it's a cold and rainy day, but my heart is coated in toasted coconut and powdered sugar

My birthday was great; thanks, everyone, for all the emails and general pleasantness.

Totally unrelatedly, on a recent trip to Chinatown, I noticed that the "Mall of Great Wall" had been renamed "Great Wall City." You can see that the "City" part of the sign is new; it's a slightly different shade of red.

I laughed rather delightfully when I first spied the "Mall of Great Wall," and then came to love the rather charming name of the place, although an Asian friend of mine found it generally embarassing on behalf of all Asians everywhere.