When someone you miss is an ocean away, approximately 10,000 kilometres from home, and in the throes of a dissertation defense, and battling a Kafka-esque visa misunderstanding, and  (just for good measure!) suffering from the swine flu, your first thought — upon noticing that Birthday Season has rolled around — will involve a credit card and an airplane.

But the credit card is on lockdown, and airplanes are expensive, and frankly, you don’t want to catch the swine flu. So you do the next best thing:

You obtain a candle and make some long-distance wishes on a maple frosted.

Here’s hoping they all come true, eh?