The Spoons That Are My Ears!

Lots of things have happened to me recently... but I haven't been anywhere or done much. This is a paradox. I need to go away and think about what is my favourite paradox of all time. Probably one of Zeno's. Achilles and the Tortoise maybe, the one in which Achilles can never outrun a tortoise if the tortoise has a headstart (however small).

In a race against a tortoise, I now feel confident I would win. A few weeks ago I probably would have lost. This is because I have only recently been back on my feet. A leg infection led to a week in hospital and two operations. One operation cut the infection out of my leg and left a big circular hole, the other stripped a perfect square of skin off my thigh and grafted it over the wound. I now have a leg that looks like something from Play School -- with a square window and a round window. Thank goodness I don't have an arched window to complete the set!

A great start to the New Year! Humph!!!!!!

Staying in hospital was a bizarre experience, a real eye opener in many ways. It was the first time I've ever had general anaesthetic and I still can't quite get over the oddness of that. I'm just glad to be out and about now, though my fitness has certainly suffered. Will I ever get back to running and cycling again? I intend to do my best to recover and even exceed my former fitness levels.

It is also imperative that I plan a new foreign adventure. When I returned from Portugal my finances were in very poor shape. My travel fund had gone back down to zero. Now I want to build it back up and to this end I am pleased to announce the sale of two novellas (via my agent) to PS Publishing. 'Flecks From the Isle of Chrome' and 'The Crystal Cosmos' have just earned me £550 and this sum is going instantly into my new travel fund. I am delighted with this sale and delighted with the novellas in question.

As for new writing: I am currently concentrating on finishing my book of linked realistic stories, MY CHOLESTEROL SOCKS. I have written 11 chapters (out of 16) and hope to complete this project before the end of March. I also have a few short stories to complete which have been promised to the editors of various forthcoming anthologies.

Meanwhile... the website www.myheritage.com allows people to upload photographs of themselves and (using face recognition technology) discover which celebrities they most resemble. The results for my own visage include: Milan Kundera, Werner Herzog, Anthony Hopkins and Renee Zellweger!