 Chris Goh's "On the Net"
Christmas tale
I was woken up suddenly. I checked my clock. It was 3am. The window was open and a cold chill coming in, but that wasn't what woke me.
I peered outside the window and saw a man screaming and shouting. I thought he'd obviously had too many drinks at a Christmas party. In between the 'f' words he was saying things that suggested he'd lost someone important to him, in between the yelling there was weeping and despite the cool night, he'd taken off his shirt. He was punching things - the street poles, fences and kicking the curb. I heard him say: 'Feel something you bastard!'
A woman appeared, cautious at first, then she called his name. At first he yelled at her to get away, threatening her with a stick, but she walked closer. I sat the phone on my lap not knowing what would happen, but she called his name again and asked him to come inside. She kept approaching and the stick was pointed on her chest. There was a pause and she held out her arms and said something which wasn't clear and she half caught him as he fell to the ground in anguish, and tears. She covered him and they sat at the corner of the street for a while.
Then she lifted him up and they both walked slowly away. I sat there still peering to the dark. It was now 4am. The small drama that was just played out was both solemn and inspirational.
Two years later, I'm sitting here looking out the same window, watching the Christmas lights flicker across the street. Love becomes part of our lives. Even with family around you might not see it on the surface, but it's there like an undercurrent that will carry you away given half the chance. Don't wait to show your emotions, do something to show your love today.
If circumstance means you don't have loved ones around you this Christmas take a walk down the street. Soak up every smile, every small breath of wind flowing past your cheeks. Look at your feet and how it goes forward with the slightest thought. Keep moving forward though, and like your feet move your being forward, because like the woman who faced her moment of adversity to hold what she loved, you owe it to yourself to do the same.
If you have had too much pride to settle conflicts with those you once cherished, cut the crap. There are people who care about you given half the chance, so don't end up being the person on my street corner, because next time I'm calling the police.
Love, is not given freely, and if you lose it, it's harder to find. Don't be lazy, there are many people who'd do anything to have what you have this Christmas.
Merry Christmas folks. My warmest and most sincere wishes to all of you. Thank you for all your feedback during the year, please keep it up, I enjoy it thoroughly.
HotNews
The Pope's Internet adventures continue. He is the first visitor to the official website of a Mexican Basilica, where the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant in 1531. Unable to attend in person, the Pope supported the website, which can receive petitions. He tried it himself online.
In Europe and Canada, blank CD sales are now outstripping pre-recorded CD sales. And there are 41% fewer people buying singles in the USA. As a result, by June next year BMG will copy protect all its CDs. It started last week, which effectively means that playing music on your Mac, PC or console is no longer possible. They hope to stop people ripping off music on MP3, but there's been some strong consumer reaction to the move. It will be interesting to see if it will succeed (after all, people have been dubbing tapes for a long time). Of course they need to realise that all digitally encoded material can be cracked with time, so all that money spent on locking people out will probably be defeated by a young programmer for free.
Employer organisation Australian Business Ltd is sending out virtual Christmas cards to people this year via email. And the email explains that the money they're saving on cards is being donated to Barnardos and The Smith Family instead. While it's not good news for the card industry, it's great to see charities benefit from the technology.
HotSites
As I've said before about this time of the year, the hot site of the day is with the people you cherish and not some virtual alternative. That said, email is a great way to get in touch with family and friends far away. Tell them you love them, then give yourself a break and go out and enjoy the sunshine and time with family and friends.
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