Of course, it's conceivable that I may have become some sort of weirdo without realising it. One is always the last to know when personality faults develop. I may have become a dangerous, unstable soul, living on the edge of my own sanity. Alternatively, I may have had one too many coffee-a-chinos or lime flavour alco-pops.

Whatever my nature happens to be, I can only be clear of my intentions and aspirations. I want a future. I want a future where I am occupied and happy, where my life does not exist solely within the confines of a screen or an office, and where the people I choose to spend time with are the same people who would choose me as their companion. I want to be pleasant to everyone I deal with and for them to enjoy my company. I want to be a good friend and a tough adversary. I want to raise a solid family. Above all, I want to spread joy and bask in merriment.

The last 12 months have been phenomenally challenging. I've learnt a lot. I would never have believed it if someone had told me a year ago that I'd be planning to appear in a musical 7 days from now and that I'd also be planning to play the second full run through of a musical I'd co-written within that same timeframe. To (mis)quote a lyric from the latter musical, "This is a strange new world".

Looking back to my entry of a year ago, many of my thoughts above are consistent with what I wrote back then. I have been a lot more confident over the last few months - I've felt almost indestructable at times and I have come to accept that I'm too old not to act in an adult fashion when it comes to planning for the future. So, here's to the next 12 months... I hope they are as varied a tapestry as the last 12.