I just realised that I haven't actually seen anyone today and hadn't noticed till now. I haven't done much, actually, except talk on the phone a lot, which was pretty cool, as I seem to remember.

And I did this short guided meditation which YD posted to me



I'm going to do it every day - I just stopped to make a chart and stuck it on the wall by the PC so I'll see it when I come here. It doesn't get a huge amount of publicity (probably because the opportunities for making mega-bucks out of it are few), but daily mindfulness meditation has a better success rate at improving poor mental health than anything else, ever - studies keep on showing it, so I'm going to give it a proper go. Son swears by it, and I tell you, that kid keeps himself in a good place.

I was going to say more, but I became embroiled in an online conversation with YD's ex-Uni mate SD, who is a wild child, let me tell you. The phrase 'high maintenance' was invented for the likes of her, honestly she's a shocker. But she's also a fiercely loyal friend to YD, the only one who stuck with her when she was lower than low and I've come to love her dearly. She's currently in New York - worked at crap jobs, saved enough for three months there, to see if she can make her fortune. She's doing grand - got into NY Fashion week, god knows how, but she was born to blag. Now she's trying to write an upbeat article about LGBT and the slow progress towards genuine, full equality and we've got into it a bit.

I think it's the same for all of us who are not straight white men - which is not saying that all SWM always had it easy, but that not so long ago that was the minimum requirement for having any control over your own affairs. Non-white people were colonised and enslaved, women were the property of their fathers then their husbands (The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Bronte - shocking!), and homosexuality was illegal. Well, we're clearly making progress all round, and although none of us have made it yet, I truly believe we've turned the corner on all of these - there'll be no going back, just some hard battles to be won in some places.

But it's late again

Today I am grateful for: YD liking my pics and getting them sent straight off to Himself (in charge of our bit of Glasto); the photo-a-day prompt being 'cut' which got me out pruning my roses; the woman in the caff recognising me and remembering my order - it's where I go for a cheap, comfort, full English breakfast; acupuncture tomorrow- yayness; fab book 'Longbourn' by Jo Baker, a novel about the servants in Pride and Prejudice, off to read some more

Night Night xxx