Thinking about what to do with the holiday I’ve impulsively taken up next week, for the sole purpose of getting out from under another mandatory team meeting after work, I’ve hit upon a brilliant idea: why don’t I go shopping in Antwerp? I haven’t been there in donkeys years. It was quite a popular destination to get away to when I was in my final years at school, when a whole gang of us used to descend on the place for the weekend and dance and drink the night away, but all good things come to an end: the trendy discotheques closed down, the gang fell apart, and I’ve only been there sporadically since. But now that the January sales are on, it seems like the perfect opportunity to check out their shoe shops and chocolatéries…After all, it’s only a 3-hour train ride away...

I should also use the time to finalise my plans for March/April, when I’ll be getting to know the West Midlands a bit better in freakspawn’s company; so far, we’ve decided on

• visiting Warwick Castle
• taking a tour of Coventry
• going to see Depeche Mode in concert at the NEC, Birmingham
• taking a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, with anonypooh

and then just before I go home, I want to see Christopher Eccleston in The School of Night with bogwitch and anonypooh and anyone else who fancies coming along. I have a feeling this year is going to be jam-packed with fun things like that, and I'm looking forward to them all very much.