So, my childhood friend Y's birthday is about a week and a half after mine, so we have a tradition of getting together the weekend between our birthdays and buying each other dinner.

Yesterday I got into the city a hair before noon and we met up at Penn Station. She'd heard of an art project at central park, so we headed up there. It was very cool. (Her Long Black Hair). Basically, you pick up a cd player and some pictures at the south entrance to the park (You leave an id or credit card as collateral) and play the soundtrack as you walk through the park. Periodically it tells you to look at the pictures, or to examine a landmark. It's very intimate and immersive. I liked it a whole lot. I definately recommend it. I might even try to drag suitable friends along on it again - it runs until September.

After that we went downtown and found an open restaurant. At that point, our feet needed it. (And we needed the air conditioning!). And then, after a few errands, we went to see Howl's Moving Castle. I quite liked it. It felt like more of a children's book to me than Mononoke or Spirited Away, which is unsurprising given that it's based on a children's book. The dub voices are all good, and the animation, of course, is beautiful.