Also the maps look different. Hayden readers are mostly US and UK plus the Netherlands and Belgium. Why is that? Is there some Hayden fanclub that crosses the English channel to meet up? It's such a small part of the world! But overall, Haydens Shelter has a lot more readers.
Lukas has readers from other parts of Europe, Africa, Asia and even Saudi Arabia! Plus Australia! How cool is that! I always love when I get an email from a Saudi or Persian reader. I worry I am going to offend them by not getting their culture right. I am married to a Persian, but he very much enjoys US-American culture and he has never tried to get me into Islam. It's like it is his religion and not for me. Strange! I know he will teach it to our children. I will make sure of it. I want them to have cultural roots there and not just be USA culture.
+++
Next week is my husband's birthday. He will be 31. For 5 weeks every year we are only 8 years apart. The rest of the year we are 9 years apart. :)
We did a little dinner in Texas with his parents, but it wasn't really a party.
I am inviting his friends over. They can come down from LA and I even told them I will make up the guests rooms so they can sleep down here and have a fun night. I ordered a cake for him to be delivered and I'll order food from the Persian place he likes.
He says he just wants a quiet night at home with me, but we do that most Friday nights. He deserves a night with everyone to celebrate with him. He's a good man and I want him to have a happy birthday.
+++
I went to the gay meetup group today. My husband was anxious about it until he saw it was a small group of nerdy guys. That made him feel better.
They meet on a college campus and even though I'm not a student there they said it was ok. They are somewhat affiliated with the group that was on the campus where I used to go before we left LA. That group was much bigger and had lots of hot guys.
They were nice though! I didn't talk much. We played that HeadsUp game and then just talked. They invited me to come back next time and my husband said we can make it a priority and he will put it on his calendar.
I didn't realize Ash and Zahir are the same age. NOW I feel like a baby. 11 years separate Zahir and I. I am only now seeing the differences in how birthdays are treated here. For the most part they are very low key. The more "conservative" sects call them non-Islamic.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy you have a social outlet now. I hope you make many new friends. Doing better on this side of the pond too.
My hits mess up your demographics. The VPN dumps me out as US, UK, or "Unknown Region," sorry.
My husband told me about that! In some countries they have to trick their internet into thinking they are in another country with less restrictive internet rules and also to keep the government from spying. That is so crazy! He said when they were growing up the cable tv in their house was some illegal thing from Turkey, so he knows some basic turkish. :)
DeleteTell me about the language issue. I'm struggling to learn Levantine Arabic and Levantine Arabic sign. Just when I think I have heard the last of Zahir's languages he pops off a new one. I feel so dumb next to him. I am sure you have the same issue with Ash.
DeleteHe reminds me that Asia and Europe are close together and you can only travel a couple hundred miles and you'd be having several languages represented in that distance.
I remind him I lived most of my life in Miami and I still don't understand Cuban Spanish.
Did have something cool happened when Mama took me shopping yesterday morning. First time ever, the MALE clerk kept addressing me instead of Mama. When we got home, Mama complained to Zahir who started laughing. I was tempted to call David in Haifa and boast, "today I have become a man!"
We have Spanish all over LA. I learned it in high school and college. It's the one language I know that he doesn't! :) I have used it with people who needed help before when we were out. He didn't like that, but the people needed help. I could tell it bothered him. His boy exposed... hehe
DeleteHaha! I'm a Hayden-reader from The Netherlands (also a Lukas-reader, btw). I'm not aware of any groups, but it would be cool if we got together like a book club ;-)
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you went to the meetup. I hope that works out!
Oh you!! :) Yes of course! How could I forget. Thank you for reading! :)
DeleteEmri
ReplyDeletePlease tell A Happy Early Birthday from a friend of yours. I know what it like trying to learn a new language, for I had to learn german when my family went there. I went to school with 57 nationalities in one school. You learn a lot if you want to. Some of them were friendly as well as chatty. So just hope you all have a good birthday to you both. Glad to hear you are getting out a little more. Thanks for the AWESOME Stories!!!
Jen
Thank you! I am planning to make it super special for him. He deserves the best. That is really cool you got to learn all that. :)
DeleteI don't think I ever told you this, but every time I see you write the name Jen I think about this girl I knew in High School that I hung out with. She was super nice and died suddenly in 12th grade. It was really crazy and tragic. But I have good memories of her so when I see Jen, in my head I go "Jen!" :) She loved cats and sci-fi and baseball. I miss her.
Wow, sounds like you've got a lot going on right now! Say happy birthday to your husband for me!
ReplyDeleteThank you! He is 31 now! His party is this weekend.
DeleteNice,people all over the world like your writing. I really like it too; you are very talented. Just remember that the more popular your writing gets, you are going to need people around you that you trust, to start with your family. No buddy makes it on their own. Very cool, Emri. Daniel
ReplyDeleteThank you. SO true. I am trying to focus on one of the guys from the club to be my friend. We are texting now. It feels like dating, haha. But nothing dirty.
Delete