Thank God for cheerful till attendants in town. If someone had been really grumpy to me I think I would have become extremely stressed. As it is, I managed to actually buy some presents for people, rather than get myself a load of stuff to ease my sense of uselessness (aside, with half an eye on the news: my God, Ricky Hatton is an ugly bastard).

Actually, that's not strictly true. A trip to the excellent Help The Aged charity shop in Broomhill really bore fruit. Well, not fruit as such, but some pretty good 7" singles: Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy, The Ghostbusters theme, Israelites, Can You Feel It, Golden Brown and Get Into The Groove. A veritable sweep. Now I just need someone to ask me to play 7 x 7. (I realise there are only 6 records there, but I do have a whole host of other singles from which I could assembly a striking musical montage.)

Anyway, it's fucking dismal outside: rain, a bit of hail, wind, freezing wind at that. I mention this because I'm meant to be going to a friend's housewarming, but venturing outside for a long walk to her house is about as appealing an idea as, well, sitting in the cold and being blasted with ice . . . I love wind and lashing rain when I'm cosy indoors, but being in town before, encumbered by a massive coat, scarf, hat and gloves made me feel awkward, flustered and unattractive.

I'll try to compensate by re-cutting my fringe, I think.