Happy Chansy's birthday!

It’s Chansy’s birthday! Wherever in the world you are reading this, you should probably stop right now and throw a party, and only if it’s the best and most fun party in which you’ve ever been attendant will it be a near appropriate celebration of that lady.
I don’t have much to give, unfortunately, and actually Chansy doesn’t seem that into making her birthday a celebration, but I’m still so happy to be here even just to say happy birthday and give her a hug in person. Chansy has been a true source of joy for me here, even in the times I’ve felt loneliest. She’s an incredibly strong, smart and independent lady, and wonderfully sweet and piles of fun to boot. Not to mention that she is perhaps the only person I’ve met here who doesn’t treat me like a novelty, and with whom I can interact just like people. It has become the most obvious and appreciated of the many instances in which Chansy proves herself a very good friend.
(Now comes a potentially great parenthetical moment: I’d like to send out this bashful apology to every friend and love of mine – and there are a number of you – to whom I’ve ever fretted that my novelty was wearing off and I therefore must be less interesting to you, and you must therefore be less interested in me. I think I can safely say that I quite understand now that ‘novel’ is not a notion I really want to inspire in people, not in essence. It's true that there's some romance to relishing something new and exciting, but it seems like there is a richer value in something complicated and challenging, and you appreciate it as it becomes more interesting when you bet to know it more thoroughly.)
Today is a busy day; my classes (two down, five to go) are going smashingly, and there's more to come!
(I really just wanted to post today to give more observance to Chansy. She's amazing, she does so much, and she sees so little attention herself. Everybody aim love in this direction!)

As ever,
am