Its new years eve - won't someone fetch me my slippers and my pipe...

Opting to stay at home, have a bubble bath and write in my journal on new years eve may seem boring and even pathetic to some, but for the past few years I have intentionally avoided the ritual of going out and getting slaughtered. 

Don't get me wrong, there was a time when sitting in the gutter at 3 am and wiping the vomit off my face, before pashing a transexual midget meant the hallmark of a great night, but these days... not so much. 

To be honest with you, I would actually rather pour hot glue in my eyes than get anywhere near a crowd of 15- year- old binge drinking revelers, though thankfully I suspect that won't be necessary. 

I guess the older I get (or did the crowd just get much younger?!) the more tired I become of the nye hype and whenever I put too much emphasis on having a great night, I generally find myself wishing I had stayed at home and crimped my hair. 

But apart from avoiding the drunken hooligan/date rape shenanigans, (oh the joy!) there are certain advantages to battening down the hatches and staying in tomorrow night.  

Until you have woken up on new years day in your own bed, with all of your faculties, clothes (and limbs) and minus the mind fu#k#ng hangover, well... you really have no concept of what I am trying to tell you.  

Also, I have noticed that whatever I do on new years eve (smoke crack, read a book,) mysteriously seems to set the tone for the rest of the year. 

Personally, I like to have a bath, put on my nightie, light some candles and listen to music {insert loud cackling and Evanescence soundtrack here} while I write down my thoughts and hopes for the year ahead.   

I also like to look back over what I have written the year before, and observe that - for the most part - I have honored my intentions. 

I am not saying we should all stay home, play boggle and be asleep by 9pm, but this new years eve - before you pop the pill(s) or drink the slab(s), wherever you are and whatever you are doing - try to find a few quiet moments to turn the focus inward. 

Use this time to reflect upon the year that is ending and then turn the focus on your intention for the coming year ahead. 

I view this little ritual as more than a new years resolution (these are usually made at midnight when you are too wasted to form a cognitive thought), but rather as a powerful tool for harnessing direction and change. Who knows, maybe next year when you look back at your 2o10 - you will too.  

Okay enough of the spiritual hari-kari folks ~ I don't want to make you throw up before you have even opened the Passion Pop! 

Please allow me to stop talking and give you some links to all things weird and wonderful for the last time In 2009.

• David Thorne is an Australian humorist, satirist and author. I say with all honesty that he is quite possibly one of the funniest men I have come across in my lifetime. His blog 27b/6 is filled with all sorts of hilarious, antagonistic correspondence between himself and less witty, common folk (including the manager of a Blockbuster video store) who have the misfortune of crossing his cyber-intelligent path. On his blog, David assumes the roles of different characters including a gay man called Lucious, a gothic called Kaleth and a host of other absurdly funny stereotypes. Read them and weep people. Read them and weep! (P.S Love Letters from Dick is my favourite). 

• Trial by Fire is the story of Cameron Todd Willingham who was sentenced to death in Texas for a house fire that claimed the lives of his three children. This remarkable 17 page story from the New Yorker had me on the edge of my seat as writer David Grann asks the question - did Texas execute an innocent man? 

• This 3 part series from Boston.com - 2009 In Photos - is a brilliant photographic documentary of all things 2009. 

• An article from Mother Jones on the cost of the Afghan War. Only $57, 077.60 per minute! 

• Tony Abbot at it again, this time in the Herald Sun, saying all kids must read the bible.  

• A poll from the BBC asking if homosexuals should be executed. Yes, you read that right. 

• Diary Of An Interesting Year was published in The New Yorker and is a fictional diary account set in post apocalyptic 2040.  It's cool and quirky and very believable. 

Happy New Year Everyone!