A New Year

I have been a non blogger for the past year. So much for good intentions a year ago. As always, when confronted with a blank sheet, ideas of blogging suddenly evaporate, whereas when out cycling or gardening or doing a whole lot of other things, blogging ideas flow thick and fast.

Well, what are the Big Events of the past year? Apart from the global melt downs of various kinds (top of which in the UK must be the Eurozone crisis, even though the UK is not a member of the zone), including riots in UK cities (leading to much moral panic), and the Arab Spring (fast turning to autumn in key countries like Egypt), what personal events have occurred?

Firstly, I was home for spring. Often I've been in Australia during March-April, and have returned home in time to miss some of the earlier manifestations of spring in the garden. This year I was here to view the bumper crop of hellebores in the shaded border: some forty plants bloomed, providing the kind of effect that I've aspired to in past years.

Secondly, our grandson Oli, who turned two in February, has is now sharing his thoughts with us. He is, of course, the ultimate and perfect grandson. Even so, it's impossible not to be affected by the combination of innocence and vulnerability on the one hand, and the determination to assert identity on the other, which characterize this stage of childhood. Recently I heard this period of childhood referred to as the Research and Development phase of growing up -- a very affirmative way of viewing the behaviour and thoughts of a youngster.

Thirdly, travel. This was the year of what is likely to be my final trip to SE Asia and Australia. I was asked to teach on a course in Danang, Vietnam, in September-October, where I did one week last year following my usual gig at UQ in Brisbane. Last year my colleague Andy and I had travelled from Brisbane via Singapore and Siem Reap to Danang, wishing that we'd arranged things so as to be able to include a visit to the great Khmer ruins. So this year I decided that whatever else I did, a visit to Siem Reap was essential, and it was duly arranged. Fortunately, the great ELT Network (in the form of one of last year's course participants based in Phnom Pen) put me in touch with both a good hotel and a tuk-tuk driver to take me around, so the visit proved to be very successful. Being a real tourist as opposed to a working visitor is a novelty. But being a tourist is also hard work, particularly when visiting significant sites which call for much walking and climbing in a hot tropical climate.

As well as visiting new places, this trip provided a chance to revisit Singapore, where I was lent a splendid flat just off Orchard Road, and was able to make contact with someone I taught at Manchester over thirty years ago. This brought the Christmas card exchanges up to date, while also bringing me up to date on Singapore itself, a place which I really enjoy visiting, not least because of the gastronomic opportunities if offers. Where else in the world, I wonder, would the excellent national museum devote a whole gallery to the history of the national menu?

Fourthly, IT. I resisted buying an i-Pad I, for the simple reason that the first version of most items of technology are a means whereby the manufacturer uses early adopters as a source of R&D. I eventually purchased an i-Pad II at David Jones in Robina on the Gold Coast. (There is a buzzing Mac store in the same shopping mall, but I felt distinctly out of place in this temple to digital natives, despite being a Mac user since the mid 80s). Has the i-Pad changed my life? Well, no, not really. Has it enriched my life? Possibly, though not in any significant way. Has it provided convenience? Yes, it's quicker and easier to use than a MacBook, but it does mean that I now check the Guardian and the Independent at the breakfast table and even deal with e-mails -- the latter not being a good idea. And it's so easy to Google or check Wikipedia for information. Most usefully, it does provide a really good way of displaying photos, and since my most recent trip to Asia and Australia has added to my photo gallery, this is a great benefit because even if family and friends rapidly lose interest in viewing one's pix (particularly as many were posted in Facebook while traveling), it's fun to be able to flick thru them oneself. Oh, and I shouldn't forget that it can be used as a Kindle, which means that it's possible to use it as a reading device. Since it doesn't require external lighting, it's possible to read anything on screen even in a dark room. Curiously enough, I find this a most useful feature.

Finally, transitions. Several people have died, and although none of them was close, their departure was a reminder that we are all mortal. There is, of course, a poignancy in viewing photographs of the departed in their prime. My daughter-in-law's grandfather, who early in his career was an RAF test pilot, was a distinctly dashing chap and he and his wife made a glamourous couple and in fact, the image that comes to mind when thinking about them is a photo of them at a swish party rather than of them in their old age.

Of the non personal transitions, I think that the death of Steve Jobs was most significant, but not entirely for the reasons that have been most discussed. Jobs was diagnosed with a treatable cancer. A man whose business career and creativity were based on the applications of science to technology elected to ignore the treatment available to him and self medicated by alternative means, until basically it was too late to receive effective treatment, although apparently he collaborated with medical researchers developing treatments based on genetics in the final year of his life. His life may have been prolonged by a few months as a result. How ironic. And what a great loss. (On a happier note, it's good to see that Jonathan Ives has been given a knighthood.)

Twenty-twelve. What will it hold? We shall see. In the meantime, to anyone reading this blog: Happy New Year!