22nd Jan – You can thank your lucky stars that we’re not as smart as we’d like to think we are.

This notion has gained such traction with me that I am starting to think that my father may not have been that bad after all; persuading myself to look at him and his sort like exhibits in a museum from whom I have evolved.

19th Jan – Signifyin’ Monkey, stay up in your tree, You are always lying and signifyin’, But you better not monkey with me.

‘You’re one of them now,’ he said, ‘a talentless gobby prick with ideas above his station and work to match.’

12th Jan – You’re gonna reap just what you sow.

A lesser man might once have been embarrassed at making such a gaff. The trick is, to act like you still meant it after your error has been explained to you.

7th Jan – La vie c’est plus marrant, C’est moins désespérant, En chantant.

Oh yes, la vie manqué went on a frolic of its own, all right.

22nd Dec – For unto us a child is born, Unto us, a son is given.

The old me would have appended something to that sentence, but the new me knows that even if you nail the follow up all qualifiers weaken the case.

17th Dec – O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter.

Where better to release your demons than the Black Forest? It’s absolutely full of hobgoblins and that sort of thing; no one will notice.

Walkin’ about with a head full of music.

Got an earworm, wired for sound. Just saying, that's all. AM, FM, he is full of static. Living with an Earwig (1959)Take a look at my hair, it's realAnd if you don't believe what I say, just feelI'm gonna lock it up in a trunkSo no big hunk can steal it away from me. It … Continue reading Walkin’ about with a head full of music.

13th Dec – It’s not clinging to the rocks and ivy, Planted on their columns now that binds me.

Hyde Park is the main stomping ground of the anti-terror squad isn’t it? Half of the people in it at any time work for Special Branch, everyone knows that.

10th Dec – Poor boys and pilgrims with families, And we are going to Graceland.

It should be daunting, under the studio lights, the cameras pointing at you, the potential of everlasting shame close at hand, yet I feel calm.

p.m. 9th Dec – At work I just take time, And all through my coffee break-time, I say a little prayer for you.

And so, like a fast-tracked graduate trainee about to start the real job, all the attention was suddenly switched off, and we were ignored for the next four hours.