Better late.

I had a birthday late last month, albeit a somewhat unacknowledged one - the usual suspects did step up to the plate, but at least one very good friend did absolutely nothing to acknowledge the date, about half of the people I work with didn't sign my card, and the birthday cake showed up about two weeks later along with a bunch of other cakes for people who had also been left at the altar, so to speak.

However, I'd like to acknowledge a couple of thoughtful late-breaking gifts that did a lot to make up for the shortfall.

About a week after my birthday, the vice president of my department walked into my office at work and presented me with a present, accompanied by the slightly diffident comment, "Sorry it was so busy last week, here's your gift.  Don't try to get it back into the box." 

Now normally birthdays are only celebrated at my workplace with cake and off-key singing, so I was quite touched that John the VP had decided to do something a little special.  John is a decent fellow to work for, which I have not always found to be the case with people who have ended up a few rungs above me on the ladder of success.*

His advice was absolutely correct.  My gift was a Cubebot, and as the photos above indicate, it had been carefully constructed so as to start out as a cube, but it might have been a bit challenging to return it to that state after unfolding it.  (Which is apparently what you're supposed to do with it - it's as much a puzzle as it is a person.)

I'm not entirely certain that adding the word "bot" to a product name automatically qualifies it as a robot, but the elastic articulation that keeps Guthrie (my Cubebot's name, according to the web site) together has been very cleverly engineered, and as such I consider him a more than acceptable addition to the gallery of science fiction figures who stand watch over my iMac.

The second set of presents was courtesy of my friend Chris, who has done yeoman work in the past in terms of gift selection. This year he once again logged in with a t-shirt, one which celebrates the path through London's Underground from Neil Gaiman's classic urban fantasy novel Neverwhere, and a copy of Hanging Out With the Dream King, an intriguing compilation of interviews with people who have collaborated with Mr. Gaiman on comic books, graphic novels, musical projects, and novels.  The interview list reads like a sort of outré Who's Who: Dave McKean, Alice Cooper, Charles Vess, Toris Amos, Gene Wolfe, P. Craig Russell, Terry Pratchett, and similar luminaries from the other side of the creative tracks.

Chris was a bit concerned about giving me the book, because he'd found it used rather than buying it new.  Chris, as I said at the time, you can't imagine how little that matters to me.  I've received used books from other people in the past, and in every case I have considered those gifts to be a bit more interesting due to their pre-owned provenance.

And ultimately, it really is the thought that counts - thanks again, gentlemen.

- Sid

*  There's no flattery involved here - I'm pretty sure that John isn't one of the frequent flyers on TIR, and as such I think it's unlikely that he'll be reading this entry.  I think it's safe to say that John has much bigger fish to fry.