I see that there are all sorts of rumours flying about travel restrictions for folk headed to the US in the wake of the latest terrorist event.   Further attempts to ensure passenger safety are understandable, though it’s hard to see how some of the measures will help things.  My own feeling is that if you can’t take mp3 players, books etc onto the aircraft and if you can’t go to the bathroom during the last hour of the flight, then I’m unlikely to be boarding any US-bound flights for a while.

I don’t plan to head to the US again until October 2010, when I intend to go to World Fantasy in Columbus, Ohio. In all seriousness, I would expect most, if not all, of these new restrictions to have been reviewed by then. If that’s the case, I’ll be in Columbus with bells on. If, however, the restrictions hold it may be some time before I head to the US again.

I keep putting off telling you my good news because I keep getting frustrated by things that get in the way. We had a very hectic Christmas period, with madness on Christmas Eve, Christmas Dad, and Boxing Day. I’d planned that on the Mon, Tues, and Wed of this week I’d get caught up on work, and possibly even try to socialise a little with friends (something it feels like I never get to do).

Sadly, Marianne, who’d not been feeling 100% over Christmas has fallen into some horrible flu-like illness and is pretty much completely incapacitated. What this means is that I was on deck yesterday and today, and will likely be so tomorrow. Any and all commitments are on hold, as a result. It also means that I’m in a not-good mood and feeling stressed about commitments.

And, of course, the annual joyfest that is my birthday is just days away, so that ordeal will start being visited upon me any time soon. At least I get to go back to work soon.

Dear all. There will be some end of year blogging, and some good news but for the moment I’ve changed the look of the blog. I’d love to say this is because I have my eye on the ball, but in truth it’s because I need to fix a problem arising from a WordPress upgrade and this seems the quickest way. More soon. And Happy Holidays!!! – J

We had our big family Christmas dinner last night, languishing by the pool, listening to music in the pavilion and dining like kings. Children were delighted by presents and Santa came and went.

Today is a slightly lower key thing with my mother and brother coming over for a mostly left-overs lunch that should be delightful. I think we’re all a bit tired from last night, so the day should run a bit more quietly I think.

And with that in mind: a seasonal wish for you and your loved ones. While I celebrate a traditional Christmas (sans all the religious stuff because, well, that’s not my thing), I completely understand that many, many of you do not. So a simple end-of-year wish. May the coming year bring you and your loved ones, health, wealth and happiness.

Self-reflection is a dangerous thing, and the Christmas/New Year period is particularly dangerous time to engage in it. Because I have too much else to do I have, once again, been spending some time re-reading old posts on the blog trying to recapture lost moments and to glimpse once again the mindset I had at a particular moment.

It seems to me that, over the lifespan of the blog, the Christmas/New Year has been an increasingly difficult time as I balance too many commitments with family needs etc. That, in turn, has tended to make me seem gloomier than I am. Also, I don’t blog when I’m having fun. That’s because I’m having fun, which makes sense. It does, though, mean you didn’t really hear about the awesome time I had in Adelaide, how enchanting the little side street alley cafes of Melbourne were, or any of a dozen other fun moments. I’ll try to stop that.

If I hold true to form there will be some year in review posts over the coming week or so, though I’m so scattered right now that I can’t quite imagine what they’ll be. Right now I can’t think of a book of the year candidate or a movie of the year candidate. I have my album of the year, but other than that…

Meanwhile, last night I headed out to Russ and Liz’s place in Greenwood with Alisa K for drinks. Russ was in good form, Liz was a wonderful hostess, I saw some good friends (hi Nick and Amanda), and Alisa and I had fun chatting before she heads off to the blissfully cool wilds of Tasmania for Christmas/New Year. I have no photos of the event, but we drank mocktails, sat outside, nattered and so on. You can probably fill in the blanks. Today, on the other hand, is a day at the day job, then Xmas readiness preparation tonight. Onward, onward!