Happy Canada Day!

In honor of Canada and all my favorite Canadians, here's a big ol' HAPPY CANADA DAY to you folks north of the border. And now, a few words in phrase of Canadians who have made my life a better thing:

Today, courtesy of janetmiles, elfs, and cymrullewes, I have learned that james_nicoll is responsible for this fabulous quote which I had both misquoted and not properly attributed in a recent thread:

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

To which I must say, wow. Marvelously coincidental, James, that you are now on my Friends list too. Consider yourself praised, for lo, that is the most apt observation on the English language I have ever heard!

Let me also praise gerimaple, fellow GBS fan and provider of crash space in the cause of ogling musical Newfoundlanders, as well as being a useful catcher of continuity errors in my work; brightbeak (to whom I owe a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY as well!), who always has kind words; framlingem, on general principle, for being a fellow SF geek, and for recommending the Sharpe books; avalonmissy, for being the creator of one of my favorite GBS fan sites even if she isn't updating it anymore; damara, provider of much wonderful RP during the Vraeyan saga on TM; elfmaid, for being a fellow SF geek and GBS fan; mylildementor and wiredwizard, for liking the Dresden Files; scrunchions, for giving me an Alan With Bouzouki icon, and because I can't have too many GBS fans on my Friends list; and wildcardgal, for being a fellow ogler of The Crowe!

And then there's my off-LJ friend Thomas, who provided me reams of marvelous RP on Star Wars MUSH playing Shenner's love interest, and with whom I have had much wonderful Star Wars geeking. He, along with mamishka, is responsible for making me go buy my first Great Big Sea record, a shining moment in my personal history.

I must also praise Julie Czerneda, who I want to be when I grow up as a writer. And Tanya Huff, who I would also like to be when I grow up as a writer, and who struck me so beautifully by having queer characters in her books and not having their queerness be an Issue, they were just there, and I loved that.

And of course, any post of mine in general praise of Canadians would not be complete without praising the Paperboys, Natalie MacMaster, La Bottine Souriante, the Fables, the Irish Descendants, Captain Tractor, and last but not least, the lovely and talented gentlemen of Great Big Sea, for adding so much musical richness to my existence.

Canada, y'all got a great country up there. Happy birthday to every last one of you!