Any suggestions for stuff to do alone on your birthday?

I don't have many plans. I'll probably webcam with the fam for a bit, open their presents to me, and have some leftover lentil soup. Richard will be working in the evening.

There's a Peter Greenaway double feature at my favourite arthouse theatre, but that's hardly a pick-me-up, is it?

Hmm, reviewing 2006's b-day post, I realize that birthday wasn't much different. Richard was working then, too, so I just had some carrot cake at Starbucks and played Bookworm. This apparently didn't depress me at the time, prob'ly 'cause I wasn't officially freakin' old yet.

I finished off the lentil soup tonight, so maybe I'll indulge in some Wok Box, skip The Draughtsman's Contract, and just go to A Zed and Two Noughts. That's one of my faves. On second thought I'll skip it: I've already seen, after all. I picked up The Fall, one of Greenaway's early films, at the library instead.

This morning I did what most people probably do alone on their birthdays: shopped. I bought some 2nd-hand books on the "face of Mars" (something I'll tackle on Swallowing the Camel), and just to prove I'm well-balanced I got a copy of Skeptic magazine and a Fortean Times. I'm not really a skeptic in the hardcore sense, anyway; when I hear of something outrageous (not implausible, but outrageous), I think Meh, I guess that's possible, and look into it. I try not to think skeptically too often, for fear I'll end up a curmudgeon - that's fine if you're a retired physicist or a magician or something, but bizarre if you're a 30-year-old housefrau like me.