Happy Holidays!

A belated Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate this holiday. As you can imagine, I've been a bit busy with the family celebrations, and enjoying being on leave on these warm summer days.

Then again, if I eat another mince tart, piece of fruit cake (which I made, BTW) or morsel of roast fowl, I'll explode.

Hopefully, regular blogging will resume – when I get sick of lying about reading the Best Australian Essays 2007, Best Australian Stories 2007 (Christmas presents from my partner Shelley) and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (lent to us by Shelley's mother). Or when my family get sick of me lying about reading (whichever comes first).

I've finished the first of Pullman's trilogy, from which the film The Golden Compass was adapted. I'm looking forward to seeing how they've treated for the big screen. If it gets any hotter, a darkened, air-conditioned cinema will offer inviting relief.

I hope you're enjoying this holiday season.