::BIG BADA BIRTHDAY PRESENT::

Last Friday's birthday sushi-rama at Masami proved to me three things: 1) I have über-rad friends. 2) Short skirts don't mix well with tatami rooms. 3) Jeff Koenig is the mightiest badass ever.

Attended by my friends Jesse, Ciro, Chad, Alisa, Bethany, Waring, the aforementioned badass Jeff, his wife Julie, Austin, and me, the party had great food, hilarious conversation, mirth, and a series of fine gifts. (Jesse mentions it here.) Sadly, some folks couldn't make it (though Brian stopped by my apartment ahead of time to give me a card and a gift -- a double helix bracelet, which rocked).

I'd already received a Pop Rocks t-shirt from Bethany, and the Volumen Plus DVD from Austin, but I also got the The Work of Director Michel Gondry DVD from Ciro (along with the geekiest puzzle-card ever) and then what is probably the most heartily-crafted, makes-me-make-glee-sounds, perfect gift I've ever gotten. Ever.

First, the card from Jeff and Julie.

A hand-crafted envelope bears my name on its front (in blue Sharpie, no less). The back is emblazoned with "27" (for my recently-current age) and many 27^o-angle marks, pointing out the fact that every angle of the lip, overlap of the paper, or intersection with itself on the back of it is indeed a 27^o one.

The card inside is squarish, with tabs sticking out. Its first layer reads, "Happy 27th birthday, Summer!" in Cooper Black. The square is three inches on its side; the card folds out to be a "cube kit" which will make a cube that is 27 in³. The tabs exist for easy fastening, and slots exist for the tabs to go in. Absolutely brilliant. I still can't bring myself to assemble it.

Then, the actual gifts (when hell, the card -- nay, the envelope of the card -- would've sufficed) climb out of the wrapping paper.

There was a copy of Gary Zukav's The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics, which I can't wait to read.

And then. The Gift rests in a brushed-silver box, padded with foam. Inside rests a curious metal rectanglish form. It boasts geometric decor, an industrial feel, and a slot for insertion of a credit card-sized ID. There's a yellowish "button" in its lower left corner. For an instant, I didn't recognize it. But then it came to me.

Oh.

My.

God.

It's a Multipass! Leeloo Dallas Multipass!

It stopped my vacillation about what I'll be for Halloween, that's for sure. I'll be yet another bright-redhead (last year I was Lola of Run Lola Run).

It's made to hold a license, and I'll eventually enlist a friend to make me a faux Multipass to put in it. My license still has my picture from 2000 (in which I'm about 80 pounds heavier), so I finally have an excuse to get a new one (I was actually kind of enjoying showing it to people as a "before" picture, but this is way, way, way cooler). I cannot wait to be carded!

And here it is, with my license in it (note the lack of my address or signature):



Thank you, Jeff. From the bottom of my fifth-elemental heart. You rule.

Are you German?