LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Wouldn't it be a lovely headline? On the New York Times?

Rufus Wainwright's modern paean to the beautiful life a la John Lennon's Imagine suggests we take stock and look at what is around us: men reading fashion magazines - straight men - planes and fast trains; oh what a world, for instance.

It's an invitation well received. Since Christmas I have been regrouping and readying myself for the year ahead - hoping to stay on top of things until next Christmas, which in this family of atheists is truly a time to think prudently about what gifts have been bought and what food has been ordered - and nothing more. In our family we have Christ-less Christmases. There is no divine birth; we don't ponder creation. We merely take a few days off of work and stuff ourselves silly. Come Christmas afternoon 4pm, you wake with a 4 year old niece looking over you, carefully determining just what a half-pissed sleeping adult looks like.

Well I was bloody happy with the way Christmas went and I'd have to say it was the best one I've had in years, in fact that's a certainty. Friends came down; some came back from overseas, and suddenly my schedule was full of catch-ups and "piss-ups" (primarily due to homebrewed ginger beer, which seemed to go down well), instead of chasing down books at the local library which aren't all that obscure after all. (Isn't Camus a philosophical giant?).
I look forward to chronicling 2007. The cricket world cup is looking good - but I'm not thinking too far ahead: don't wan't to miss too much of the world my parents gave me.