Tumbleweeds drifting across the blogosphere...
...all silent on the Western front

At this time of year, correspondence is often at its peak in North America. Those who celebrate the holidays usually send out cards or year-end summary letters and pictures to friends and family. Canada Post advises Christmas Lettermail senders to have their envelopes out a full week before Christmas.

Strangely, however, it seems that the blogosphere is remarkably quiet. I've been bursting tell people about what projects I've been working on — such as the (no-longer-secret)calendars I gave to the Comp-Sci crowd this weekend) — but found that I couldn't mention them online, knowing that a diverse range of people I care about read my blog.

I must not be the only who found this public forum strangely prohibitive — Bruce and Jess gave us each a CD of music they wanted to expose us to. Knowing them, they argued for hours about what ought, and ought not, be included. The photography Jess adapted for the front cover was possibly also hand-picked (undoubtedly a lot of time and effort went into it) but no one suspected what they were up to. The fact is that everyone at the gathering this weekend gave out a small gift to the others — acts which required some planning, some care and time — yet they were all a surprise. Even Emma's signature gingerbread came in new shapes this year.

Blogging has become a way to share what's going on our day-to-day existence with a network of people, but strangely, highlights a feeling of isolation when we've got secrets to keep from one another.

So, I've just completed the last project I had for on-the-go for Christmas. It (literally) took days of my time, but no one's going to hear about it unless it comes up in a face-to-face conversation. Best not ask, 'though, it might be that I'm keeping the secret from you.