I'm over the moon

(C) Greta van der Rol

There are two reasons for that title. The first is because, after a depressing several days of believing I'd lost all the photos I took on my last European holiday, and my trip over to Perth to catch up with my friend, I located them. It's a messy business being old. I explain all that over at my personal blog. To say I was relieved to recover the pictures is an understatement. A tour of Europe is not exactly cheap - although if I could do it again with better weather and less illness it might be worth my while. Still, it's never the same the second time around, and despite the occasional travail, there were some magic moments.

Back up your data, people. It's very, very important.

The second reason is that it seems The Last Jedi doesn't suck. Opinion is certainly mixed, but I'd expect that. I'm heartened by the fact that several people whose opinions I respect are saying it's exceptionally good. That means I'm looking forward to seeing the DVD out in the stores so I can watch it for myself.

The third reason is that Timothy Zahn has written another Thrawn book - which is hardly surprising. Although I wouldn't say it was brilliant, I enjoyed the novel Thrawn enough to have read it twice, and will no doubt read it again because that's how I roll. The new book is called Thrawn: Alliances and it's out for pre-order as an ebook. The description is mouth watering.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader ally against a threat to the Empire in this new novel from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.

The sequel to Sunday Times bestseller Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances will continue to follow the rise of Grand Admiral Thrawn to the heights of Imperial power—and accompany him into the past, witnessing his first encounter with the man who will one day become Darth Vader."

I've also bought Neil de Grasse-Tyson's book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Excellent holiday reading. And look at that - over two THOUSAND reviews for a work of non-fiction! I wonder if he's FB friends with any of those people? Maybe fellow authors?

And as soon as we all recover from The Last Jedi, next year in March we'll be seeing the young Han Solo movie, imaginatively titled Solo. More things to look forward to!

This is my last post for the year. I want to wish everyone a wonderful solstice, however you celebrate the turning of the season. 'Traditional' Christmas is such a very cold climate, Northern Hemisphere thing. Here in Australia it's the start of the Summer holidays, where we enjoy surfing, the beach, cold beer in the shade, maybe a few fresh prawns (shrimp) on the barbie. And really, it doesn't matter, does it? It's about caring and sharing. Enjoy.

Catch you all in 2018.

(C) Greta van der Rol