So you know, what with the Chinese New Year festivities there was a liberal amount of visiting and cookie-consumption, but this year I tried something different - instead of avoiding relative-shaped interaction, I (dare I say it?) socialised. And rather surprisingly, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, which is a first I reckon, considering the new year is normally a mercenary adventure in juggling good social grace with quickening the exchange of monies. I don't know, this year I brought along Francis, my one and only (my DSLR which I've neglected far too long, nothing exciting and scandalous if that's what you were thinking), and that does seem to make social situations a lot more bearable, with small talk centering rather easily on cameras and lenses and the option of bailing at any moment under the pretext of taking pictures (a comforting prospect, always).

What was substantially less comfortable was the attempt to converse in Mandarin (ha!). See I met up with a bevy of Chinese-speaking relatives, but of these the most interesting would be the Grand Uncle I was never aware of who happens to be some sort of Grand Master Martial Artist or something equivalent. From the limited conversation I was capable of I gathered that he was endlessly interesting, but given that he knows about as much English as I know Chinese I can't recount the content reliably but I do know I enjoyed that interpretive fandango immensely, though I would have enjoyed it more if I felt less like a cripple. But this time next year I'm going to be a whole lot less useless and a whole lot more Chinese-ly conversational, I do think. I suppose more Jay Chou and Chinese cinema is in order, which is a rather appropriate resolution-type thing for this point in time.

On a side note, when did David Duchovny get so irresistible? My god, I think that's the man for me. I've been avoiding work (that I'm supposed to be staying up to accomplish) for an entire season of Californication, and my god, guh! I don't know, I think I love him.