Food, Life and All That Mark my words, when all’s said and done, it can be the Devil’s own business coming up with diary entries that are just what the doctor ordered. But, though I might find myself in the doldrums, I wouldn’t want it to be like a millstone round my neck, so I must gird my loins. The show must go on, so it’s shoulder to the wheel and nose to the grindstone, best foot forward and all that. Time to put on my thinking cap and try not to pull the wool over your eyes or put my foot in it, but to come out with an all-singing, all dancing flight of fancy and hope it will pass muster with all and sundry. Of course, it’s no skin off my nose, and it’s not a matter of life and death if, at the end of the day and in the final analysis, my words fall on deaf ears, or even on stony ground. I think I can safely say that, despite lacking the gift of the gab, I leave no stone unturned and every effort is being made by me to come up with the goods, something off the cuff that ends up being that one in a million jewel in the crown of diary entries. Far be it from me to say what it is that will hit the spot. When push comes to shove, one man’s meat is another’s poison. Needless to say, though, I will go out of my way to grasp the nettle, bite the bullet and get down to brass tacks in my unending quest for that glittering prize. I know the ball is in my court and I shouldn’t fiddle while Rome burns – I need to get right down to it, hoping that I won’t go off at half cock, that something will come out of the blue, like manna from heaven, so that I really can hit the ground running, firing on all cylinders. Adding fuel to the fire, I’d make sure I am no nine days’ wonder. Who wants to flog a dead horse, go off like a damp squib or indeed float belly up, dead in the water? Let the dog see the rabbit, that’s what I say, and make hay while the sun shines. I know it’s easier said than done but, all things considered, I don’t want to go back to the drawing board after falling at the first fence. So I’m not going to beat about the bush – actions speak louder than words, after all. It goes without saying that I’d like to think of myself as bright eyed and bushy tailed and, to all intents and purposes, champing at the bit. Like a breath of fresh air, I feel I can go from strength to strength in beginning this new era. Out with the old, in with the new, that’s my motto. I hope against hope that all this gives you food for thought – or words to that effect.