I've been dragging my friend Pam into trouble ever since I persuaded all the girls at her seventh birthday party to cover their faces in icing and throw popcorn at her mother.

last weekend I suggested we go hiking down the Niagara gorge. left to her own devices, Pam would spend all day reading Twilight, watching Twilight or scouring the net for updated news concerning Twilight, but she likes to hike, so I enlisted her participation with only minimal effort.


the lot of us were standing in her kitchen just before we left and her mom came down, still in pjs, and cornered me before I could escape out the back door. she instructed me not to climb trees, not to go out on the rocks, not to jump off any cliffs or otherwise leave the designated path, and not to enter the water or even touch the water because people have fallen in and died, laura, are you listening because I'm being serious and no, I don't trust you, I've known you too long and I know you're going to do it anyway so just be careful, okay?


I did touch the water, of course. I had to. it was cold. Pam nearly had a panic attack.

Pam had a birthday on Friday. our friend Jenn and I decided the theme of the party would be 'things Pamela doesn't like'. this included pink and purple decorations, a hot pink cake, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and a spot of urban spelunking.


Pam had never broken a law before. can you tell how much she enjoyed it? we'd have explained that trespassing is only as serious as a parking ticket if we'd known that she thought it was a felony. I haven't been forgiven yet.