Happy New Year

Happy new year to all of you out there.

I write this in the Plantation, hours after the family and I return from Seaside where the big fireworks display happens customarily. This is the first year we are able to capture the event on video, and there we were, our hard disk camcorder pointed fastidiously upward, as we shared in the yells and other racket in front of the old Ypao Beach Store (now a restaurant).

I am tired. Now that in itself is not unusual; I find that my most hectic time of year is the Advent/Christmas season. Music is in full demand during the proceedings of these holidays. But now I'm more tired than I was last year. I conked out after only one Carolling night, and the only reason I was able to show up for the fourth night was that I left the house with that express purpose. And now as I write this I have a slight pounding in my head, which tells me that I should end this post right quick and get some sleep.

Earlier in the week I was finally able to write some Christmas cards to my far-flung friends. I wanted to start some sort of tradition with myself, as a way of remortaring and strengthening those paper bridges I built (and perhaps to start some new ones). I don't know. Half the people I invited never came forward with their snail mail addresses, which says two things about our current culture. One, why mail it out when you can email/MySpace/Friendster/Txt it? Gone are the magic of the closed envelope and the expectation of the carefully-written word inside. Two, the Internet is rife with people we do not know who want to get to know us so that they can take our money. Perhaps they erred on the side of caution and took me for one of these schemers.

It doesn't matter, really. I'm not sure whether my handwriting is widely readable, anyway. If anything else my Holiday wishes should shine through as clearly as a bell, in 10pt Verdana/Arial/Georgia font on a glaring computer screen in the dead of winter. Right?

Hopefully.

So, in wishes expressed most clearly by the style sheet applied by your browser of choice, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a safe and hopeful New Year.

I for one am partied out. I screamed my heart out Seaside as the incendiary blasts pounded in my chest. I shall go get some sleep in my Moon-chilled room in the Plantation.

Thank you very much for reading.

Song in my head: Tom Jones, "It's Not Unusual". What a catchy song! Gets the job done in less than two minutes.