Although I admit to being cynical much of the time, I still enjoy the Christmas season. The past two days have been very busy ones, but fulfilling ones. Yesterday, after opening all our gifts in the morning, the four of us and Mark’s girlfriend Kate had a quiet Christmas dinner. In the evening my brother Mike and his family came for dessert, plus we spent a few hours playing Trivial Pursuit. Would you believe that I never had a copy of that game until Mark gave it to me for Christmas yesterday? I love trivia, and am fairly good at it, if I can say so myself without bragging, so it was a fun time.

This is the week when I hope to catch up on a lot of chores which I put off during school. Already this morning I cleaned up my computer files, and I plan to send email to many friends and former students today. However, there are far too many people I want to keep in touch with to write them all individual letters, so some will get a general summary letter from me. I hope nobody is offended by being part of a group mailing.

Current reading: Shadow of the Wind, an acclaimed mystery by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, translated from Spanish, about an author whose books are being systematically sought out and burned by a mysterious assailant. This is definitely a book for book-lovers.

Currently listening: John Fogarty’s Deja Vu All Over Again, the latest album by one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most underrated singer-songwriters.