Over the Christmas holidays I read a few books:

The Plot Against America, Philip Roth (2004)
Enduring Love, Ian McEwan (1997)
The Blackwater Lightship, Colm Tóibín (1999)
The Master, Colm Tóibín (2004)
My Michael, Amos Oz (1988)
The Golden Age: A Novel, Gore Vidal (2000)
The Deer Park, Norman Mailer (1957)
Harlot's Ghost, Norman Mailer (1991)
The Jesus Man, Christos Tsiolkas (1999)
Lateshows, Frank Moorhouse (1990)
Grand Days, Frank Moorhouse (1993)

There may have been others, I can't remember. I also completed The Harmony Silk Factory (2005) by Tash Aw.

This was all after returning from Queensland.

I saw Broken Flowers, which was a new release directed by Jim Jarmusch, at the Dendy in Newtown. What a great ending... Could that be his son? I particularly enjoyed watching 'Don Johnston' driving around the suburbs in a rented car. This may have something to do with the fact that in America they drive on the other side of the road, but it was rather disorientating. I was frankly impressed by his ability to successfully navigate to his destinations using only maps downloaded from the Internet... When I drove up to Queensland I studied for hours the maps dad sent. Although I, too, consulted the Internet. But I found that it all came together very easily, in the end — just followed the signs directing through-traffic away from central Brisbane and toward the Sunshine Coast, where I got off the highway at the wrong (and very last) exit, fortunately ending up becalmed only a street from my parents' apartment.

That night in Newtown I bought two of the abovelisted books secondhand from Elizabeth's Bookshop and took a call on my mobile from my cousin who wanted to offload some boxes of memorabilia left after uncle Elmer passed away. Some of the photographs are quite suitable for framing and hanging. Maybe I will do so after picking up from Studio 275 in Earlwood the four identical lino cuts — my own creations of twenty years since — that I've had framed.