How do you get three girls sharing a room to go to sleep?

It's not a riddle. I'm really asking. Begging, actually. It isn't possible! Trying to remember all the techniques parents used on me and my homegirls when I was little but nothing springs to mind...maybe the answer is 'give up before you start crying'.

Done.

So, how 'bout that volcano huh?

The last time Eyjafjallajökull erupted, it continued belching the Earth's unsettled insides for 14 months, from December 1821 to January 1823.

Scientists do not expect Eyjafjallajökull to keep northern Europe's airports closed for 14 months, but they suggest that Eyjafjallajökull's impact on world travel might not end with the end of this current eruption.

Moreover, Iceland's "Angry Sister" hasn't even awoken yet. The three times in recorded history when Eyjafjallajökull has erupted, its neighbor, the much larger Katla, has followed suit.

Data do not yet suggest that a Katla eruption is imminent. Yet, in some respects, it is the far greater concern, both in Iceland and beyond.

Katla: the sleeping sister

Katla has erupted 16 times since 930, in 1755 exploding so violently that its ash settled on parts of Scotland. In 1918, Katla tore chunks of ice the size of houses from the Myrdalsjökull glacier atop it, sending them careening down its slopes and into the Atlantic on floods of melted glacier water.

While Eyjafjallavökull is virtually anonymous in Icelandic lore, Katla is one of the "Angry Sisters" along its even-more active twin, Hekla.

Oh hellfire. So, Eyjafjallavökull (anyone believe that's the real name? Maybe this is all a big hoax to make English people say funny words) erupts, then Katla looks over, goes 'call that an eruption? EAT THIS, impossibly-complex-name!' and blasts off showering brimstone and treacle umpteen times further out than it is already. At the moment its looking something like this.

In 1973, an eruption near the nation's primary fishing port split the island of Heimaey in two and required its entire population to be evacuated to the Icelandic mainland by fishing boat.

On 1783, one-quarter of Iceland's population was killed when Laki erupted – an eruption so massive that it changed global weather patterns, bringing record snow to New Jersey and drought to Egypt.

And in the 1755 Katla eruption, the volume of floodwaters from the Myrdalsjökull glacier were estimated to be equal to or greater than the discharge of water from the Amazon, Nile, and Mississippi Rivers combined.

Ok folks, there it is. There are people suffering in airports. There are people struggling to find accommodation, running out of money, needing to get home for work commitments. But unless you have a really serious problem (like one man I heard about who is stuck somewhere and running out of insulin and can't get hold of any - THAT'S a real reason to complain about a flight, Fates be with him) just take a second to pity the poor people of Iceland who have had to flee their homes. They have main roads that are totally obliterated by floods triggered by the volcano.

This guy is searching for his cattle, lost in the ash clouds. That could be his livelihood, gone. Compared to those people and those cattle, we are lucky. And I'm well aware that compared to many who are stuck in airports or on foreign soil, I am extremely lucky - at least I speak the language, I'm with people I know and I have somewhere to live. But seriously - poor Iceland. Big natural disaster, little country.

***

Yes, turns out I will not be returning on Tuesday. Thank goodness - I'd've needed to start packing last week. I realise that that was not a recognized contraction. Stream of consciousness writing = goodbye grammar rules. I am remaining in New York, possibly until Friday. If this is the case then I will be celebrating (I hope!) my 20th Birthday in NYC. I'm pretty cool with that. Just as long as they don't, in an act of mistaken kindness, schedule my flight for the 23rd its FINE! I am NOT spending my 20th anniversary of being alive sitting in a metal tube with hundreds of strangers. 20. Twenty. Twenty. 20. 20. 20. 20. Oh Jesus, I thought that repeating it would make it lose its meaning and thus render it less scary. Nope. TWENTY does not go away. Oh my God I had not even thought about it. Whew, sudden meltdown occurring. Distraction technique -

Tonight is the official opening night of La Cage Aux Folles. Here's how it goes on Broadway - they do the previews, when the show is open for a paying audience but no critics. Then come the critics, mostly all on the same night I think. Then comes the opening - this is the one with the celebrities, the photographers, the pink carpet and most importantly the big giant afterparty.

I'm keeping track of things on Twitter, pictures are being posted regularly. No sighting yet though of Lynne in her beautiful Alice Temperley, Christian Louboutin and vintage jewellery (rented from my old unobtainable friend, New York Vintage) but I'm refreshing the page religiously.

But whatever, let the parents party - WE (that's myself, Iris and her two cousins Molly and Hattie) do not need showbiz glam. We've got popcorn, Alice in Wonderland (Disney not Burton) and a bit later on when the girls are sleeping soundly, all being well, I will have a big foil tray of BBQ chicken and ribs.

***

Finished my ribs. I ordered from Dallas BBQ specially, ate my cornbread while thinking of my dear Dad hanging out in Texas for an extra week. It's nice to have family on the same side of the Atlantic at least - got an uncle aunt and two cousins in Arizona too. Speaking of family, today I wish my Grandpa a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY and lots of loveXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Also Happy Birthday Jesse 'Speciaaaaaaaaaaaal', my fellow Aprilian who is 4 days older than me. It's exciting when your mates' Birthdays are really near your own. Dunno why but it is, admit it. Have a good one NIPPER.

Right here's some LBD mutterings.

In New York, I am:

• The go-to girl for directions. Something about me inspires people to ask me to point their way. This is a big first for me - sense of direction is not something I am known for. Must be the manner in which I stride confidently around, looking like I know where I'm going. This is easily achievable when, like me, you have not planned anywhere to end up. With no destination in mind it is very difficult to be lost.
• A recognised regular at the Malibu diner - they now greet me with a 'how are you today?' as in opposed to how was I yesterday when they saw me last.
• A face at Duane Park http://duaneparkcafe.com/ - a face with connections nonetheless, who needs neither ID nor funds to drink the bar dry...if I so chose. Haven't. Yet.
• A friend of City Treehouse. I think they welcome and pity me in equal measures.
• Working hard - not the employment thing. The other thing. The exploration. It is hard work to enjoy New York, I tell you. I don't know how people can take holidays here for a week, two weeks. I can't fit even half of it into seven. I think the way I have experienced this...experience so far can be summed up with Luke 11.9 - Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Well I've sought until my knees crack and I pummel on every door I pass, and tell you what - Luke was right and its almost like he knew NYC was going to happen and he made up that reference especially for it.
  

I think consonants relax as they go West...go from India to the USA saying the word 'cheetah' in the different accents and see if you get where I'm coming from.

Well. There's three girls asleep and there's about to be one more. I'm cream crackered. And I know exactly why but I'm not going to go into that just now. There is much to review including Hair, In the Heights, J&R Music World, 25th st flea market, Alice's Teacup and more.

Happy daysxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx