Birthday

Up to Dundee for L's sister's birthday celebration so some family fun and laughs this afternoon. This is the birthday cake that L's very talented niece A decorated for L. Also really enjoyed introducing L's nephew J to chess. Maybe not quite all the rules but perhaps enough to start off an interest in the game for him. He did seem quite taken with it and kept setting up the pieces to play again. And I felt I got a lot from the experience too. As a non-parent that sort of experience isn't the everyday (or "quotidian" - great word I learned from L today) thing it probably is for parents and so it made quite an impression on me. After that we went for tea with my folks. They had got the double portrait I took of them a while ago framed and it looks great up in their cloakroom. An interesting chat about politics after tea. Earlier in the day L and I were at Socrates Cafe to discuss why does our culture avoid silence and should we bring back Plato's Guardians?