Hello and Happy New Year! This festive season I learned that Judy Garland's later, faltering rendition of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' can make a lot of tears from only a little alcohol; that a wreath on the door scratches like a hungry monster once the wind picks up; and that spontaneous applause, such as greeted Vaclev Havel's casket, is the finest eulogy a person can hope for.

The annual visit to the UK high street also taught me that Navajo prints are just about everywhere. I guess that means a cherished tablecloth (actually Scandinavian) and the cat's favourite throw (acid dyed blue in the bath) will soon seem passé to those in-the-know. If I could have anything genuinely Navajo though, irrespective of trend, it'd be the 1930s monogrammed rug gifted to George Herriman, creator of Krazy Kat (I've been saving a picture of this for years, only right now I can't find it).