So this is the New Year

There are no startling revelations, no resolutions, no dawning of realization or judgments of quality about how the last year of my life has been. I will not say that I have done good or bad, or neither, which is even worse; nor will I make empty promises for a future I cannot predict. Suffice it to say that the last year was, perhaps for the first time, entirely mine. And if I did not do anything noteworthy, at least I did nothing (or very few things -- one can never say that one is guiltless) that I will live to regret.

Forced periods of cheer never sat well with me, so it would be a drastic understatement to say that I am not a holiday person. However, I must admit that this holiday season went off without any of the usual hitches that usually accompany my holidays. Indeed, at times, it felt as if all was going right with the world, and those times are rare enough that one takes notice of them.

New, shiny tech toys brightened Christmas Eve; not only was Jesus born but there was bubble wrap galore to be popped. Maybe that accounts for how happy we look:
















And, even though we were on opposite sides of the world, we were still able to spend the turning of the new year together, through the series of tubes called the Internet, and World of Warcraft.