happy_birthday_raze nr happiest of birthdays to you! i hope you enjoy lots of smoo in the form of no city workers working or chirpy birds chirping before the sun, but maybe some extra-original/insane half_asleep_thoughts and a random footstool sighting. thanks for all you do. have the best day. 220815 ... nr also, i will oddly never forget that you and madonna have the same birthday. 220815 ... i effed it up uhhhh okay, let me clear up that it is after midnight here right now. i forgot blather is on pacific time. how did i forget this??? i am up late because i am bad at going to bed early and thought it was already tomorrow. raze's birthday is august 16, not 15! 220815 ... tender_square twenty-one years and three thousand, four hundred and fifty plus blathes under this name (thirteen hundred of which are from the last year alone). take a moment and let those numbers sink in. not only are you the first on these red walls to make ‘skites feel welcome, and you’re a wellspring of encouragement and support for our red_family, but you’re also a magician that morphs seemingly mundane experiences into lasting and memorable portraits of beauty, truth and meaning and Y̳O̳U̳ ̳D̳O̳ ̳T̳H̳I̳S̳ ̳E̳V̳E̳R̳Y̳ ̳D̳A̳Y̳. you keep our red place surviving and thriving. thank you for being you. happiest of birthday’s to you, raze. i hope your day is full of all the love and squirrels you can handle. 220816 ... raze you two are going to make me cry over here. this is the sweetest thing to wake up to. thank you so much. (and thank you both for being here, and for being the magical humans you are.) 220816 ... past hey, happy birthday to blather's best oracle! 220816 ... epitome of incomprehensibility Hope you have a wonderful birthday! You deserve it. I raise a glass of blatherale* to your health and creativity. *I think it's a smoothie of apple juice, blackberries, and beets with a touch of cinnamon 220816 ... raze i love that you just invented a red_blather beverage (and it sounds delicious). that's so you. and me, an oracle! that's a mighty compliment. you know, i always kind of felt like i missed the boat by never owning a magic 8 ball. but maybe the spherical divining rod was in me all along, and i just didn't know it? (i'm getting all "wizard of oz" denouement-esque here.) but seriously. y'all are the best. thanks for being my blather family. i love you. 220816 ... kerry gahh did i get your birthday wrong?? was it the 15th?? happy birthday (blather-belated, i hope you saw my email)! red wouldn't be what it is without you. 220817 ... kerry wait i just saw on nr's blathe that your birthday is indeed the 16th. so, i'm not as late as i thought. anyway, cheers to you! 220817 ... raze you had it right! it was yesterday. and i saw your email just before i turned in for the night (i aim to write you back today). thank you for thinking of me. thank you for being my friend. 220817 ... tender_square i know that the distance between who you’ve been and where you are today feels like a spectre of a past life. but i think you’ve been navigating a devastating series of losses with an incredible amount of courage, fortitude, and endurance. the creativity and beauty you pour into this space daily reaffirms my belief in the power of writing and the urgency to get it all down before it’s gone; you’re the heart that keeps this place alive. i hope you have a day that’s regenerative and relaxing and full of floofy love. and i hope you get to spend some quality time with the people who mean most to you. congratulations on four decades of being fucking awesome. 230816 ... nr happy birthday, j! i hope you have a wonderful day, and that all of the living things you love celebrate you today. i'm sure the squirrels are having a party. thank you for always keeping this place alive and giving it so much creative life. 230816 ... Soma you existed. you were here. a mark upon this collective self. we remember. we see. we recommend cake. 230816 ... e_o_i I second the cake recommendation! And everything that's been said above. You're an amazing part of blather. Not only because of what you write - wise and funny and observant as it is - but also because you make a point of checking in on other people and encouraging them in their own writing. That kind of dedication and interest can't be faked. I hope you have a wonderful birthday!! 230816 ... raze you're all the sweetest humans. thank you for being my friends, and for helping to make a day i had mixed feelings about better than i thought it would be. while there might not have been cake this time around, there were apple squares — and squirrels galore. 230816 ... kerry apple squares and squirrels! sounds like a cozy combo. happy, happy, happiest of birthdays, j. i feel so lucky to count you as my friend. the day is almost over--i hope you spent it well, did or drank or ate or listened to or saw something that brought you joy. 230816 ... past hey! i missed it but hope it was a good one! 230817 ... raze (thank you both.) 230817 ... nr happy birthday! hope it's a day full of all the smoo and celebration of you. 240816 ... raze you know, my days have been kind of hit and miss over the last little while ... but this one was actually pretty solid all the way around. i'm blaming you and your thoughtful wishes of smoo. ☺ 240816 what's it to you? who go blather from