Your Birthdate: January 1

You are a natural born leader, even if those leadership talents haven't been developed yet. You have the power and self confidence to succeed in life, and your power grows daily. Besides power, you also have a great deal of creativity that enables you to innovate instead of fail. You are a visionary, seeing the big picture instead of all of the trivial little details. Your strength: Your supreme genius Your weakness: Your inappropriate sensitivity Your power color: Gold Your power symbol: Star Your power month: January

It’s my birthday today and I’m not the kind of person who likes getting presents. In fact, I kind of hate it. There are several reasons for this. One, for quite some time I’ve had very little space at my home, to the point that receiving even a new teaspoon would require some serious rearranging of furniture. Two, there’s nothing I really need. Three, I’ve never understood how purchasing some mass-produced item for someone else qualifies as a token of friendship; “Here, you mean so much to me I’ve purchased you an item made on an assembly line in China!”

To avoid getting presents, I’ve had to become creative in recent years. I used to try and leave the country during the holidays. If I sensed someone was scheming to get me something, I'd try and cut them off by getting it for myself. I couldn’t be more serious when I say that I consider it a major accomplishment in my life that many of my friends have just given up the idea of trying to get me anything on any occasion.

(As an aside, I detest few things more than the idea of a wedding registry. Why anyone would use the occasion of forging a love-based partnership with another as an opportunity to have other people shop for them is beyond me. So for our wedding, I asked people not to give any presents at all. Some people privately expressed dismay at this idea, but most obeyed my wishes.)

Lars-Göran however is not to be discouraged and he bought me a CD - Led Zeppelin II and some much needed winter thermals. I was pleased as they are both things that I will get enjoyment from - but that doesn't mean that anyone else is allowed to get me anything. I suspect that next year I will have to go away as 50 is an important birthday in Sweden and people might decide to annoy me with gifts I neither want nor need.

But as well as my birthday, it is the first day of 2006 and as usual it was Australia who welcomed in 2006.



It feels odd to sit here at 6pm on New Year's Eve and read about it already being New Year's Day downunder and see the footage on the evening news reports. Here in town it was a much quieter New Year's Eve than in previous years and a walk around town showed very little of the aftermath of fireworks. We used to have fireworks going off sporadically throughout the week leading up to NYE, but this year it has been peaceful. The midnight explosion was full on, though and it was pretty to look outside and see the glorious colours reflected in the snow.

Today I have my birthday wishes - a quiet time with my family in my pretty snow globe world.



And I will get a chance to finish off Edward P Jones' The Known World - an extaordinary book about slavery in the American south and the "right" of humans to own other humans.

If I had to make a resolution for 2006, it would be to make every minute count because you never, ever know what's waiting for you just around the corner. May we all find peace, happiness, good luck, and a lot of chocolate in our lives in the coming year.

Above all, if you must celebrate heartily, don't drink and drive.