakes and took their clothes off.

I say this with absolutely no sense of irony or amusement (play close attention, because this doesn't happen very often when I'm sober): To have such friends makes it clear to me that I am blessed. Thanks to everyone who came to enjoy the party (even those of you who just came for the booze), double thanks to everyone who performed, and for those who were involved in the planning, well. . . huge.