Speaking of birthday parties, we're throwing one at my house on Sunday with my stepmother's side of the family. It should be a great bash, since we're celebrating the birthdays of my stepmother, her sister, her father's girlfriend, and, most importantly, me! That's two parties in one day! Huzzah! Sunday ought to be fun.

And as far as my birthday is concerned, my mother and I have some interesting plans for the weekend of May 17-19. I'll be picked up on Friday after school, and we'll go to Wendy's (my favorite fast food joint), where I'll have a Spicy Chicken Sandwich Combo with a large Frosty. Then we'll stay the night at my grandmother's house (she lives in Costa Mesa) — I'll probably walk to the Borders nearby and browse for a while.

Saturday should be busy: my mother wants to go to Huntington Gardens (which should be interesting, if not for the gardens themselves as much as the library [complete with a Gutenberg Bible and an illuminated text of The Canterbury Tales!]). Unfortunately, my stepmother wants my sister Meghan (age 5) and I to take a photograph together that has been organized by my sister's preschool. That's in the morning, though, so we should be able to come home to Pomona for the picture, catch a flick (I'm thinking Star Wars: Episode II, if we can pull off going the day after it comes out, or perhaps Spiderman), and then jet out to Orange County so I can spend some time in a used bookstore called Acres of Books (wonderful place). I'm not really sure what we'll do on Sunday, but we'll figure something out.

Onto somewhat more depressing matters, I learned the other day that my long-time friend Brandon (whom I've known for what amounts to my entire life, and who was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper with me) is, for reasons beyond control, transferring to another school. This brings up a couple issues. Firstly, I'll miss having one of my best friends around, since, due to our busy schedules, we hardly ever see each other outside of class. Secondly, that means that I now have complete control over The Ink Panther, our school newspaper.

"But that's a good thing," you might say. Yes, I may have more prestige and a nicer title now, but that means I have more responsibility as well. When Brandon and I worked together, it worked out perfectly: we made up for each other's flaws. I'm a natural editor, and he's a natural leader; he's good at finding newsworthiness in stories, and I search for errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax. Now, I need to do both our jobs, and, since I was never really the "leader," it's going to take some major adjustments. But what's done is done; I can only cope with his being gone as best I can.

[Exit Orpheum.]