Somehow, despite being a person who desperately believes in celebrating my birthday on my birthday, I've managed to have five different birthday celebrations this year, hopefully finishing with last night's trip to see Eonnagata at Sadler's Wells. Let's be clear: the Chevalier D'Eon was a person who at different times in hir life was thought to be a man and then a woman, and lived hir life as both. What we got on stage was two deliciously gorgeous people (Sylvie Guillem, with her long, red hair and longer legs, and Russell Maliphant, bald head and muscular in a more solid way than most male dancers) playing the lead character, sometimes at the same time, sometimes in sequence. I was completely absorbed. It was fun to watch and very sexy and for anyone interested in Japanease culture, the French court, or gender fluidity, it was a must see. Taiko drumming and pannier skirts? Count me in!

Just as much fun was spending the evening with dreamsewingmiko, whose move to London has been a cause for great rejoicing for me. It's rare to find people I really connect with - the ones where I just sit there nattering on because they're so much fun that everything you say to each other leads to a million other things to say and even when you stop there's still so much more to talk about - and she's one of them and when I'm with her time just passes like it isn't the precious commodity it really is ... but it still is because it's the times like these that you're living it for, isn't it?

Anwyay, a great evening, and overall I greet forty-two with much anticipation for a great year.

This has been a good birthday, I think, even though it's been a little weird splitting up the celebrations over two days - or even three if you count the lunch with work on Friday. The very best part was that my friend Tim Cummings, an artist guy who's stuff is all over the walls of my flat, managed to make it to my dinner tonight. I haven't seen him in about 10 years so it was a real treat and has probably resulted in my staying up later than I should have.

Dinner tonight was my traditional "little birthday dinner," moved from Chinese in Seattle to Indian in Tooting. Years ago I realized it was more fun and less hassle to make it a dinner where I treat my friends, which can make for a limited guest list but tends to be unlimited fun for me. I like having a chance to having all of my good friends around me while I enjoy their company, and, really, it's so much better if I don't have to cook the food. This year was Masaledar on Tooting High Street - a place which allows you to bring your own booze (something that wouldn't happen in Seattle). Amazingly we only made it through three bottles of wine - thank you everyone who came, it was lovely to see you (and it was almost an entirely different cast of folks from last night which meant extra YAY for me to see them). It was silly having happy birthday sang to me while I waited to blow out a lighter, but, hey, it's tradition.

I am now the proud owner of tickets to see the Mariinsky (formerly the Kirov) Ballet's Swan Lake in August (thanks, wechsler!), and SO many good books. Books are great, books are the gift that keeps on giving, books will stay with me for months and months and when I've finished them I will share them with other people. Thanks to everyone who's tried to help me out of the horrible situation of Not Having Something To Read. For a person who buys almost a book a week, this is far more of a problem than it ought to be. Still, I ought to be covered at least through the autumn at this rate. And yet ... somehow I feel that before July has finished, I'll still wind up buying another book! Ah, sweet addiction.

Great unbirthday party. I actually got in a round of croquet and we had tea and people got unbirthday presents. And booklectic gave me AWESOME tea themed coasters (I use coasters all of the time because of my bizarre penchant for wooden furniture) which I opened after midnight, which is now, which means it's my actual birthday and time to switch my default icon to the solstice one and go to bed.

Thanks everyone who came by. :-)

Two years ago, on my birthday, Michael Manning posted this picture on his LJ page (metalweb):




which I later bought, because, to me, it really represented me, greeting the sun on my birthday, the longest day of the year. (Or, indeed, saying goodbye to the New Sun, as per his commentary.)

This year, for a birthday present from shadowdaddy, the print was framed. In our old house, we couldn't put pictures on the wall, so there was no point framing it (not that we could afford to at the time; buying this was an exercise in hope and patience, but Mr. Manning was willing to wait for me). But now it's ready to hang and we can enjoy it regularly instead of just when I dare take it out of its envelope. And I opened the package early so I could show it off to people tomorrow

I'm kind of excited. I'll settle down in a bit.

Realized last night I need tags to write "Eat Me/Drink Me" on. Also as it's an unbirthday party, I need to get unbirthday presents together for everyone

Was reading (seconds ago) my Free Will Astrology horoscope for this week ( Full text )

I was going along with it nicely until I saw the bit where it said Everything that is dead to you is gathered here. Wait, he doesn't understand ... when he says "once-favorite clothes and CDs," the only reason I don't have them anymore is because I lost them. Every now and then I'll find something that I thought I'd lost (say stuffed into a pocked of some luggage or a backpack) and I am thrilled with the joy of rediscovering it.

Speaking of which, J and W are out shopping right now, and I need to work on cleaning the bedroom - it needs to be seriously polished up if it's going to be transformed into the Red Queen's Chamber by next Saturday.

I need some patio lights to make the Caterpillar's Den look suitably exotic ...

a croquet set (anyone got one they could lend?) ...

and God knows what else, a clean house would be a start.

We had a great time tonight watching Dickens Unplugged with booklectic. At 10 quid a pop, it was really a fantastic value - good singing, interesting topic (in the episodic comic bits genre), and, well, it was actually kinda cool watching a top-notch bunch of American performers doing their thing. ("Look! It's familiar body language!") I recommend it. I'll do a full write up tomorrow, but, crap, it's late, I really want to get some sleep. We also had a good chat at Crepe Affair beforehand. I also got a present in the mail from varina8! Thanks, it's adorable! And the card is perfect - you really seem to get me. Miss you ...

Yesterday evening had rather a lot of the comic to it. I left work, bored stiff, promptly at 5, skipping the gym in order to have a drink with shadowdaddy, then headed over to souldier_blue's place. Only ... I realized just as the doors were closing at Southwark station that I'd become overly engrossed in my book (George Alec Effinger's A Fire in the Sun) and missed my station, thinking for some reason I was going to Bermondsey. So I got off at London Bridge, went across the station, and headed back to Southwark.

About ten minutes of sunlight (and more reading) later and I suddenly got the feeling that, er, maybe I was actually going to Bermondsey. I wasn't able to get either S_B or wechsler on the phone, but, fortunately, I was able to access the internet (I have a strange suspicion my new phone is perhaps just not receiving texts at all, or possibly even not sending them) ... and I discovered I had been heading to the right stop originally. Back down the steps and on the train I went. Gah.

Fortunately, both of them had been running late, and when I made it they had just headed to Poppy Hana, so I sat down, ordered gyoza and spinach and egg "sushi" and had a nice meal. wechsler gave me an early birthday present, books one and two of A La Recherche, so now I shall be obliged to make the effort and improve my literary French. Afterwards we headed over to SB's flat, which is just extremely cute although rather creepily located inside of a church (with parishoners exiting as we came in the building!). I had a good time poking through her "bag o' stuff I am getting rid of" and hopefully she enjoyed our noisy company (I may have scandalized the church-goers if any of them heard me through the open windows). I was quite thrilled by her library and liberated a Storm Constantine/Michael Moorcock book that I had once owned, never read, and unfortunately lent out to someone who disappeared off of the face of the planet. Hopefully I will continue in a fixed place and my ability to return it will be higher than that of Ziggy,the shaggy bookseller of Twice Sold Tales.

Suddenly I realized I was being tricked by the late, late summer sunset, and that it was already after nine, so we rushed out the door to head back to Putney. It really is amazing how late the sun is up this time of the year - the sky was still red and purple at a quarter after ten. I managed to not stay up too much later though and woke up feeling shiny and sleek. I even look nice today. Somehow I think the fact that today is my Friday this week is really making for a good overall attitude on my part (although wearing a black silk shirt with French cuffs does have its own charm). Yay!

Happy Birthday bathtubgin!!!

I think you can consider this news item a bit of a present from the world ...

I realized tonight that I'd never realistically be in a rock band ever. I was thinking that it was admitting that you'd never read Remembrance of Things Past that meant you'd hit middle age, but I think that "no me singing on the stage" (other than karaoke) will be my real marker.

Damn damn dammity damn.

Going to see Cat Power when you can't hear what Chan is singing because the music is amplified so badly is no good. I got tired out around 10:30 (the show was supposed to start at 7:30 - it didn't say anything about there being two opening bands) and headed home before the set was over. I was frustrated and not connecting with the performance and missing singing with Howard and realizing I'd never have a birthday that was that much fun again, only 6 more weeks but no croquet and no 16 people jammed into the Old Szechuan and no Howard, and no singing, and the best I can hope for is "Am Dram" and karaoke. And hello 40.

I'm at loose ends on Thursday. Anyone want a visit from a cowgirl? Or a movie or dinner in town?