Melfka’s Birthday Week

My birthdays have always been the “me” time. I can count on the fingers of one hand the few events I could consider my “birthday parties”, but I never really minded it. Each year I’ve tried to schedule time off school (which also meant skipping the lectures of university when I could) or off work, and did whatever sparked my fancy. Which, mostly, mean doing nothing, playing video games, or trying that weird cake recipe. My birthday was always the day I celebrated surviving yet another year, and becoming if not smarter, then at least more experienced when it comes to mistakes being made.

Yet, my friends still manage to make my birthday special in one way or the other.

One year, I’ve received a MMORPG-themed (a game we all played back then) hand-made bag full of my favorite candy: an uneasy feat, since they’re regularly sold in 145g (5 o.z.) bags, and I’ve got about 2kgs (4 pounds) of them.

Another year, my husband (boyfriend at the time) who was in the USA, ordered flowers online for me to be delivered to my workplace to, as he said, “make all the girls jealous”.

Jealousy-worthy flowers from my dearest one.

The other time, when I couldn’t skip the art class at the university, when the teacher had learned it was my birthday, he gifted me with a set of scented markers.

My mom, of course, always makes my birthday special, and the fact that I’ve been an adult and away for the last 10 years, didn’t change much. I always get a package with some goodies inside, including beautiful handmade jewelry.

Soutache earrings from my mom.

I turned 35 several days after I’ve arrived to the USA, so there wasn’t any big celebration. On top of that, Inq ended up stuck at work that day for nearly 20 hours (something that had never happened before or later in the year: talk about bad luck), and I was alone at home, with the heating that had just broke (in a cloud of thick smoke, I must add), so my birthday was quite unremarkable. A few days later I almost cut off my own fingertip while cleaning knives, but that’s not the kind of excitement one would like to see on her birthday.

At the same time, the Magnificent JR Bee took it upon herself to make a Twitter Birthday Bash for me, with lots of photoshoped pictures and good laugh. I never thought I’d get to see myself riding a dragon (and with a glass of something alcoholic to add to the fun).

This is why, boys and girls, you should think long before putting your pictures on the Internet. 😉

This year, following her idea, I’m going to hold my Birthday Week “party” here, on my blog. As I’ve mentioned above, it’s the “me” time, so for the next 5 days you’re going to learn interesting, weird, and possibly embarrassing facts about one Melfka (with incriminating pictures included when necessary), followed by the report of my Grand Canyon trip which happened last weekend, so come back and enjoy!

List of the posts (links will be updated daily):
– Melfka’s Birthday Week introduction (this post)
Melfka’s Birthday Week: The Witch’s Black Cat
Melfka’s Birthday Week: The Love of Earrings
Melfka’s Birthday Week: The Writer’s Special Pen
Melfka’s Birthday Week: The Dancing Klutz

Joanna Maciejewska

Joanna Maciejewska is a fantasy and science fiction author who enjoys all things SFF: books, movies, and video games. Her short stories appeared in magazines and anthologies in Polish and in English. Her epic fantasy adventure series, starting with By the Pact, is available in ebook and paperback at all major retailers.

This Post Has 13 Comments

  1. J.R.Bee

    Lol, I wondered when that would come back to haunt me! Although I rather like the sounds of J.R Bee the Magnificent 😀

    1. melfka

      We’re in this together, you know. One Melfka who put her photo up, and one Bee who added a dragon to it. 😉

      1. J.R.Bee

        That is true, it’s entirely your fault for putting your photo up. That ‘was’ your point wasn’t it? :p

        1. melfka

          Oh, now we go about Melf-blaming? But I’ll take it like a witch! 🙂

  2. sjhigbee

    A very Happy Birthday and I hope you have a wonderful Birthday week:)). I LOVE that pic of you astride a dragon holding a glass of wine. Those earrings are beautiful… what a lovely colour.

    1. melfka

      Thank you, Sara :). The dragon picture’s credit goes all to JR Bee: I only saw it when it was done.
      And I love those earrings too. I really like purple and amethysts, so I asked my mom for a pair with them. 🙂

      1. sjhigbee

        Amethysts are my favourite stones – I love the colours of them and as I wear a lot of purple and lilac, it very much suits me, too:).

        1. melfka

          Amethysts are my favorites too (though I also love mountain crystals and fluorites). I’d probably wear a lot more purple if I could find the right shades (and then the right styles)… but I’m sooo picky. *cries*

  3. portiabridget

    All the best during your special week! Make it a special month or two and my present is going to arrive just in time! I like the idea of you riding a dragon very much~!

    1. melfka

      Thank you 🙂 And for you, I’ll have brithday on the day the postman knocks on my door!

  4. saraletourneau

    Happy Birthday / Birthday Week, Joanna! 🙂 I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us this week, especially the Grand Canyon report. 🙂

    And I agree with Sarah: The earrings are beautiful, and the dragon / wine glass photoshopping is FANTASTIC. Which begs the question: If it was possible in real life, would you actually sit on or ride a dragon while drinking a glass of wine? (I’m being silly, but I couldn’t help myself. *lol*)

    1. melfka

      Thank you, Sara. 🙂 To be honest, I have no idea if I’d ride a dragon. I guess it depends on the dragon :D. I calculate my risks and usually have a strong self-preservation instinct so I don’t do many crazy things without… thinking them through first. 😉

Leave a Reply to melfka Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.