MERRY CHRISTMAS!

“Thank God! Cecil Court remains Cecil Court…”
– Graham Greene

Dear Readers/Subscribers,

Well, 2025 has certainly been a tumultuous year across the globe, and I can only imagine that 2026 will be even more so, but while the year is still writing its final pages for its closing chapter, I thought I’d share a few thoughts.

I certainly hope (though it is only a tiny, minuscule pocket of the internet) that my blathering essays, experiments in fiction, and general musings for Digital Renegade have provided some welcome distraction from the overall chaos. If not, then I fear I may have clogged up your inbox with too many notifications from my newsletters—I do sometimes impulsively post more than I possibly should (a form of writer’s Tourette’s syndrome—I suffer with).

For those of you who cheer me on from time to time, hoping this blog will blossom into something more substantive, I can only pray your faith in me is rewarded soon. Between existential crisis and creative endeavour, there is a wide chasm of doubt where insecurities threaten to swallow me whole. Still, like Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade, I’m doing what I can to walk the blind path of faith, in the hope that a Holy Grail appears in the guise of a masterpiece project, or two.

We’re all looking for some form of Holy Grail in our lives—some more modest than others. But as long as we’re searching and seeking, there is surely treasure to be found for all of us.

Lastly, the above illustration of Santa Claus perusing books in Cecil Court, London, reminded me of my late father, who always loved to pay a visit to Watkins Bookstore, where spiritual books line the shelves in great abundance. Cecil Court is one of those real-life pocket places where it feels a bit like Diagon Alley from Harry Potter—a magical place where one can duck out of the madness of the city and find sanctuary, a place where lost things go and where treasure is also found.

Holy Grails, even.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Digital Renegade

24th December, 2025