Yesterday we went to a first birthday party that, when we arrived, was a usual first birthday party--more adults than kids, including two fathers and their children without the mothers, which unfortunately is still worthy of note, because I travel in an enlightened crowd. Then the ratio flipped, and that was funner.
This was only the second time I have seen Gethen, and I am a huge fan. A pile of the cone-shaped birthday hats lay by the birthday cake, and I offered her one. She was uncertain. I modeled one, with difficulty since they and their elastic were child-sized, and said "how about it?" Her look was one of superb disdain, and I howled with glee (probably confirming her opinion of me as a poorly haberdashed loon).