Three days ago, I completed another orbit around the sun. Nothing terribly remarkable about that, however, I do experience a wide range of joyful emotions of surprise, affirmation, and humbleness when close to four hundred people across all walks of life reach out to me in some way to send their best wishes. The actual day itself was spent, first and foremost, in the good company of Mel S., who, as tradition dictates, took me out to perhaps the only eating establishment in town that suits her dietary requirements. Then, with a delightful dash of synchronicity, I discovered that a friend, Jaimee, shares not only the heritage of The South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, but also the same birthday. She had already organised an evening with friends, so I joined in and made it a dual gathering, with glamorous photo opportunities and some excellent conversations. I was particularly impressed and surprised by one youngster who shared an almost identical childhood and adolescence to mine, which is pretty unusual, to say the least - separated by decades and thousands of kilometres, there was a connection that only experience brings.

The celebrations are not complete, however. On Monday, for the second year, deflecting the wickedness that is Invasion Day, I'll be hosting a "linner" party. Unsurprisingly, this will be styled in a Latin American and Antarctic manner to follow up on the recent epic trip to those locations. Not much on the menu from the latter, of course (I don't fancy eating penguin, seal, whale), but the former does provide an enormous array of options, of which I am concentrating almost exclusively on interesting food and drinks from the locations I had the opportunity to visit. I should also mention, in this context, that I have been blessed in the days that I have returned to attend to other similar gatherings; Nitul D. recently finally hosted a housewarming gathering, which was full of some delightfully intelligent and educated individuals who were quite happy to discuss Incan civilisation, imperialism, and play chess. The second was Django's birthday party, which always attracts a likeable crowd from his wide range of interests (musicians and RPGers feature prominently). This weekend I will also be party to birthday drinks for Simon S at the Thornbury Bowls Club, which, as one of my oldest friends, also promises excellent company.

The marking of another year has meant in recent days that I've engaged in some planning of what I want to do this year and how it fits with my longer-term objectives in life. Recently, I mentioned that I have sufficient outstanding but interesting things to complete, so the bigger ticket items can be delayed for a while. Still, not being one to put things off too much, I have started a new unit in my PhD studies in global energy policy, which, whilst based at Euclid University, draws upon content from the University of London, where I started an economics degree (at LSE) several years ago. Further, I have plans to visit Guizhou, Sichuan, and Jiangsu provinces in China in two months' time, which also involves visits to a couple of "big science" installations, more to be revealed soon. Adding this to some more usual activities involving work, study, and social life is sufficient for the time being. But I do have something else quite remarkable on the back burner.