Christmas 2009 approaches, bringing with it cold, snow, and a close to the last year of the decade we have come to know and love as the noughties. For myself, it has been a year of enlightenment, and of resignation; resignation not from a job, but to the simple truth that I have over the past few years made some astonishing screw ups that have led me full circle to a grubby little student bedsit that is remarkably like the one I lived in 7 years ago. And yet, I am more comfortable with my job, my art, my hobbies and myself. I have learned from my mistakes. I have a goal, a direction, and a timescale in which to correct them - and this time I will have the patience I lacked on first attempt.

I wish a happy, safe, and comfortable Christmas and new year to all those on FA. I hope that whatever your stories and experiences of 2009, you are looking forward to the next decade. With a number of big issues on the table, issues that the whole world is beginning to realise are more than hypothetical debates, it promises to be an exciting time societally, technologically, and culturally, and I think it may prove to be a very interesting decade in which to live. I only wish I hadn't had to start in 79 and go through 30 dull years to get here! But then, maybe I wouldn't find the next 10 so intriguing.

A merry Christmas to you all, and a special thank you to all watchers and commenters on my gallery - you guys and girls make it all worth while.