Sharing the words of others

The last few weeks leading up to our annual vacation have been crazy busy. My clients are a great bunch, and are tremendously loyal, but the downside is that I feel the same loyalty to them, and don't want to let them down. No matter how far in advance I notify my clients of my absence, the work that would ordinarily get done in the weeks we're away inevitably gets compressed into the week or two before the trip, and then more accumulates while we're away. It's nice to have earned that level of trust, and the job security that comes with it, but the flip side is that it can be exhausting. Doubly so when half the manuscripts that arrive are 50 to 100% longer than expected. Oh look: my carefully planned work schedule is toppling like a bunch of drunken dominoes...

On days like these, with a little over a week still to go, it's nice to just share the words of someone else, particularly when they're this clever: Why you should never, ever, ever, get a tattoo (but having a baby is fine.

One reason you should have a baby instead of the tattoo? Sometimes, on those days you don't want to strangle them, they'll just charm the heck out of you: "The Birthday Card".
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(You may need to scroll back up to the top; in my browser, this post starts partway down the page.) Context you need to know: my friend Martin lives in Edinburgh, loves swordplay, and is bringing up his kids to love it too. I imagine his daughter's first asshole boyfriend will have a sudden and salutary wake-up call the first time he tries behaving like a prick.