The rest of the birthday was full of house-cleaning and laundry, with a side of ice-cream eating and visiting a dear friend. And honestly, isn't that the way it should be? (The latter, not so much the former) The place is almost ready to be lived-in; the cleaning lady needs to come and de-cat the house and I'm all good. Now I just need to find the heater...

What you need to do immediately after work is go to your local video house of rental and rent A Straight Story immediately. I watched it late last night, and am sorry to say that it had been on the list but I never got around to it. I am generally wary of David Lynch, but this was not what I expect from him. And Richard Farnsworth? He first started acting in 1937~he's an institution unto himself! There's something that older actors bring to a role...it's more than craft experience, it's the experience of the ages that they've lived through, the things they've seen that have made them such complex people.

I can't explain it, but he acts more with a look than any star of today can with an entire scene of direction.