Two weeks to my own birthday. Consider this advance warning that I'm going to do last year's gimmick again; no cards, presents or content, please, but I would appreciate it if you would take the time and effort to speak to me on Thursday 23rd. (If we've never spoken before, or if we've haven't spoken since last October 23rd, so much the better.) I'll provide a live telephone number for the day and (hopefully) an Internet telephony solution so that your computer mic can call my phone at no cost to you.
Very much an up-and-down sort of day. Got up early in the morning, went to town and saw Spirited Away. The very short summary is that this is a Japanese animated ghost story about a ten-year-old girl with no superheroic powers but a kind attitude. If you don't think you're ever going to see it, you might well enjoy
I note that Middlesbrough showed the dubbed version, whereas Oxford showed the subtitled version. (From what the attendant suggested, Middlesbrough may have been showing the subtitled version earlier.) Not sure that my preference for the subtitled version isn't just because I saw it first. UGC Middlesbrough aren't showing the three Lord of the Rings films in a row, alas, but they are showing Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers again on successive Wednesdays before the big première on Wednesday 17th.
Afterwards, walked home, had a nap, failed to catch up on the things I wanted to do. Went to the gamers' club in the evening; didn't get to play any games, but did help to produce a long-overdue inventory of the club's property, which was surprisingly satisfying. We now have two tall locked cabinets containing about fifty board and card games, a dozen trading card game decks, a library of about sixteen game rulebooks and sundry Warhammer scenery. (Plus another five chunky tubs of scenery hills, bushes, trees and the like.) All told, there's a lot of stock in there which would cost well over a thousand pounds to replace, probably closer to two. Yet somehow never enough...
Lastly, without wanting to make a big thing of it, I want to send out a "welcome back" to someone who was never forgotten and who definitely deserves one. :-)