Happy Yew Near!!!!

January 1, 2010 at 21:29 (1)

Happy New Year, everybody!!! And also, Happy New Decade!!! Hard to believe we’re at the start of the second decade of the twenty-first century. I can still remember that last night in 1999 as clearly as if it was only a couple of years ago. Mind you, so much has happened to me since then, I shouldn’t be surprised — there was no way I could have crammed so many books and tours into the space of two or three years!!!

We had a quiet party last night, to celebrate the end of 2009 and the start of 2010. Several people who would normally have been there weren’t, for a variety of reasons, so there was no dancing or copious drinking that we’ve had for the past two New Year’s. That was a pity, but at the same time it was nice to sit around and chat (and play a few games of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire on the DVD!!). I spent much of the night cooking and keeping people’s glasses topped up — I take my hosting duties very seriously when we throw a party!!! The fireworks display, as usual, was breathtaking. We have a magnificent view of the back of the London Eye, so we were able to enjoy our party in the warmth and comfort of our flat, nip out onto our very narrow balcony to catch the show, then duck back inside straight afterwards — nice!!!! As subdued as the party was, we were still chatting away late into the night, and didn’t get to bed until 04.30!!

An advantage of not going overboard at the party was that we had no hangovers today, so Bas and I headed off to the Tate Britain museum to see an exhibition of works by Turner. It was my first time visiting the museum. It’s not as jaw-dropping as the Tate Modern, but is a lovely old building, with an incredible collection of works by Turner, as well as many other fine pieces. I’ll definitely be back! Sandwiched around that, I wrote up the first Shanville Monthly of the new year. It was a very special issue for me, because this month marks the tenth anniversary of the first publication of Cirque Du Freak!! Rather than go on about that at length here, though, I’m going to direct you to the SM instead, since I put a lot of my thoughts down in that. To check it out, CLICK HERE. After that, Bas and I went for our first meal of the year at Ping Pong Southbank — I hope all our meals for the rest of the year are as lip-smackingly tasty!!!

Anyway, once again, Happy New Year!! I hope you all have a fabulous 12 months, with lots of wonder, excitement and happiness. And if not — hey, don’t worry, there’s always 2011 to look forward to!!!!!!