So we wound up not watching Rurounin Kenshin but Men in Black instead. That movie is darned funny --- not in a cerebral fashion, certainly, but it's smarter than it appears to be. I always enjoy it. I also tried to do my crosswords, but despite all the practice I've been getting lately, the Washington Post and LA Times ones are getting harder and harder. I think my brain has reached saturation point, dammit. What happened to all that intellect that fielded me through college?

Probably melted to goo from all the silly episodes of Survivor and The X-Files that I've been indulging in. Bah.

I should also note that my being not in the mood for the internet this past week has also meant that I've sadly neglected my roleplaying games. I really shouldn't, because I'm in the middle of various ostensible storylines, but I feel no zest, no pep, no stimulation to get online and play my characters. I'm not sure if it's because of overkill from the earlier part of the month and November, or if I've finally hit my plateau with them. I hope it's not the latter; on the one hand, I've managed just fine without roleplaying at all this past week, but on the other hand, I remember the withdrawal symptoms I felt when work got busy and I couldn't RP for several weeks. It always felt like I was coming home when I finally logged on and played.

All of which was probably interesting for about three of all my readers. Oh well.

Other bits and pieces: Christmas plans are crystallizing. Christmas Eve at a friend's girlfriend's place. Christmas lunch at my cousin's. Christmas dinner at a friend's --- they're preparing twenty-two kilograms of meat (erp) and thirty liters of beer from Brewerkz (the only local microbrewery). No presents at any of them. The nice thing about Christmas in Singapore, now that I'm an adult who has to pay her own bills, is that you don't have to get gifts, although the plague of obligatory gift-giving has spread its insidious influence far more than it did when I was a kid.

[Note: I don't hate the idea of Christmas gifts. I hate the idea of having to buy them for people. That's so meaningless, plus I'm hopeless at picking out gifts. Just ask Terz.]

And now it's time to go to bed. We're going hiking at MacRitchie Reservoir tomorrow, in search of some Shinto shrine. Wish us luck!