How do you start a year that follows the one I just had? I mean, I turned 30; went to my first convention back in March (WHC); liked it so much I went to a bunch more; met some wonderful new friends and even more great new people; had a handful of stories published and generally learned more about writing, publishing and–to be honest–life in about 9 months than I’d learned in the 9 years before them. I got to go to New York, too. That was pretty good.

And then there was the now-infamous “Marshall-Smith / Gaiman fangirl” incident in Brighton when one of my absolute heroes introduced me to the other of my absolute heroes and I melted. Seriously. There was hugging, and gibbering, and me generally failing to be cool on every conceivable level (and Vinny Chong is still taking the piss out of me for it.)

So, I ask you: how do you follow a year like that?

Well–you could do worse than to start with musical Tesla coils.

Lookit! It’s science, but better: it’s brilliant!

(It gets better, too: watch what happens when this guy starts jumping up & down…)

And that, ladies & gentlemen, is how we ring in 2011. With music that could kill you.