I’ve been tremendously slack with updating this.

So the new year is here. Bye bye to 2005. I’m not going to ramble on this time around about how it was for me (as some people seem to do), so fear not 😉

Some decisions have been made, including me finally attempting to go on a self-paid holiday overseas, to Spain 🙂 Dunno how well that project will go, but hopefully I can pull it off. Going to spend the time there with Nay, which should help with the costs.

As part of that project, and a growing “don’t give a f” mentality toward my career and I.T., I put myself in a bit more hock and finally bought my Canon EOS 20D. Not cheap, including the lens and whatnot, but it’s about time I embraced another skill I have again, and this time looked at it professionally. Check out the gallery for some examples of what this excellent piece of engineering from Canon can do.

So, christmas was good, in the end. My father is once again sick and needing to go into hospital, so it was a strange christmas this time around — he wasn’t there. My brother, upon this news, suggested we just do a christmas day thing isntead, which I didn’t like the idea of much — in our family, there is a (European) tradition of celebrating christmas on the eve, and not the day. Thankfully, he concurred and I journeyed down to Rye to spend it with them.

The heavy part of it, for me, was that I was responsible for the Christmas plates. Another tradition in the family, German-based, everybody in the family gets given a plate, full of nuts, and treats like licorice and other sugary goodness. It also includes biscuits, but European ones. Because Dad wasn’t going to be there this year, it was my turn. I did an excellent job so it seems, but still, “taking over” that job from Dad didn’t sit with me too well.

As planned, I spent Christmas night with Robyn, and it was fantastic. She cooked a great meal, we had her house to ourselves, and she setup really good lighting and mood and whatnot. It was the first Christmas night I’d spent doing “something” with “someone” and will always be memorable for me.

Some nice and quiet (mostly) time was then spent, waiting for new years eve to arrive. R and I were scheduled to goto Belfast (a doof that is meant to be oldschool techno and whatnot), and the anticipation on the arvo was huge; it felt in many ways like the first time for both of us, but knowing my history in 2005 of Richie Hawtin and disappointment, I tried not to get too excited.

I didn’t need to bother to try too hard — the heat during the day and into the night was stupid; I believe it was still around 38 degrees at like, 2am. I did not deal with the heat on my first ever new years eve doof. Owners of establishments are incredibly fucking tight. No aircon, and no relief going on mishes outside because it was just as hot out there! Needless to say, I tried to have as good a night as I could considering the heat, and that Hawtin didn’t do anything to impress me yet again.

Overall though, it was a good night and several days after as well. Good time spent relaxing and spending time with someone close.

I only took the three non-public holiday days and went back to work around the 3rd; trying to save those paid leave days for May. Inbetween all that I spent a good few days on and around beaches flogging the Canon and trying to unwind after, for me, a very trying, challenging and unrewarding 2005.

Here’s to 2006 🙂