Birthday notes
Had a very good birthday for most of the day. Took the day as a vacation day from work 'cause M's in town for such a short time.
M went with me on a preliminary exploratory mission to look at couches; I got a much better idea of what I do and don't want. Then we drove down to Los Gatos (passing Lexington Reservoir, the inspiration for the setting of "The Flood"), and sat in a cafe in L.G. for a while; I did some editing, she did some reading. Then we met Susan L for lunch; I don't see her nearly often enough. Stopped at a Dr. Seuss exhibit in a nearby art gallery, and M bought me The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss as a birthday present. Later we wandered down to see the redwoods just north of Santa Cruz. I had wanted to go there today 'cause I usually find them serene and peaceful; unfortunately, we didn't find the entrance to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, and so we settled for a small trail that turned out to be mostly mud. And it was cold and dark among the trees—not much sunlight filtered through. So we took a few photos and left.
Had tea with Lola at Pergolesi, came home. I proceeded to have a total meltdown, my second in three days. I'm clearly not yet on as stable a footing as I thought. M was very comforting.
At various points throughout the day, received numerous nice phone calls, emails, and papermail items (including some chocolate) wishing me a happy birthday, which was very nice. Thanks, all!
Hey, speaking of things received in the mail: did one of you send me a book called Freedom of Expression: Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity? If so, thanks. It arrived in my mailbox a couple days ago, with a return address from a name I don't recognize, and a mailing label addressed to me that says "your amazon.com order" at the bottom, and no packing slip or other identifying info. I tried to find out from Amazon how to contact the sender (assuming she's one of their Marketplace sellers), but they told me that without the packing slip they couldn't do anything for me. So they gave me a $15 gift certificate as a consolation prize.
I'm guessing the book was intended as a birthday gift, so thank you, mystery giver. I'm a little apprehensive about reading it—I suspect that by the author's definition I'm an overzealous copyright bozo and enemy of creativity—but at least the jacket flap doesn't say "Information demands to be free!" anywhere on it, so perhaps I'm misjudging the book. A quick glance through it does provide some interesting food for thought. I'm amused that the copyright page says "All Rights Reserved"—but I'm guessing the publisher insisted on that, rather than the author, 'cause the associated website lets you download a Creative Commons-licensed PDF version of the book for free.
Okay, enough. I go collapse into bed now. May not manage to post again for a couple days. We'll see.
