Remember a day

When January ended at the beginning of this week, I thought about blogging the highs and lows of the month that was. I didn't manage to do that when I wanted, partly because of the unusually heavy workload with my full-time job at the university and partly because I was too busy with the aboutmalta.com newsletter and other MaltaMedia things. I almost let it go, until my friend and colleague Mario Axiaq (who produces aboutmalta.com's Today in Maltese History) and I exchanged a few thoughts via ICQ about the death of Alfred Buhagiar.

So, what were the highs and lows of January? Let's start with the lows. If I still lived in New York I'd surely say there's George W. Bush's inauguration and the death of Johnny Carson. Actually, I think those were two sad days anyway. Undoubtedly, however, the Safi fiasco will be remembered for years to come. I'm so fascinated by the relative importance or actual significance to world events of things like this. In any case, another low for January was the discovery that Maltanet is limiting access to websites hosted overseas for subscribers who exceed their bandwidth usage allocation. This sad revelation piggy-backed on Archbishop Mercieca's condemnation of the Internet in a tone not too different from Archbishop Gonzi's banishing of rock 'n roll in the late 1950s.

And now the highs, starting with the undeniable surge in Maltese activity on the blogosphere. For me the introduction of an eco-tax on plastic bags was also a high; and yes I realize that some people see it as a low. Coming to think of it, January didn't have that many high points, as far as I'm concerned.

One event was a veritable rollercoaster of lows and highs during the first month of 2005. I refer, of course, to the aftermath of the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

As we enter the first weekend in February I can already see a post similar to this one taking shape for the end of this month. I see that at least two events have the potential of being mentioned at that time. No, I don't mean Valentine's Day, especially now that I know that one of my former lovers (from many years ago) has forgotten all about a very special 14th of February we shared together. What I had in mind was even cornier than Valentine's Day: Carnival and the Malta Song for Europe festival. Perhaps my spinach and ricotta pies deserve a place on that list too.

Final thought of the day: why haven't I blogged about Desperate Housewives yet?