I can't Facebook-comment to wish someone a happy birthday, because EVERYONE does that. Sometimes an IM works, but with people with whom I have more tangential relationships, the IM seems strained, and it's obviously a "trying to be different and not just comment on Facebook" effort anyway. I've always hated Hallmark, and besides, in order to send an actual greeting card to every person I know on their birthday, I'd need a raise at work. And I still hate phones, though maybe they're the way to go for some people.
And yet birthdays are too cool to just ignore. So what's left?
It's a conundrum. Conundrum, I say.