final days

Here we are, the leftover days, after Christmas and before New Year. They sit on the edge like the unwanted half a roast potato and the cold floret of broccoli, too much. Hardly worth the effort of crossing them off on the wall calender; they seem beyond any celebration.

My Serbian new colleague, Mitch, explains his orthodox church will celebrate Christmas on the 7th January. I find out this is because the church follows the Julian calender. This seems to be a tidier set up to me. The year ends and begins, with celebration, and looking forward to Christmas festivities. No scrag end days.

This calender business is pretty arbitrary in any case. Surely sanity should prevail now and we'll move the year end back to the Winter Solstice. Every day then counting; cleanness next to Godliness, and so forth. God, I feel better already!

But these few, odd days - bookkeepers' days - good only for reflecting and resolving, and, fingers crossed, nothing happens in them to fuck up what has been for me a pretty enjoyable year. Roll on 2010.

kettle of fish and electric december

I'm struggling to keep up with this web lark. Frankly, I fear the novelty's begun to wear thin, something that was accelerated once I returned to work in Summer and found the company I had joined prohibited personal internet use. And I discovered I didn't really miss it that much. I easily found other things to do. The web, from this point of view has become too X-factor, too red-topped, too infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters, still looking for Shakespeare. I have decided it's shit or bust for the world wise web.

I'm cheerful. Johnnynorm's other blog, (Different) Kettle of Fish, brings to our attention Electric December, a video advent calender comprising daily postings of short films made with young people across Europe. I was particularly taken with the 17th window because of its cute innocence, and because it's a good example of stop-frame animation which I like. The rest of the work is equally worthwhile and watchable. It makes me want to get hold of a camcorder - just because it looks like a lot of fun.

Don't neglect the archives, there's electric decembers all the way from 1999.