Imagethief has three announcements that he wants to share with readers.

1) Mrs. Imagethief is pregnant
And when I find the guy who did it, I’ll kill him!

Seriously, it’s pretty good news for us. We’ve wanted to start a family for a while, and are pleased that nature has finally decided to cooperate. The Big Day is still a ways off, but needless to say down the line this may affect blogging output. Not that it could be much lower than it is now.

2) Imagethief is moving back to Beijing
Or so it seems. This is a bit earlier than originally planned. I was supposed to be in Shanghai for 18 – 24 months, but circumstances have conspired to move up the timetable. Mrs. Imagethief and I will start looking at apartments in Beijing in October, after the holiday, and expect to be Beijing-based again by November. I’ll be with the same company.

I’m fairly excited about this. (Not as much as I am about the previous announcement, mind you.) I’ve enjoyed Shanghai much more than I thought I would, and I’ve had some good times here and made some good friends. But I left my heart in Beijing. Where it is no doubt being encrusted in coal soot. But never mind; I remain an unapologetic Beijing fan, and look forward to being back in the capital.

More news on this is as it develops.

3) Imagethief is going on vacation
Imagethief’s entire immediate family is descending upon a Tuscan farmhouse for a week. I’m looking forward to a well-earned break and some fine Italian food. Blogging is likely to be super-light to nil during this spell. I’ll be back in Shanghai on October 4th, and likely bring a few half-baked posts to crispy, golden perfection then.

My departure for this trip depends on tonight’s Typhoon not canceling my flight from Shanghai to Beijing this evening (your correspondent is slumming by gate 24 as he writes). But so far no delay, and I remain optimistic.

Imagethief wishes all readers a great National Day golden week.