December Post

December is always a wonderful month, even though one December is rarely the same as another. This time last year I had just said goodbye to a fleeting time in France, and even now, a full year later, I still treasure that time and miss it intensely. This time last year I was still in University (just about to begin my last term), and now I’m a regular working man in a FAR from regular job that I love. If you’re wondering why I haven’t been blogging much lately, well, I HAVE been blogging. It’s just for work instead. Check it out if you’re interested in the wonderful creations AbbyShot has in store for 2007, it’s called the AbbyShot Clothiers Blog. There are a lot of wonderful plans being made at my work for 2007, so it should certainly be an interesting year on that front. As for me personally, let’s just say that I don’t like to plan too far ahead – we’ll just have to see what the next year brings!

So, back to the month of December.

The first great thing this time around was: NO EXAMS! Distilling half (or more) of your final mark down to a stressed-out two hours never made any sense to me. Plus, I never remember anything I studied once the exam ends, so it’s just kind of a waste for me. Good to be done with that, unless I go completely mad and end up in school again. You never know.

Second bit of goodness this past month: MY BIRTHDAY! It was a laid-back affair held at my house earlier in the month where everyone got pleasantly drunk and hung out. My friend Keith brought on an obsessive streak in some party-goers with a game called “Petals Around the Rose” played with five dice, where you need to figure out a certain pattern in the numbers to (sort of) win. Actually, you just join the elite club of people who managed to figure out the game. But wow, did some people ever get obsessed with this thing! I won’t mention any names. Other than that, the barbecue was lit, lots of food and drink were consumed, guitars were played, darts were thrown (at a dartboard luckily), and everyone seemed to have fun. Good times.

Thirdly, of course, is what everyone enjoys in this last month of the year: CHRISTMAS! Lots of great gifts given and received, great times spent with family and friends, and huge amounts of food eaten that would scare even the hungriest competitive eaters. Except for that Japanese Tsunami guy, he’s crazy. I even have a nice break from work that I’m enjoying as I write this. It feels amazing to do absolutely nothing for a little while. I’ve been staying up late, sleeping in to ungodly hours, doing lots of Sudoku (my parents got me a HUGE book of the puzzles for Christmas), playing a 60’s spy-themed game for the computer called No One Lives Forever that features hilarious random conversations between nameless henchmen, and reading three books at the same time.

Two of the books are by Neil Gaiman of course, an older graphic novel about childhood memories called Mr. Punch and his newest book of short stories called Fragile Things that features, for one, an INCREDIBLE short story melding Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft called “A Study in Emerald” which is generously available online from Neil Gaiman’s website. I’m also re-reading Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting which is familiar to movie fans as a disturbing yet darkly funny story of heroine addicts in Edinburgh. The book is even better than the film, with different characters relaying little vignettes in a strange phonetic Scottish style of writing that is remarkably effective once you get into it. The stories are passionate, dark, yet still humourous, and so personal that it really does feel like each character is whispering it into your ear. This can be unsettling, however, since a few of these guys you would NOT want to meet even on a good day in Edinburgh.

All in all, the Christmas season has been a blast for me, and I hope it’s been great for everyone out there reading these words (insert obligatory joke along the lines of “all five of you” here). I’m wishing everyone all the best in 2007, and my first New Year’s resolution will probably be to write in here more often! Until next time…