A Birthday Ode to Dudette

By this time tomorrow night, I will be in upstate NY, throwing down with my Best Friend of the Female Persuasion, aka Dudette, for her birthday festivities. (I checked and there are no tropical systems on the map, but I'm not taking any chances and calling in my karmic chits.)

A small word about Dudette. Ok, lots of them.

Of the many and varied reasons I believe in God, one of the most profound to me is the blessings of the friends I have in my life. Dudette is one of them. I'm not so presumptuous to think He uprooted her & her hubby TheBigGuy from her comfy upstate NY setting and dumped her into (in her mind) the living hell of 90+ degrees summers of Florida for my sake, solely or even partially. But had it not happened, I could most certainly been the poorer for it. Dudette has been friend to me for nearly a decade in just about every way I can imagine, and especially in the ways it matters most. I could ramble on about how, but, to me, one way says it best. When she asks "How are you?", she means it. Not in that faux way we ask people passing by in the halls where a "Good." and nothing more is expected. She means, "How are you?" And if you know me, then you know how much I treasure things like that. So, God willing, tomorrow night, I'll be making a well-deserved toast.

Buuuut, not get all warm & fuzzy, lemme toss out some little bits of whimsy she & I have developed over the years. They may be meaningless to you, but this is her post.

Favorite Dudette Quotes or Lines

• "That's a very nice hat." ("You like it? Uh!")
• "Chicken. Good!"
• "In the pipe, 5 by 5."
• "He's kinda funny lookin'..."
• "It's my deal!"
• "I think..."
• "I'm just sayin'..."
• "Giddyup!"
• "Well, let's start the insanity!"
• "What is the crab leg protocol?"
• "Have you tried dividing image into quarters?"
• "I want this bear, Dave. I want him bad."
• "It's my couch! My couch! Don't they understand?!"
• "The devil lives in deep river."
• "And I should care because...?" (aka, "And this affects me how...?")
• "Then we just slam out some code..."
• "Right right right."
• "You're worse. Much Much Worse."
• "You know..."

(and last but certainly not least) "Geezamoli"

The "Progression" Chart (inspired by the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale)

1. Incomprehensible
2. Incoherent
3. Meaningless
4. Pointless
5. Absurd (aka Ridiculous)
6. Ill-Advised
7. Dubious
8. Incorrect (aka Wrong)
9. Moot

Happy Birthday, Dudette!