Happy new year

So here we are at the start of another year. . .

There is always that strange mixture of excitement and melancholy - well, for me anyway. I understand that the notion that January 1st is in any way the start of something new is totally spurious as the date is arbitrary, and yet I can never stop myself from falling into that trap of thinking that I can, snake-like, shed a skin and be renewed. And I can never quite stop myself from feeling disappointed when this proves not to be the case and come July I'm still the same vaguely misanthropic malcontent with a big nose and anger issues.

Here's my New Year Payne's Grey:

My blog came to a rather sudden halt some time back in November - and I've had complaints! The reasons for this breakdown in communications are many, but I will be magically filling in the gaps with blogs I started but never published.