So I realised this morning I haven't taken any self portraits in a very long time. Which is always the way it goes when I don't feel great, but now that I feel better (and yes, I do feel so much better, I can't even believe it), it's time for me to take some again. So here you go.


My word count, of words actually written, now stands at 17,000. Sadly, I didn't actually write 5,000 words in a day - rather, I found that a section I'd written a few weeks ago, which I thought was rubbish, was actually pretty good. So 3,000 words went in without me doing much, which was great. The rest were initially a half-assed attempt, and then as usual I became suddenly very productive and everything made sense in a couple of hours. I plan on being finished with the draft by middle of next week. I should be able to include suggestions/comments by my supervisor by then, and then it'll all be sent off to my dear friends, N and L, who very nicely accepted to be my proofreaders of sorts.
I cannot believe how this happened; how, from one day to the next, paralysing self-doubt turned into productivity. And paralysing self-doubt it was, in a form I had never experienced before and I hope never to experience again.
Last night I was in the Wolfson bar with some friends, and my iPod was plugged in; Nuclear Baby came on, and it made me happy, to remember those summers which now seem so far away in time. This is going to be another one of those summers, you can bet, and I will be in Croatia again, among other places.
And now I shall spend the rest of the afternoon lazily smoking, watching Family Guy and reading Living Etc. Sounds like heaven.