grahambinns.com

I thought we'd got away with the bad weather; that I didn't need to worry about my broadband going down. We lost the connection briefly on Thursday but it came back up within half an hour of me reporting a fault to F2S, who were their usual professional selves.

Unfortunately, in accordance with Murphy, broadband has now died again. The phone line is more than a little noisy and when the router does manage a connection it never reaches speeds of more than 400kbps, which is better than 56.6kbs but, alas, less reliable.

So it looks like I'm offline for at least the weekend, which is tedious. Never mind; I'm sure you'll all manage without me.

• Linux Loving Men Are Sexier (reallylinux.com via Digg). You heard it here first, folks.
• Really need to post something about this (BoingBoing), too, if I get a chance.
• No writing done, but plenty of ideas. Researching into synaesthesia makes my brain twang.
• Don't you just hate "I've got nothing to post" posts? Yeah, me too...

Apparently it's 2007 now. I'll let you know when that actually sinks in (usually June-ish I find).

Sarah and I spent last night (or rather the night before last; I'm sat here typing this whilst listening to the opening overs of the Sydney test match - at the moment England are 14-0) in a pub with my Dad, his other half and an assortment of good family friends. The upshot of this is that I'm hoarse from shouting and still smell vaguely of smoke and whisky, and really need to have gone to bed over an hour ago. In accordance with the rules of drinking large amounts of intoxicating liquor I've been snacking all day, which isn't great considering that I'm supposed to be done with the overindulgences now that Christmas is over, but which I'm willing to let go in light of a Wednesday morning gym appointment.

So, on to other matters.

I don't do new year's resolutions. Or rather, I have in previous years, but this year have chosen to resolve to not resolve to do anything.

I haven't written, well, anything very much, for the last few weeks, a fact that's really starting to grate now because I don't know where the next lot of words are going to come from. I had decided to start working on the ideas for novel the second, but have never really got around to it. Most of the story ideas (for there's nothing solid at the moment, just ideas and a good old fashioned MacGuffin) are either floating around in my head or scribbled down in a sort of crabby shorthand in my moleskine.

I know I've got to get around to it sometime, otherwise it's just going to leave me forever and go on to find a writer more talented and probably also better looking. The truth is that even having written a novel-length manuscript before I've never really approached one properly; Muse-that-was was written piecemeal from a number of different ideas that just happened to fit together at the time, but I'm still not convinced that it really comes off as a story.

As you might have guessed, I'm still avoiding the extremely necessary rewrites. Maybe I'll leave them 'til February. Yes, that seems like a good idea.

Bed, and indeed sleep, beckon. Welcome to 2007.

... to you all. May the Hogfather (by the way, congratulations to Pterry on what seems to have been a generally well received TV adaptation, although some of the crowd in alt.fan.pratchett were a bit tough on it) bring you something you like, provided that you've not been either naughty or a Ghastly Heathen, in which case may someone who likes you give you something you like by way of recompense.

To those of you for whom this is a religious festival... er... well done, or similar.

Normal service should resume after boxing day, I hope.

BBC News: Young 'forget Jesus at Christmas'

Fewer than half of children aged seven to 11 think Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, a survey suggests.

Unsurprising, really, given that Christmas really isn't about religion these days, or at least not in Britain. I'd say it's a refreshing perspective to have. I'd be tempted to discuss the origins of Christmas as a celebration with said children, and encourage them to ask questions about it (like "why pine trees when there weren't any in Bethlehem?" and suchlike).

I like Christmas. I like the atmosphere and the goodwill-to-all feeling. It has nothing to do with religion - I'm an atheist FFS. It's a shame that it has grown out of a religious festival, because that means that those who lean towards pedantry can accuse me of betraying my lack of beliefs by putting up a tree and giving presents to people.

Personally, I see it as a way of celebrating the end of another year, and of showing your feelings to the ones you love. What does Christmas mean to you?