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1. I was going to write a post in honor of Tolkien's birthday on Tuesday, but technical problems prevented it. And I didn't have anything on the subject I was actively burning to say right now.

2. The touching quote from the end of Watership Down published in memory of its author has one small but irritating transcription error. The Black Rabbit says, "They'll be alright." That's not what he says in the book. It's "They'll be all right." Adams's granddaughter, who's supposed to be a journalist, employs the same usage in a memorial article, so I wonder if it comes from her.

3. B. has been watching the DVDs of a show called Gilmore Girls. I came by and found it at a scene where one girl is, quite bossily, expounding on high-school student politics to another. I watched for a bit. "Now I know why you like this show so much," I said. "It's so catty." B. is not herself catty, but ... she likes cats.

4. The Chinese restaurant that offered my favorite wor won ton soup has closed and been replaced by another Chinese restaurant. I went there for the soup to check and see if it was actually the same restaurant under a new name. It isn't. The soup was good, but not the same or as outstanding. Another Chinese restaurant I recently found is reputed to have great wor won ton. I tried that too. Again, it was good but not great, and the vegetable was mostly bok choy. I like bok choy, but ... enough. I may become Diogenes on this subject.

5. While paying bills, for which I'm still old-fashioned enough to write checks, I thought again of how the pre-printed "19" (for the first two digits of the year) that was once universal on checks disappeared a few years before the date flip, but when that was safely over, a "20" never made an appearance. However, more recently banks have started decorating the blank date line with an explanatory "Date" below it in small letters.