2004-08-19 - 8:21 p.m.

happy birthday to me.....

This year's anniversary of the invasion of Czechloslovakia by the Russians (and therefore also my birthday) has gone by seemingly unnoticed by just about everyone but me. Sigh.

I returned to New York on Monday evening and have spent the past few days doing little or nothing, apart from aging.

No, I don't want to sound like an "another year older" cliche. Instead I'm fitting quite nicely into the "another forgotten birthday" cliche. K remembered. My mother remembered. That just about covers it. And apart from that I've sat at home realizing that I haven't made a single friend in Queens over the last six months - not a single person with whom I could lift a glass and celebrate.

Okay, before I sound too pathetic - I could probably have gone into the office with a cake and created my own little party there. I could also have wandered across the street to my neighbor Mariane and asked her to share a quiet glass of prosecco with me. I don't really know her, but I think she would have obliged. And truthfully my friend J invited me to get in a train for two hours to go up and visit him (when you are deep in the heart of slugdom, you aren't so keen on traveling four hours to visit someone).

But, on the whole, I am indulging in some self pity before I throw my year-older body into bed and hope for a good year to come. There will be better birthdays in the future. sigh.