How can this be true?

How can this be true?
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

So yesterday I changed the first digit of my age again. Sure doesn't seem like 10 years since the last time that happened. Been spoilt rotten over the whole weekend with some lovely meals, top presents and lots of time with MrsB.

And no, my teeth haven't fallen out, I've not gone grey (well, greyer) overnight and my knees still work.

So, now life can really begin as they say.

Another year of reading

This is me in six books.
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

OK, nobody asked for it but as I've been logging my books again for another year here's the full list. As with last year, audio books are in italics.

Peter Biddlecombe - The United Burger States Of America
Ian Hislop (Ed) - Private Eye Annual 2009
Terry Pratchett - Nation
Michael Harvey (Ed) - Top Gear Top Drives
Stephen Cole - Doctor Who: Sting Of The Zygons
Simon Schama - A History of Britain III: The Fate of Empire 1776-2000
Terry Pratchett - Sourcery
Matthew Brzezinski - Red Moon Rising
Terry Pratchett - Wyrd Sisters
Ian Fleming - Octopussy And The Living Daylights
David Eddings - Domes Of Fire
Emma Kennedy - The Tent, The Bucket And Me
Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academcals
Mark Cawardine - Last Chance To See
David Eddings - The Shining Ones
Mike Parker - Map Addict
David Eddings - The Hidden City
J. K. Rowling - The Tales Of Beedle The Bard
Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards!
Mitch Albom - The Five People You Meet In Heaven
Terry Pratchett - Eric
Julian May - Conqueror's Moon
Stuart Maconie - Adventures On The High Teas
Elizabeth-Jane Grose - See Felixstowe With Me
Kim Stanley Robinson - Red Mars
Kim Stanley Robinson - Green Mars
Julian May - Ironcrown Moon
Kim Stanley Robinson - Blue Mars
Richard Hammond - As You Do
Terry Pratchett - Moving Pictures
Dava Sobel - Longitude
Terry Pratchett - Reaper Man
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May - Top Gear: The Best Of The Columns
Terry Pratchett - Witches Abroad
Julian May - Sorcerer's Moon
Mike Gayle - Turning Thirty
Terry Pratchett - Small Gods
Alan H. Cohen - Mr Everit's Secret
Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess - Stardust
Stephen Smith - Underground London
Charlie Connolly - And Did Those Feet
Terry Pratchett - Lords And Ladies
Vonda N. McIntyre - Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home
Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol
Terrance Dicks - Doctor Who And The Planet Of The Spiders
Neil Gaiman - Coraline
Mike Durrant - Felixstowe - Then And Now
Jeremy Clarkson - For Crying Out Loud: The World According To Clarkson 3
Terry Pratchett - Men At Arms
Alistair Maclean - The Way To Dusty Death
Martin Lampen - The Knickerbocker Glory Years
Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger - Apollo 13 (Lost Moon)
Will Self - Grey Area
Seb Hunter - Hell Bent For Leather
Maxwell Roberts - Underground Maps Unravelled
Martin Day - Doctor Who: Wooden Heart
Bill Bryson - Down Under
Terrance Dicks - Doctor Who And The Giant Robot
Tony Hillerman - The First Eagle
Mark Barrowcliffe - The Elfish Gene
Terry Pratchett - Soul Music
Terry Pratchett & Jacqueline Simpson - The Folklore Of Discworld
Bill Bryson - A Short History Of Nearly Everything
Oli Smith - Doctor Who: The Runaway Train
Lynne Truss - Get Her Off The Pitch
Jenni Davis & Gill Knappett (Eds) - Ghosts Of Warwick Castle
Terry Pratchett - Interesting Times
Richard Dawkins - The Ancestor's Tale
Paddy Heazell - Most Secret: The Hidden History Of Orford Ness
Neil Gaiman - The Graveyard Book
Terry Pratchett - Maskerade
Matthew Engel - Eleven Minutes Late
Neil Gaiman - Smoke And Mirrors
Boris Starling - Messiah
Terry Pratchett - Feet Of Clay
Ben Goldacre - Bad Science
Mark Gatiss - The Vesuvius Club
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson - The QI Book Of Animal Ignorance

What colour christmas are you having?

What colour christmas are you having?
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

This may surprise some, but I don't actually mind the build-up to Christmas starting as soon as the kids go back to school. I'd prefer it if things were delayed a bit after that (f'rinstance as we now do Halloween over here then perhaps waiting until that was over would be better), but having worked in retail can see why they like to get things up and running as soon as possible. It always kept life interesting back in the Argos days, having to juggle stockroom space for garden furniture and Christmas trees at the same time.

We spent a good half hour looking at baubles, lights and miscellaneous hanging things on Sunday after cake at a Garden Centre and I didn't want to run screaming from the room once. Unlike when we were looking at the plants before the cake. But that was more due to the call of the cake rather than any particular negative vibes over gardening. Not my favourite pass time, but better than decorating. Plus, I have to be organised when it comes to the festive season as Joan's birthday is only a few days after Christmas so I need to start buying stuff in advance to spread the cost and make sure each even gets the proper treatment.

Anyhoo, we'll be having a real tree this year if I'm still gainfully employed, rather than one of these plastic efforts.