bookmark_borderHogmanay

The year is drawing to a close, the house is tidied, the bins are empty, just my grotty self to clean and polish.

As is now tradition we’ll head down to spend New Year with friends. We’ll drink, drink, eat, play games, drink, laugh, drink, and finally give up and call it a night/morning.

If we are back in our street in time we might even pop in and first foot the neighbours, as that is what hogmanay is all about, finding the next party to celebrate the coming of a new year.

All the very best to all of you, thanks for visiting throughout 2008, and here’s to a fantastic 2009.

Raise your glasses, one and all. Sláinte Mhath!

bookmark_borderBye bye 2008

Almost the end of the year.

I should post about all the things that have happened.

But I won’t. Can’t. Will not, regardless.

I could recap the books I’ve read.

But I won’t.

Maybe list the new bands and albums I discovered?

Nope, won’t do that either.

Or perhaps just relive the best of the posts from this very blog?

I definitely won’t do that, too narcissistic.

Instead I’ll continue as I always do, dreaming, planning and pondering. Random thoughts of random things, all loosely intertwined. I have dreams for what 2009 may hold, but then I had dreams for 2008.

Still, now is not the time for melancholy and blue. Too easy to slip into that realm, the future looming large into view with the New Year on the horizon, a dark and scary mass, tentacles and fire reaching out to terrorise my thoughts.

Instead I will focus and change to a light. A single bright beacon to which I’m drawn. One path instead of five, although even as I type I know that that will not hold true. I will hop and skip here and there, snagged on branches, tripped by potholes, for such is the path of my life. And yours. I know that all too well.

But then isn’t that all part of the fun? Bumping into everyone else as we navigate ourselves, pinballing and careering towards… something.

Perhaps it will be enough that I move forward.

And so, with that in mind, I won’t be looking back. No lists, no best ofs, no recaps and remembrance here. Instead forward, hurtling towards the what ifs, the maybes, the laughter and pain, the suffering and joy.

Raise your glasses, one and all. Here’s to life, and everything it will throw at us. I know we will get there.

I just wish I knew where there is.

bookmark_borderResolve

I wonder if I’ll manage to make 2009 a year of change? Takes a lot of willpower to change, but at some point I guess I need to bite the bullet and all that.

In my head I’ve already resolved to take more photographs, having got a wide angle lens for my camera I really should make the time to go out and take some decent photographs. I’ll need a new camera bag mind you, as I’ve now got two extra lenses, not to mention a set of macro filters.

I should also spend less time on the computer and use that extra time doing… well anything else really. I received some good books for Christmas so I can hopefully kick start my dormant reading worm, as well as taking a little time to do some exercise more than.. ehh… never a week.

So, yes. As I sit here and type I’m filled with hope and optimism for the coming year. A year of change I think. I hope. Perhaps.

It’s always easier to MAKE the resolutions than to keep them. So perhaps I’ll just be happy if I can develop any form of resolve for anything at all. That might just be enough.

bookmark_borderPunchy

Boxing Day. Named because of… er… the empty boxes of … stuff.. or something.

I dunno.

I’ve eaten too much, drank… enough, and now that we are back home I’m nicely chilled out and ready for a curry and a movie. I’ve even put my new slippers on.

Christmas Day was a good one, good presents, good food and great company. Can’t ask for much more really (well, you can but that’d be greedy). We ended up with the usual Trivial Pursuit (with the ‘boys’ reigning supreme!) before firing up the Wii and playing silly games until the wee hours.

This morning I had my traditional breakfast, finishing off the trifle, and having left my parents late morning, we dropped in to see my Gran, who was very happy with her present; Violet, her new (sponsored) Orangutan. She (my Gran, not Violet the Orangutan) also had a good day, once again having a wee Drambuie to herself (from the bottle, through a straw…).

In fact one of the the only downsides came when, on the way home, the car decide it was broken so, after consulting the manual, it was a slow careful drive home and I’ll take it down to the garage tomorrow. Such is life.

Until then the curry is ordered, there is a cold beer gathering condensation as I type and it’s either Wall-E, Cars, The Shawshank Redemption, or the GodFather Trilogy.

Hope your Christmas Day was as good, and I’m sure you were all good girls and boys and got lots of fabby presents. Right?

bookmark_borderMerry Christmas

Afrikaans: Geseënde Kersfees
Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees
African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats
Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden
Arabic: Milad Majid
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce
Bosnian: (BOSANSKI) Cestit Bozic i Sretna Nova godina
Brazilian: Feliz Natal
Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chile: Feliz Navidad
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan (Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun
Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Columbia: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsian: Pace e salute
Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast
English: Merry Christmas
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian: Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi
Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal
Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French: Joyeux Noel
Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Galician: Bo Nada
Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!
German: Fröhliche Weihnachten
Greek: Kala Christouyenna!
Haiti: (Creole) Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri’cho o Rish D’Shato Brichto
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew: Mo’adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi: Shub Naya Baras (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaian: Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Icelandic: Gledileg Jol
Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat
Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Lao: souksan van Christmas
Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian: Prieci’gus Ziemsve’tkus un Laimi’gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian:Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus
Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu
Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un ‘n moi Nijaar
Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik
Maltese: IL-Milied It-tajjeb
Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori: Meri Kirihimete
Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Navajo: Merry Keshmish
Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul
Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado
Papiamento: Bon Pasco
Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo
Philipines: Maligayan Pasko!
Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Portuguese:Feliz Natal
Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche: (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele or Craciun fericit
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Serbian: Hristos se rodi
Slovakian: Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh
Serbian: Hristos se rodi.
Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene: Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År
Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Tamil: (Tamizh) Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym or Z RIZDVOM HRYSTOVYM
Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye’dun!

bookmark_borderThere's only one more sleep…

It’s Christmas Eve. It’s 8.10am. I’m drinking strawberry milk, eating cherry cake and watching The Muppets Take Manhattan.

The only thing that the previous items have in common is, somewhat obviously, me, so why am I mentioning them?

Well, I can’t really control the fact that it’s Christmas Eve but as it’s the festive period I was catching up with my best friends last night. We had a good night of beer, cocktails, curry and the usual laughter and pisstaking. I was a little tipsy but then I did have 3 pints of Staropramen, 1 Peartini, 3 Brandy Alexanders, 1 large glass of a rather nice Malbec, 1 pint Loo Toofan, a bottle of Budvar, and a vodka and fresh orange.

You know, when you write it down… sheesh.

Ohhh no Kermit just got knocked down!!

Actually, I’m not that sure where this blog post is going. In fact, I think I’m going to go back to bed.

So, whilst I remember, and in case I don’t see you, have a Merry Christmas everyone. This blog is nothing without you, dearest reader. Thanks for returning, reading and commenting.