A two and a seven

I didn't have a great plan for my birthday. But I did have a plan. Fasting and reflecting. I wanted to spend it by fasting and reflecting. Months ago I had a better plan. Go on a solitary retreat. I have a college classmate who had spent birthdays going on a retreat and I wanted to try it. But somehow I forgot about this better plan and it was too late when I remembered it. Fasting and reflecting is a fine alternative.

But I didn't even get to do it, completely. Somebody with a grudge ruined the plan. Worse is I actually half-expected she'd try to ruin the day.

So I went to see Pursuit of Happyness. My parents had better things to do, of course, than go with me to the movies, any movie. The movie was great. I got teary-eyed in the end. I don't think I was ever so happy for a character in a movie so as to be moved. But there I was, happy for Will Smith's character. I felt exactly the same when Charlie Bucket got the last Golden Ticket when I read Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yeah, it is a children's book, but I was very happy for Charlie for getting the last ticket. In both movie and book, I knew the feeling. Both stories felt familiar.

At the end of the day, a lot of friends wished me well. And I thanked them all and wished something for them, instead of something for me. About a year ago, I blogged that if there's a day that I could skip once a year, it would have to be my birthday. This is true still. I'm not comfortable with all the attention that I get. I just want to skip it.