I am writing this entry from Ye Olde Oxford Tube, heading into London. Tis Friday again! Another weekend is nearly upon us!
Speaking of weekends, there is quite a bit going on this weekend! Although that may not be so unusual. Upon looking in my Slingshot yesterday, I was struck with the realisation that my next completely free weekend is September 17 - 19. Eeep! That is six months from now! The last free weekend in the next half-year (June 11 - 13) just got filled yesterday with a narrowboat trip
on the Walden III, cruising the Oxford Canal from Banbury to Oxford!
I am used to having my calendar filled two or three months in advance... but not six! I suspect that the surfeit of upcoming trips -- two to Japan, one to South Korea, one to the United States, and one to Scotland -- have a lot to do with it! Thankfully, some of those weekends are only partially booked, with space still available for other activities!
Speaking of weekend activities, last weekend was
quite packed! My official birthday celebration[1] was gangs of fun and an awesometacular success! All went according to plan -- we started off Friday evening with the All You Can Eat menu at the Pink Giraffe. Can anything that begins with some of the best vegetarian Chinese food be less than fantastic? As usual, the Giraffe did not disappoint, with favourites like the Beijing [mock] duck and the [mock] chicken satay and the [mock] chicken with cashews and yellowbean sauce. Even the meat eaters enjoyed! As is also usual when doing AYCE at the Giraffe, everyone left the meal feeling like we could roll home[2] and we wouldn't need to eat for a week! We wound down Friday evening with a couple of rounds of
Dominion, introducing L1 to the game.
My actual birthday -- Saturday -- began with the traditional phone call from my mother. This is an event that defies description; one truly needs to hear it to appreciate it! After breakfast and a bit of prep work, people began to arrive... which meant that it was time for presents! I got a particularly awesome stack, including some coins from the Royal Mint, comic book t-shirts[3], the new Chumbawamba album, sushi-making lessons,
My Neighbor Totoro[4], a very sweet framed photograph, and more! Once all the presents were opened, we let the games begin! We started out with
Wise & Otherwise (which my darling
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bunnypip won), then moved on to
Betrayal at House on the Hill The Shinnin'. I ended up as the traitor -- this was my third time in the role... and I have never succeeded at my task! Guess I am just too much of a good guy! As the day went on, we also played
Bag o' Nouns (my team won),
Apples to Apples,
Lost Cities[5],
Monte Python Fluxx, and a few rounds of
Werewolf. Good fun!
Partway through the afternoon, we mixed up some liquid nitrogen ice cream. It was a collaborative effort -- F and L2 mashed the strawberries,
miss_amaranth and
wolfpeach each helped pick up the supplies, I mixed them all together,
topbit poured the LN
2, and
xmakina stirred. I was less than ecstatic... as I had overestimated the ingredients, leaving some of the mix unfrozen by the time we ran out of liquid nitrogen. I really need to purchase a larger dewar! Still, methinks that I was just being a perfectionist -- everybody
else seemed to really enjoy the ice cream![6]
In the evening, we ordered pizza and then had a karaoke sing-a-long! Starting with the
Bohemian Rhapsody, we moved on to
Video Killed The Radio Star,
Karma Chameleon,
American Pie,
Build Me Up Buttercup and more! We even Rickrolled ourselves! This was a phenomenal group to have a sing-a-long with -- I have not laughed so hard in nearly a year!
Throughout the day, calls and text messages had streamed in. That was very nice -- thank you to all who could not make it, but send something on! We had a decent turnout for the party, too; nineteen people helped me bid farewell to the first half of my fourth decade. At the Event Horizon, I would consider this number to be quite small and the party to be a bit of a flop. But, bearing in mind that I still have far fewer friends in England than in either Chicago or New York, it was a decent turnout.
As the hour got late and people started to head home, we broke out
The Shinnin' again for another game. This time
xmakina was the traitor -- helping a giant spider to lay its eggs in one of us and waiting for them to hatch. Alas, the poor victim to get caught in its web was the arachnophobic
cheshcat! Luckily, we heroes managed to free her and destroy the eggs, then get the hell out of the haunted house in time! My explorer did not survive... but at least I was on the winning team! We finished playing around four in the morning... but with
two arachnophobes in the game, it was not considered an ideal way to end the night. L1 wanted to play
The Shinnin' yet again... but no one else thought this was a good idea. So out came
Dominion once more, which I won by a reasonable margin. Finally, we dropped off to sleep around five o'clock in the morning -- which was still my birthday in Eastern Standard Time, where I was born!
Sunday was a much more mellow day. To wind down from the weekend, I planned to have us watch a few of my favourite films. The choices were made according to the movies that I have been waiting to introduce to
bunnypip. We started with
The Princess Bride, as I have been waiting to show it to my British friends ever since I learned that the film was
not ubiquitous here -- inconceivable! Next up was my favourite anime,
My Neighbor Totoro. After those two, we took a break for chocolate cake -- complete with
Red Dwarf figures and rocket candles on top! Awesometacular, indeed! Finally, we finished off the films with one of my favourite comedies: Michael Frayne's
Noises Off! It was wonderful watching how hard everyone laughed at this hysterical show!
Shortly after the movies ended, I made my way to St. Giles -- accompanied by my dear
miss_amaranth -- to ring bells for Sunday evening services. Then three of us went up to the roof to watch a particularly striking sunset. Upon returning home,
xmakina and
cheshcat and
miss_amaranth and I played
Lost Cities (which
xmakina won). Then it was off to Atomic Burger in Cowley for dinner. Finally, I dropped
xmakina and
miss_amaranth off at home before settling down for the evening with my beloved
cheshcat. Twas a very good weekend. A very good weekend, indeed!
So now, my dear friends, I am thirty-five! It began with a bang... let's keep the excitement -- and the good times -- rolling!
[1] In contrast to the unofficial surprise party held the week earlier!
[2] Except for the fact that it would mean rolling up a rather steep hill!
[3] Iron Man, and the movie version of the Watchmen.
[4] Extremely important for Sunday! See below.
[5] The four-player board game, which was new to me, rather than the familiar two-player card game.
[6] Either that or they were just being very polite!
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