Birthday stuff

My forty-third birthday draws ever closer, and the worst thing is that I've had pretty much all the good stuff, like presents, already, so all that is left is being older. Forty-two was good; I liked it, and am not sure that I want to be forty-three.

maggie_lucy is an excellent mother who always knows what I would like most for my birthday. Unfortunately, the Turkish national volleyball team weren't for sale, so she gave me something that I also like: money, with the strong stipulation that I only spend it on myself. So far I've bought three educational and uplifting DVDs (The Warriors, Donnie Darko and Monty Python and the Holy Grail) a T-Rex album and a cute LED torch which doubles as a small bedside lamp. The packaging proudly and loudly proclaims that it is "Japan-Made"; for example, the instructions on the back say "Replace Bulb. LED never needs to replace (Japan-made LED)." This probably means it was made in Malaysia, since the days when Japanese packaging had such glorious English are long gone; I suspect that now even small family businesses employ a gaijin who is doing proof-reading to pay for his kendo or shakuhachi lessons.

She also gave me a copy of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which is more proof that she understands me.

Satanic strolls

One of the more pleasant parts of my stay in England has been walking in the hills. Interestingly, all three places I've visited have something to do with the Devil.

First we went to Ogwen and skirted the Devil's Kitchen (photos in maggie_lucy's journal). This involved a long but pleasant car ride through Wales, singing along, Wayne's World-style, to Beethoven's Fifth and speculating as to why Welsh traffic lights have turqoise instead of green (we wondered, Whorfianly, if it was because Welsh has only one word, glas for both blue and green).

Our next devilish excursion was with my brother's family to the Stiperstones, small but rocky hills in South Shropshire, whose main feature is the Devil's Chair. Legend has it that the Devil decided to destroy the town of Shrewsbury by dropping a load of rock son it, but on his way, he got tired and sat down on a large, chair-like rock ona hill. All the rocks fell out of his apron, creating the Stiperstones.

Finally we went up the Long Mynd yesterday, passing a gully called the Devil's Mouth, which goes up to the reservoir. However, this time we took the path to the right, going up the Mynd to a Neolithic road. Lots of nice lighting effects, heather, sheep, birds of prey etc.