Happy birthday to Ann Althouse

I think it was this post that led me to choose the template you see before you. And it was certainly this one that brought in my biggest traffic surge evar.

I doubt I would be blogging at all if not for the (former) requirement that one have a Blogger ID to comment at Althouse. With the ID came the offer of blog space, and one thing just followed the other, as things sometimes do.

So—Happy birthday, Professor Althouse, and best wishes for many more to come.

Here's a cake, swiped from someone [Janet Margul?] on GEnie so long ago that I no longer have any idea, in the old ascii boxology style:

                 ()     ()     ()    ()    ()
                 ||     ||     ||    ||    ||
                 ||_____||_____||____||____||
               (|VvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVv|)
               (|\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\|)
                |  *   *  *  *  *  *  *  * * |
          ______|____________________________|______
         (((((((((((((((((((((3))))))))))))))))))))))
         (((((((((((((((((((((3))))))))))))))))))))))
          |                                        |
          |                                        |
          |\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\@/\|
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that's a bunch of tasty bits. Or bytes. Bites of bits.

Update a few minutes later: I see that Blake has a good birthday post at BitMaelstrom—and also that he has the good(?) taste to be another Thorne Smith fan. So there's a movie of Night Life of the Gods? To think I never knew! I'll have to order a copy. Nostalgia Family Video has it on VHS. So wishing Althouse a happy birthday turns into a happy unbirthday for me! Lots of win to go around.