And Venus was her name

She's got it, ooh baby, she's got it. She's so beautiful, that's why Jack named her Black Beauty, or Beauty for short. She was always his best girl, and I was his second, and the three of us, well, we had quite a ride these last thirteen years.

Next week, she'll be coming to live with her Auntie Sass in San Jose. And one day, we'll go home together, for good.

They say it's your birthday

It is, at exactly 3:30 this morning, and I have the best friends in the world, I really do. They've been all over my Facebook page for the last couple of days, already — I love Facebook, and that's one of the reasons, it alerts you to when your friends' birthdays are looming. And when you enter yours, you have the option of not displaying the year.

I started lying about my age when I turned 31, so I'm really good at it by now. Mostly, I just don't say, and let people assume what they will. Call me vain. I really don't care.

I've been dreading the day for weeks, and wasn't planning to do anything other than stay in bed all day, under the covers, but then JB called a few days ago and said, "What do you want to do on your birthday?"

Now, JB is motivated this summer to party all out because he's an impending father, and he knows his life as a party boy is about to come to an end. But that's OK, I'm fine being his enabler.

I want to go to this place, I replied. Karaoke.

I miss my karaoke buddies terribly. Carson, Mo, The Viking, Operaman, Wendy and Joey, Lana, Fudge, Jet Run, and most of all, Sparky. I miss my real old friends: Gilbert, Rex, Genie, Maria, Donny, Lulu, and Zee.


I miss Toronto.

When I go to Jack's city without him it's six parts sadness, one part happy, and three parts nostalgia, and I think that's just about right. He never missed my birthday in 12 years, and he's not going to miss it today. He'll always be with me.

It's not much of a story, I know, Gentle Reader, but it's all I've got.