So, how was it for you?

So, farewell then 2006... Hope that as the year ends you get a chance to reflect on the past year - the good, the bad and the slightly weird.

Who knows what the year ahead will bring - a move, a new job, plastic surgery?? Whatever the year ahead has in store for all of us, I hope that you have a happy new year.

Wheel of Life

The New Year approaches. How balanced is your life? I got sent the following recently...

Draw a large circle to represent a wheel. Draw eight spokes in the wheel - dividing the circle into eight segments. Each spoke is a dimension of your life and you place a mark on a spoke to symbolise how satisfied you are with that aspect on a scale of 1-10 - 1 is near the centre of the circle/wheel and means you're dissatisfied, 10 is on the edge of the circle/wheel and shows you're very happy with that aspect of life.

The categories are;
* career
* physical environment
* personal growth
* money
* fun and recreation
* love and romance
* friends and family
* health

Somehow I seem to have a flat tyre...

;-)

Fresh air goes to head...

Apparently on a recent flight in the USA one of the attendants, in addition to pointing out that the emergency exits are "here, here and here", said,


"And for those of you on the way to visit relatives for Christmas, rest assured that we have plenty of liquor on board if you need to get started now."


Was back in Brum catching up with friends and family over Christmas and now in north Devon for a couple of days. Spent yesterday having a little waddle in the Exmoor countryside around Tarr Bridge - it's always good to escape from the claustrophobia that can occur in London.


I sometimes wonder how different things would have been had I not ended up in London. I'm not thinking about 'what if'; I just find it intriguing that at certain points life could have gone in a different direction - not better or worse, just different.


Hey, it's new year, if you can't get navel gazing and reflective around this time of year, when can you??

;o)

Central London, Christmas Day, 2006

Say it with lights...

I was amazed how busy some places were...

But some iconic sights were quieter...

The Smittyonline Christmas Newsletter

Well, I've been threatening this for a while....



Can it really be only a year since I was last putting pen to paper (or should that be finger to keypad!) and updating you all with things chez Smittyonline? Where does the time go??

Once again it's been a busy year. My career continues to go from strength to strength and I'm often to be found stalking the corridors of power going from one high powered meeting to the next. Busy, busy, busy, but also a honour to serve.

My wife, Jemima, had another busy year in the world of celebrity charity fundraising dinners which she helps to organise. She does so much for lots of needy causes (she doesn't like to talk about it!) and can often be seen in the background of those photos of celebrities on the society pages in such publications as Tatler, The Lady, and Horse and Hound.

Two particular events stand out. First was the dinner held to raise funds to help the plight of vegetarian crocodiles in Africa. This is a scandalously overlooked animal welfare issue and few of us there will forget the moving speech - complete with PowerPoint presentation! - given by H from Steps.

The second was the symposium about the fate of celebrities after appearing on I'm a Come Dancing Big Brother Get me Outta Here and the issues they face prior to be being released back into society. It was an eclectic meeting chaired by Germaine Greer (though she had to leave before the end) and there were incisive contributions from Vanessa, Jade, Preston, and some bloke who used be a first class cricketer.

How she fits it all in and has managed to raise the four children I'll never know - but we'd both like to thank the maid (Irena), the two nannies (Martina and Winifred), the fine minor public schools of the Home Counties, and the wonderful Polish man who comes in to deal with those tricky DIY problems.

Our eldest son, Cuthbert, has successfully started a career in the city. This year his bonus was very generous (so glad we scrimped to pay those school fees!) and he can often be found visiting his money in Liechtenstein or the Cayman Islands. I'm delighted to say that money hasn't changed him - he's still self assured, confident, cocky little s-o-b we all know and love. Only joking Cuthbert!

We are never entirely sure what our youngest son, Gerald, is up to - but he always has several projects on the go and is never short of money. This year he was doing some work in the hospitality industry and knew a lot of delightful young girls who were aspiring models. Later on he was working in the pharmaceutical industry and he was often so busy that the job required 3 mobile phones!

As in previous years we have little to say about eldest daughter, Esmeralda. We just hope that the new experimental treatment being offered by her Austrian doctor at the private Swiss sanatorium proves to be more successful than previous therapies.

Our youngest daughter, Boadicea (not pictured), continues to be full of beans. In the past year she has completed BAGA level 3, begun to speak Urdu, taken up the harp and was selected for the South West London under 7 water polo and synchronised diving team - fingers crossed for 2012! She continues to do well at school, is advanced for her age and is one of the best read 4 year olds in her tumble tots group.

With the ever changing tax situation we found ourselves overseas for much of the year (come on Gordon, play fair!) though we did manage to fit in a visit to a wonderfully retro guesthouse for a bracing week in Skegness in November. Again as a family we tried to act philanthropically throughout the year and when one Westminster based organisation asked I was only happy to offer financial support (at commercial rates I might add!) to assist them through a minor financial blip. Regretfully my actions have been misconstrued by certain media organisations and once again it appears that my elevation to the peerage has been delayed by a minor administrative misunderstanding.This, combined with other continuing minor legal matters, mean that it's unlikely I will be returning to the UK for a few months - I know Jemima and children would value your support during these difficult days whilst I am in south America.

So another year closes! Sorry we've not been able to be in touch with you during the year - you know how things can get! We hope that this little update on our lives is appreciated - you can see how busy we've been! So we wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year - (though not as prosperous as us - only joking!) and hope that amongst all the celebration you have an opportunity to reflect and think about what's important in your life.

Smittyonline, Jemima, Cuthbert, Gerald and Boadicea.

Snippets

Overheard part 1

Exasperated mother to child whilst out Christmas shopping, "you're not the only whose bored!"

Child's wonderfully logical reply,"well, if you're bored as well, why don't we go home?"

Overheard part 2

Said regretfully, "there's only one lot of drink coming with the delivery."

Overheard part 3

One woman to her friend, "well... do you still have feelings for him?"

The friend paused and I didn't get to hear the reply as I was passing - but if she has, he's lucky guy!

Surreal sight

A massive 'Next Sale Style' queue to get into the local cheese shop.

Things that make you go hmmm??

"OK, let me get this right. You're buying your wife an Oystercard for Christmas, and you're buying bicycle lights??

...and I'm the one whose single?!?"

A seasonal message

I wanted to send you a holiday greeting, but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my lawyer yesterday, and on his advice I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the summer solstice holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that England is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

London Calling

What do you reckon are the top 5 iconic landmarks in London??

• The London Eye?
• Piccadilly Circus with a red London bus going by?
• Buckingham Palace?
• Houses of Parliament?
• The 'Gherkin'?

What says 'London' to you?

New Take That Split??

Everytime I see the poster for Take That's new album I think, "have they upset Mark Owen?"

Website of the week - #24

We appear to have a minor celeb in the family. Not only did he appear in the Birmingham Evening Mail on Friday, but turn to page 34 in Saturday's Daily Express and there he is again (couldn't find a weblink for that).

What amused me is the Daily Express, up to I suspect their usual journalistic standards, have added 3 years to his age - making him older than me!

It's Christmas time...

...so time to go and see the annual Christmas themed rom-com. Never quite sure why I do this - last year it was The Family Stone and this year it is The Holiday. Okay, Claire Danes, Cameron Diaz and especially Kate Winslet may have something to with it... If you like rom-coms - and I've admitted that I have soft spot for the odd one - then you'll enjoy The Holiday. If you don't, it isn't going to convert you.

Cameron Diaz does 'the Cameron Diaz role' excellently, ladies will love Jude Law and even Jack Black just about gets away being a romantic lead. Chuck in a couple of cute moppets and the typical Hollywood view of England, i.e. everyone lives in a quaint cottage in a rural village, and it always snows around Christmas, and it passes the 'Ronseal Test.'

It's enjoyable, charming, funny, and contains some very knowing observations about being a singleton at Christmas. Kate Winslet is simply wonderful - though I'm probably biased here. There are worse ways to spend a couple of hours - Christmas shopping for example.

Well, I've never done that before

I've lived in London for over 10 years. So far I have managed to avoid the eaterie experience that is an Angus Steak House. A friend was in town for a couple of days and being all 'ironic' we ended up at such a place last night. Oh dear - another 10 year wait would still be way too soon to repeat the eating experience...

Still, we spied Gillian Taylforth tottering up Shaftebury Avenue.

Lionel Blair and Gillian Taylforth in the same week - that's why I live in London.

Ah, the glamour

...saw Lionel Blair at lunchtime...

...he has a glowing tone...

Website of the week - #23

Another way to waste time.

Enjoy.

A typical (for me) pre-Christmas conversation

Friend and/or relative, "So, what do you want for Christmas?"

Me, "Nothing."

"Come on, what do you want?"

"Nothing, I don't think I want anything in particular."

"Seriously, I've got to get you something. What do you want?!"

"OK - Sandra Bullock, Kate Winslet, or Elliot, the kooky doctor from Scrubs."

"Gift voucher OK?"

Have you ever...

...sent an email and several hours later thought 'perhaps not such a good idea, what have I done?'

The next station is...

On the train tonight the automatic station announcements had gone slightly wrong. Instead of saying "the next station is Mortlake" it said "the next station is Mortimer" - it sounded better.

For a brief moment South West Trains appeared human.