Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free
With iron soil worth more than oil
Best mates with the Chinese
Our land abounds in discount gifts
Of beauty rich and rare
Let every mate sing with his mate
Advance Austraya fair!

The second verse we all forget
It might be girt by sea
Or something about the Southern Cross
Some stars you cannot see
It's tattooed on my arm of course
And when I raise my glass
It's like a small salute of sorts
Better there than on my arse

As awesome Strayans let us sing
Advance Austraya fair

For many years I have celebrated Boxing Birthday, but it's only been observed by me until now. From this time forth, I encourage you to adopt a Boxing Birthday of your own, as a means of dealing with the International Date Line and Facebook Friends in other countries.

As Boxing Day follows the day after Christmas Day, so Boxing Birthday follows the day after my birthday.

Boxing Day is often nearly as much fun as Christmas Day — you party a little, eat a bit too much, play with the stuff you got for Christmas, don't do any chores, and later you laze about digesting and napping.

On Boxing Birthday, many of the same privileges I enjoy on my birthday still apply: you must still address me as "Birthday Boy"; you must be at my beck-and-call to fetch me the paper and a cup of coffee; I am allowed to choose the music we listen to and the movies we watch; I don't have to pick up after myself, and if we go out, I don't have to pay.

This year, I've noticed I have so many Facebook friends in the US that I'm getting as many birthday wishes on Boxing Birthday as on my birthday, because the International Dateline holds the forces of chaos at bay by drawing a huge dotted line from pole to pole and decrees that while it is Boxing Birthday where I am, it is just becoming my birthday in the US.

Instead of being the Birthday Grinch and correcting all your American Facebook friends, just accept their best wishes and incorporate them in the warm glow of love you can now experience on Boxing Birthday.

 

Confused? Aww, bless your simple noggin. Here's a diagram:

 

I first met Simon Bond a few hours after mentioning I was looking for some co-working space around Newport someplace and he interrupted his busy day to take me on a detailed tour of NewportNet and the rest of the building, introducing me to the other tenants and even the developer of the building. Simon's enthusiasm was infectious and his wife Karen's maternal attention to my every need in those few weeks was so welcoming when I needed it most.

Nothing was too much trouble, they did me lots of favours big and small, and they have a professional, quality-furnished space for new businesses that you just won't find elsewhere.

Sadly, the growth of The New Agency has just one downside: it's time to find a slightly larger full-time space. So we'll be in a new office in Mona Vale from next week. But NewportNet will always be the place The New Agency got its start, and Karen and Simon will always be remembered when we tell the story of how we got going.

From: "World Nomads" <footprints@worldnomads.com>

Subject: Thank you for making a difference

Date: 19 October 2011 2:59:24 PM AEDT

To: alanjones@emailaddress.com

Dear Alan,

Remember way back when when you bought your travel insurance with WorldNomads.com?  We were thrilled that you also chose the Outreach Microsurgical Eye Camp project in Nepal to donate to.

We thought you'd like to know that your small contribution, combined with thousands of others, did make a huge difference.  

A total of 1,522 people received eye health screening tests and 96 patients received sight-restoring surgery.

We'd like to share the full report with you:
http://footprints.worldnomads.com/project/51.aspx

Christy McCarthy
Community Manager, WorldNomads.com

"If you think you're too small to make a difference,
you haven't been in bed with a mosquito"

(briefly, from an iPhone)
+61414987069 (Sydney)
+1 (650) 394-5197 (US)
alanjones@doingwords.com
Twitter, Skype, everything else: bigyahu