And so, another year rolls around....

I've never really understood the need for a public display and celebration (or commiseration) of New Years Eve. To me it's just another day, following yesterday, with tomorrow in the foreseeable future.

For me, it's a timely occasion to reflect on life. Assess internally how you think you're doing. Suggest ways to yourself that you might want to improve your lot in the coming years. Any hobby or interest that you want to cultivate? Any friends you feel the need to quietly cull? Need to do a rethink of your work or home environment? All these things are, I feel, important to reassess at various times in your life, otherwise you are just a stagnant, boring, dull person who, at the end of their life, probably find themselves as unfulfilled as they were 10 or 20 years ago. Such a waste of valuable breathing moments!

My passion being predominantly food, it is natural I think of restaurants I want to visit, or revisit. Recipes I want to make. Food I want to experience. Those thoughts most definitely don't require me to be in the midst of a seething mass of possibly drink-fuelled craziness at 12.00 wishing all and sundry a happy new year!

I would venture to suggest that nearly everyone on the planet would wish for their fellow humans to have a good year, so consider it superfluous to actually voice that desire at that particular time.

So, Grinch Rita wishes you all a fruitful and productive 2015. Keep eating well, and frequently. Cultivate more friendships. Help out others who you observe requiring help. Respect others, and their rights to possess their own individual opinions and thoughts even if they don't correlate with yours. Be kind. Be observant. Don't take anything for granted. But most of all, have fun while you're doing it.